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.
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
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
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
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
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
‘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
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
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
