IN OUR HANDS WE TRUST


Nicola Sturgeon, First Minister of Scotland, writes exclusively for iScot T


HE word historic is overused when it comes to elections and


political events – but what we have witnessed this year is properly deserving of that description.


Whatever the future of Scottish and UK politics, the events of the early hours of Friday May 8th 2015 are a moment in time that will be studied and debated for many decades to come.


The result of the general election in Scotland was more than just historic; it was era-defining and epoch-shaping in its scale and magnitude.


The size of the swings the SNP achieved to topple seat after seat, sweeping away Labour and Lib Dem bastions, many of which had been entrenched for decades, was simply awesome.


10 June 2015


It is clear that the tectonic plates of Scottish politics have shiſted and shiſted decisively.


Many of the swings actually far eclipsed those in some of the SNP’s historic by-election triumphs of previous generations, turning conventional electoral law on its head.


The total number of votes the SNP gathered, at well over 1.4 million, was more individual ballots than had ever been cast for any political party in any previous election in Scotland.


It is clear that the tectonic plates of Scottish politics have shifted and shifted decisively.


The demise of the Labour Party across Scotland has been, in truth, a very long time in the making and as such, the election results were in one sense merely the culmination of a process which has seen whole communities across swathes of Scotland become gradually more disillusioned with a party which was once seen as their natural home.


For far too long, too many of those elected under the Labour banner in Scotland have simply failed to properly represent the communities which have placed their trust in them.


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