From Heaven Wallace is smiling

From The Scotsman:

THE SNP won the first election in its history in dramatic fashion yesterday, condemning Labour to defeat in Scotland for the first time in 50 years and changing the face of British politics for ever.

The Nationalists emerged as the largest party in the Scottish Parliament at the end of two chaotic and tense days of voting, counting and confusion.

The SNP secured a wafer-thin victory over Labour, by only one seat, with the result coming down to the final declaration from the Highlands and Islands.

In an election that was marred by the most serious problem with invalid voting papers that the country has seen, it took until 6pm yesterday - 20 hours after the polls closed - for Alex Salmond, the SNP leader, to claim victory.

His party won 47 of the 129 seats at Holyrood, with Labour one behind on 46. The Conservatives were third, with 17 MSPs, while the Liberal Democrats took 16 seats. The Greens were down to two MSPs, with Margo MacDonald, an independent, re-elected on the Lothians list.

The New York Times also takes note of the changing political scene in Scotland, as well as the rest of the UK:

LONDON, May 4 — In a historic reversal, the separatist Scottish National Party emerged Friday as the biggest political grouping in Scotland, ending 50 years of dominance there by the governing Labor Party and redrawing Britain’s political landscape.

The result was the most startling among a series of regional votes across Britain on Thursday, as Prime Minister Tony Blair began a long and choreographed farewell to British politics. The outcome represented a sharp rebuke to Mr. Blair and a troubled, embarrassing debut for Gordon Brown, a Scot who is expected to become Britain’s next prime minister.

Although he was not a candidate, Mr. Brown, currently chancellor of the exchequer, had traveled to Scotland to campaign vigorously against the Scottish National Party, staking his prestige on a Labor victory.

As the results were announced — after a chaotic night in which tens of thousands of Scottish ballots were ruled invalid — Alex Salmond, the Scottish National Party leader, hailed the “wind of change” in Scottish politics.

“Never again will we say Labor has a divine right to rule Scotland,” he said. “They have no moral authority left to govern.” With all votes counted in the balloting for the 129-seat Scottish Parliament, the Scottish National Party increased its seats to 47 from 25, while Labor fell to 46, down from 50, according to the BBC’s tabulation. The Scottish National Party’s other gains were at the expense of smaller parties.

The central plank of SNP's platform is a national referendum on Scottish independence from the United Kingdom. That dream of undoing the Acts of Union has simmered beneath the surface of Scotland since their original imposition in 1706-7.

The Acts of Union dissolved both the Kingdom of England and the Kingdom of Scotland and formed the new Kingdom of Great Britain. The crowns of the two nations had been united in 1603 when Queen Elizabeth I of England had died childless and left the crown of England to her cousin King James VI of Scotland (who became King James I of England). James had desired a union of the Parliaments to go along with the union of the crowns, but neither the Scots nor the English would tolerate the idea.

The English believed that their new Scottish king would attempt to subvert their independence by packing the new government with his Scottish cronies and the Scots believed (with very good reason) that the much larger English realm would dominate them by shear force of numbers and Scotland would essentially disappear.

It took a little more than 100 years for the proper circumstances needed to overcome both sides' hesitation. In England it was the desire to create a stable Royal succession that would prevent any disuniting of the crowns which could potentially leave an independent Scotland allied with another European power (especially a Roman Catholic one) against England.

In Scotland the desire for union (what there was of it) was driven by the hope that a full economic union with the much larger and wealthier England would help lift the nation out of an economic depression brought about by the disastrous Darien scheme.

The Union was not supported by a majority of the English people and was deeply unpopular with the Scots. In fact the Scottish Parliamentarians who voted the Act of Union were almost killed by a mob of enraged Scots after the results of their vote became known. The general feeling among the Scots was that their leaders had betrayed them because they had been bribed by English interests. A song about the Scots sense of betrayal and grief over their lost nation called "Both Sides the Tweed" remains popular to this day and is a staple of Celtic bands.

Although it took years for the economic benefits to become apparent in Scotland it would be hard to argue that the Union was not good for the Scottish people. However the desire to be a true nation never left the Scottish heart. This desire for independence manifested itself in a series of uprisings which culminated in the Jacobite rising of 1745 in which Prince Charles Edward Stewart (Bonnie Prince Charlie) raised an armed expedition, with French support, and landed with troops and supplies and raised his banner at Glenfinnan. Although many Scots, especially Highlanders, flocked to his cause the power of the English Army was too great for him to overcome and the Scottish forces were defeated at the Battle of Culloden in April of 1746. Charles fled to the Continent where he received asylum in one Royal Court after another until he wound up in Rome where he lived out his days.

The dream of nationhood did not die however and in 1997 the Scottish people's desire to once again control their own destiny manifested itself in the Scottish devolution referendum in which a majority of the Scots voted for the creation of a Scottish parliament with taxing powers. In response to this vote the United Kingdom Parliament passed the Scotland Act 1998 which created an Scottish Parliament which meets at Holyrood, the traditional seat of Scottish kings.

The new Scottish Parliament is not truly independent and Scotland remains a constituent part of the United Kingdom and the Queen of England remains Scotland's head of state. The Scottish National Party wishes to go ahead to full independence from the United Kingdom and the results of this week's elections show a growing sentiment for that in Scotland. Although there is not - yet - a clear majority for separation the steady growth of the SNP indicates that the idea of a reborn Scotland is gaining purchase.

Perhaps in 10 more years the world will once again see a Scottish King being crowned upon the Stone of Destiny.