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The socially conservative religious beliefs of Scotland's finance secretary have dismayed her supporters, yet her leadership campaign survives. Could she still become first minister? A year ago, while preparing for [...]

SCOTLAND WAS the first part of Britain to get high on populist referendums. In 2014, two years before the Brexit vote, the https://www.economist.com/the-economist-reads/2023/05/02/what-to-read-about-the-scottish-independence-movement exhorted people to ignore the experts and [...]

Shawlands, an area in the southern suburbs of Glasgow, is the heartland of the modern nationalist movement. It is youthful, cheap and increasingly trendy: artisan bakeries, craft boutiques and activist [...]

When Nicola Sturgeon suddenly announced her resignation as leader of the Scottish National Party (SNP) and first minister of Scotland on February 15th, she declared she wanted a more private [...]

Whereas the chamber of the House of Commons comprises tiers of opposing benches, set two swords' length apart, the Scottish Parliament in Edinburgh takes the form of a hemicycle. The [...]

The Ukraine war continues to change everything. That includes the future of the English-Scottish union, a matter of rather more heft and pith than the latest turn of the staircase [...]

Who needs HBO when you can watch the SNP melt down? A vicious battle to take the place of an all-powerful Scottish leader has turned 'Succession' into must-watch television. The [...]

Revolutions present a paradox, observes Timur Kuran, a Turkish-American political scientist. Before the event, they often appear unlikely. When a collapse does occur—as in France in 1789 or Iran in [...]

When Nicola Sturgeon joined the Scottish National Party (SNP) as a 16-year-old schoolgirl, the party was a minnow and the prospect of independence a https://www.economist.com/leaders/2023/02/15/nicola-sturgeons-resignation-is-part-of-britains-great-moderation . It held two seats [...]

The Scottish National Party's plan for their new nation reflects a classically liberal ideal of limited government. It would feature a written constitution, which would entrench fundamental rights and 'bind [...]

To appreciate the snp's dominance, look at what it has done to the Tories T ALK TO A Scottish Conservative for five minutes, and you will hear that he or [...]

Scotland's place in the United Kingdom looks more secure than before I N RECENT YEARS, the disintegration of the United Kingdom has sometimes seemed nigh. Scottish independence was a 'very [...]

Thatcher, Thatcher, oil snatcher Scottish nationalism's oil dilemma FOR FIFTY years the Scottish National Party (SNP) ran on oil. The discovery of deposits beneath the North Sea in 1969 transformed [...]

At the start of this year, the Scottish National Party appeared impregnable. It had an average poll lead of 20 points midway through its fourth term in office. The campaign [...]

As Westminster grapples with the P&O scandal, a very different farce over ferries has been playing out in Scotland. In the run-up to the 2014 independence referendum, a Glasgow shipbuilder [...]

In years to come, the children of an independent Scotland will ask their older relatives, 'Where were you when Nicola Sturgeon resigned?' My answer will be: at home with a [...]

Brexit has fuelled support for a second vote WHEN SCOTLAND held its referendum on independence in 2014, Alex Salmond, the country's first minister, called it a 'once-in-a-generation opportunity' to leave [...]

The election results confirmed what we already knew: no one political party speaks for Britain. The kingdom is untied. Labour is becoming hegemonic in Wales, and is strong among the [...]

In the years that followed the 2014 Scottish independence referendum, the Scottish National Party swept all before it. It hailed the 55-45 vote for the status quo as victory in [...]

Since the Holyrood elections in May, the campaign for Scottish independence has been noticeably quiet. But that is about to change. This autumn Nicola Sturgeon will try to push the [...]

If Scotland had voted for independence a year and a half ago it would now be about to officially separate from the U.K., a transformation that Scottish nationalists sold to [...]

If there was one thing the SNP and New Labour had in common, it was the hope. Both offered themselves as a burning torch of optimism to publics that had [...]

Opinion is shifting. But no one wants an independence referendum just yet SMALL wonder that Alex Salmond, Scotland's nationalist first minister, looks even more pleased with himself than usual. His [...]

'Changed, changed utterly ...' has to be the verdict on UK perspectives following Tony Blair's departure. W. B. Yeats' words were for the Irish Easter Rising of 1916, but apply [...]

Philip Gould's breathtaking article (Inside track, 14 May) encapsulates the worst of Labour's attitude towards Scotland, and shows why it lost power here. Labour needs to come out of denial […]