A Scottish Spring At Last! Gerry Hassan May 7th 2011 It has been a very Scottish revolution. Peaceful, considered, calm, the mood almost indiscernible. And yet something profound and long lasting has changed. To the sages and cynics who said this was a ‘boring’ or ‘dire’ election, Scotland has spoken. This is a dramatic shift, a watershed and re-aligning election, and one which is the product of immediate and long-term factors. We have witnessed our ‘Were you up for Portillo?’ moments, although Andy Kerr and Des McNulty hardly cut it in class or importance. We have seen the West

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A Scottish Watershed Election! Gerry Hassan Open Democracy, May 6th 2011 Scotland emerges from its election completely and utterly changed. A huge historic Nationalist victory; the worst Labour result in seats since 1931; the Tories still despite a decent campaign in retreat; and the worst Liberal result since 1970s. This is a Scotland of surprises. The SNP won 45.4% of the constituency vote to Labour’s 31.7%, a lead of 13.7%; while on the regional list the SNP won 44.0% to Labour’s 26.3%, a lead of 17.7%. This has produced a Parliament of SNP 69 (+23), Labour 37 (-7), Con

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A Time of Change and Hope in Scotland Gerry Hassan May 5th 2011 This has been an interesting, illuminating Scottish election; a transition between an old Scotland and a still unfinished new one. This can be seen in the slow shift from Labour to the SNP; in the balance between old voices and new;  the role of mainstream media and new media platforms. Many of the mainstream media commentariat have missed this. Thus Katie Grant and Lorraine Davidson who I was on the eve of poll ‘Newsnight Scotland’ (1) called the election ‘dire’, ‘lifeless’ and ‘lacking in anything positive’,

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After the Landslide? Scottish Labour Begins its Election Post-Mortem Gerry Hassan Open Democracy, May 3rd 2011 The Scottish Labour Party is - whatever you think of it - one of the great defining institutions of 20^th century Scotland. It has contributed significantly to the public life, ideas and personalities of our nation. And it is in serious trouble. It has fought one of the most disastrous election campaigns in recent memory anywhere in the UK, although not quite on the same level of Labour’s self-destruction in 1983. The latest poll by TNS-BMRB for STV (1)

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The Crisis with Mainstream ‘Safety First’ Scotland Gerry Hassan Open Democracy, May 2nd 2011 The Scottish election approaches the finishing line; the polls have narrowed with the latest Scotland on Sunday/YouGov poll putting the SNP on 42% to Labour’s 34% on the constituency vote, a lead of 8%, and 35% to 33% respectively on the list vote, an SNP lead of 2% (1). The campaign has shown thanks to three consecutive Sundays of YouGov polls, that the SNP’s campaign has worked with men and stalled with women; the Nationalists are 13% ahead on the constituency vote with men, 3%

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Election could be big crunch for Labour and SNP Gerry Hassan The Scotsman, April 30th 2011 The Scottish elections have been shaped by two diametrically opposed campaigns, with two different themes and moods, one SNP and one Labour. They have met with very differing responses from voters, with the SNP surging ahead in the polls as Labour have badly stumbled and blown a double-digit lead. Alex Salmond has talked of the SNP offering ‘a positive vision of the future’, one filled with optimism and hope. This is of course the language and rationale that the Nationalists used in the

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Scotland’s Future Story of Hope: How we Defeat the Forces of Pessimism Gerry Hassan Bella Caledonia, April 28th 2011 Imagine this. If you were studying Scotland from a far off world, say Venus or Mars, what kind of impression would you get? If you were looking and listening to our TV and radio you would find a very peculiar place. It would be one that lived on or off one street: Byres Road, Glasgow; it would be nearly entirely male, with very few women; and the men would be often boorish, angry and shouting perhaps because of this; and

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What’s the Story of Scotland’s Future? Gerry Hassan Scottish Review, April 28th 2011 Like many people I have been watching and reflecting on the Scottish Parliament elections, and finding them in equal parts fascinating and frustrating. In one way, these are elections of some theatre and drama, the Labour-SNP contest, the background of the cuts, what happens to the Tories and Lib Dems. And yet they are not really an example of an imaginative, emboldened, or even in parts honest politics. Post-war Scotland: From ‘We Have a Dream’ to ‘We are Doomed’ There is so much unsaid and unstated.

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Scotland’s Election, the Future of the Union and Ed Miliband’s Labour Gerry Hassan Open Democracy, April 26th 2011 Three opinion polls in a row have now given Alex Salmond’s SNP double digit opinion poll leads (1). Bookmakers William Hill offer odds for the SNP of 2/9 on and Labour of 3/1 to be the biggest party in the Scottish Parliament after May 5^th: a huge turnaround from barely a week ago (2). It is now fashionable and commonplace to dismiss modern elections as ‘boring’ and the Scottish elections are no exception. The normally thoughtful Alf Young in ‘Scottish Review’

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What comes after Unionism and Nationalism? Gerry Hassan The Scotsman, April 23rd 2011 The Scottish Parliament elections seem to be being determined on competence, trust and leadership. The record of the SNP administration, Alex Salmond’s leadership, and who we most trust to stand up and speak for Scotland. Behind this there are competing visions of Scotland. There is Labour’s rather conservative vision of an ordered, deferential, respectful society which might not have much dynamism, but would prioritise law and order. Then there is the SNP prospectus of a more confident, outgoing and generous nation, defined by inclusiveness, but which

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