Category: Politics

Analysis and commentary on Scottish and UK politics, including Holyrood, Westminster and party developments.

Kafka’s Castle and the closed doors of Holyrood

Graeme Arnott April 17, 2026 No Comments

THERE IS A SPECIFIC, QUIET HORROR in realizing that the record of a journey has been wiped clean. I was

Anas Sarwar, John Swinney, Russell Findlay

Why the Tories face electoral collapse — and how Swinney outplayed Sarwar

Brian Monteith April 16, 2026 No Comments

MOST SEASONED OBSERVERS of political campaigning realise an individual poll is only ever a snapshot of a particular moment. Care

How Reform will reform Holyrood

Malcolm Offord April 9, 2026 No Comments

THE SCOTLAND ACT 1998 gave extensive powers to Holyrood to allow it to control most of the levers required to

Campaigners holding placards for Reform UK Wales/CYMRU

Wales at a crossroads: the closed list coup and Reform’s challenge

Patrick Benham-Crosswell April 6, 2026 No Comments

OVER THE PAST DECADE OR SO, as a Brexit Party, then Reform activist, I’ve knocked on a fair few front

Scotland’s media pile-on: What it’s really about

Ewen Stewart March 31, 2026 4 Comments

REFORM’S EMERGENCE has unsettled something in Scottish public life. It has done so largely because it challenges a long-standing and

A man stressing over bills with his heads in his hands with a saltire faded in the background

Reform’s guiding principles: Sound finances, economic growth and the constitution

Malcolm Offord March 24, 2026 No Comments

GERS FIGURES CONFIRM a stark reality. Scotland raises £87.3bn in tax, yet spends £117.5bn. That leaves a £30bn deficit –

Why Scotland needs Reform

Malcolm Offord March 23, 2026 No Comments

FOR TWENTY-FIVE YEARS Scotland has endured high spending and declining outcomes under successive governments in Holyrood. Despite record government expenditure,

“A swelling movement”: Reform’s Bishopton breakthrough and the media disconnect

Linda Holt March 23, 2026 No Comments

REFORM’S Scotland conference at Bishopton last Thursday marked another watershed for the party. The party introduced its 73 candidates and

Nigel Farage pointing as he stands next to Malcolm Offord

The pie man cometh: Offord derangement syndrome

Brian Monteith March 19, 2026 2 Comments

IN THIS WEEK’S Scotsman I wrote about how “Brexit Derangement Syndrome” lives rent free in the minds of many politicians,

Reform MPs standing outside of Westminster

Why the “Ex-Tory” smear backfires

Linda Holt March 17, 2026 2 Comments

RECENT MEDIA COVERAGE has attempted to make political capital out of the claim that around 40 per cent of Reform