If the SNP persists in such wishful thinking, it will make it much more difficult to avoid being drawn into some constitutional commission where the needs of Wales and Northern Ireland are also on the agenda.
In 2011, under Alex Salmond, the SNP dipped its toe in the water to test the possibility of establishing a power bloc of the regions.
A “summit” was held in Belfast. There were plenty of warm words, but nothing came of it. To resurrect it would be a mistake. Scotland has nothing to gain from it; in the eyes of the others, it already occupies favoured status within the UK. And again it would push the SNP towards group constitutional reform.
So what, then, for the SNP’s gallant 56 at Westminster? What will be their role and will they fare any beter than Labour’s Feeble Fiſty?
Some will be absorbed into its Westminster commitees, learning their trade; others will fill the new positions now needed to run what is, in effect, a substantial Westminster political party
And you may be sure that the hugely competent, if unshowy, Angus Robertson, re-elected unopposed as the SNP’s Westminster leader, will find tasks for them to do. Then there is constituency work.
Aſter the heady excitement of the Referendum and the general election, that may sound a trifle humdrum.
We live in an age where instant gratification is the norm.
It will take all of Nicola Sturgeon’s undoubted political skills to rise to the challenge of holding the party together as a cohesive, focussed and disciplined unit while charting the SNP’s path through perilous political waters.
It will take all of Nicola Sturgeon’s undoubted political skills to rise to the challenge of holding the party together as a cohesive, focussed and disciplined unit while charting the SNP’s path through perilous political waters.
At the moment fortune favours David Cameron. The political agenda – and most crucially its timing – is his to command. But that will not always be the case, particularly as we get to mid-term. Unforeseen events, too, will play their part.
The fickle finger of fate has a habit of giving politicians a right old poke in the eye when they least expect it.
Whatever lies ahead, don’t for a moment think it is going to be easy. The SNP is in the big boys’ playground now as a major player and the political game just got a whole lot tougher.
June 2015
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