Stewart McDonald is the former SNP MP for Glasgow South and the party's defence spokesman for six years. He is currently the director of Regent Park Strategies.
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There is no shortage of noise in contemporary politics, nor of people keen to confuse it with authority. Jeane Freeman, the former Scottish health minister who passed away this weekend, never did. She moved through political life with the calm confidence of someone who was always three steps ahead of any room she was in
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It’s difficult to imagine a more cautious revolutionary than John Swinney. When the First Minister was unexpectedly swept into Charlotte Square just one year ago – answering the call of a party in need of healing and direction in equal measure – few expected him to author a radical’s reset. The party of the late
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The news came on Wednesday that Scotland’s former first minister will not seek election to the Scottish Parliament for the first time since it was reconvened in 1999. Nicola Sturgeon’s announcement that she will stand down at the 2026 Holyrood election marks the end of an era for the most electorally dominant UK party leader
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Nicola Sturgeon has announced her intention to step down at the next Scottish Parliament election in May 2026. One of the original MSPs elected to Holyrood in 1999, Sturgeon has dominated Scottish and UK politics over the past two decades. The Salmond-Sturgeon era began in 2004 and she went on to serve as First Minister
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Sir Keir Starmer has this week urged President Trump to reverse his decision to cut off aid to and intelligence sharing with Ukraine. In Scotland, the governing party backs this case call – and many are on side with the Prime Minister too over his pledge to increase defence spending. In fact, there is an
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Europe’s security debate has been transformed overnight. After President Trump announced his 90-minute phone call with Russia’s dictator, Vladimir Putin, the 47th Commander-in-Chief sent a chill wind through European capitals as he made clear that he’s happy to negotiate away Ukrainian sovereignty and that the return of great power politics is back. This was made
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If anything was going to make Donald Trump come around to supporting Ukraine in its war with Russia, ‘rare earth minerals’ – an issue of increasing geopolitical importance in the global competition with China – would not have made it to the top of most lists. Yet the US president has hinted this could be
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Last year, marking the tenth anniversary of Scotland’s independence referendum, I wrote an article for The Spectator looking at the state of Scotland’s political conversation and the prospects for the cause of independence a decade on from defeat. After setting out why I thought MSPs ought to pass a budget that crossed the nationalist-unionist divide, softening the
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As the second Trump term looms in the near distance, it’s become a bit of a cliché to say that ‘a stopped clock is right twice a day’. Pinko liberal Nats like myself have had to get used to the fact that for all our disagreements with the man on policy and style, there are
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After the general election skelping my party got in the July election, I was asked by Alex Massie (formerly of this parish) if I thought the SNP was in line to get horsed in the 2026 Holyrood election. I answered in the affirmative. Unless the party changed direction, then of course we would lose. Well, things
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And so it seems that Scotland’s most prolific hotelier will return to the White House. Donald Trump has staged a political comeback that has torn up the normal rules of politics and sent shockwaves around the world. There are a great many reasons to be aghast at Trump’s return, but as he prepares to take
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In reflecting on the life of Alex Salmond, I should begin by paraphrasing his successor as First Minister, Nicola Sturgeon. I cannot pretend that the last few years of the breakdown in his relationship with the mainstream of the party he once led did not happen, but we cannot help but reflect on a remarkable
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In the coming days, Foreign Secretary David Lammy will visit China and Chancellor Rachel Reeves is eyeing up a visit early next year for economic and financial dialogue. Whilst engagement is important, it’s not unreasonable to expect an understanding of the government’s strategic position on such a defining relationship before ministers board their flights. Does
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‘I’ve got you a Tom TugendHAT,’ a friend texted from this year’s Conservative party conference. I haven’t received it yet, but I’ll save it for Tom’s next campaign. I’m no Tory – though I’ve had plenty people try and dispute that – but if we’re to have a Conservative party then it should have sensible
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As we mark 10 years on from Scotland’s independence referendum, the entire political ecosystem in Scotland is engaged in attempts to define, or redefine, the narrative of that time. Those on my side of the independence argument remember a campaign of energy, optimism and positivity that is simply unmatched. It’s also the case that, for many on the
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SNP conferences of late haven’t been what they were in the aftermath of the 2014 referendum. Gone are the days when a carnival atmosphere ensued. That’s for the best. Those times felt like our conference was on loan to an impatient ‘Yes’ movement rather than a conference of the party of government, focused on ensuring good public policy choices and Scottish self-determination. But absent too from the weekend’s 90th annual conference was the
