MSP

The run up to the Scottish elections has started in earnest. The media is full of politicians trying to drum up votes in order to secure seats in Holyrood. In the past this would have bored me but I'm actually finding myself interested this time. Perhaps I'm becoming more politically aware or perhaps the Scottish elections seem to impact more on me than the UK elections. Whatever the reason I am actually following the coverage rather than trying to ignore it.
It will be interesting to see if Labour can maintain their position as the majority party in Scotland or whether the SNP can secure enough votes to take their place. All the opinion polls are suggesting the SNP will end up with most seats although not enough to form a majority on their own. However opinion polls aren't always the most reliable in these matters. Yuo just have to look at Neil Kinnock's last election as Labour leader to see that.
From my own point of view, I think it will be very beneficial for the Scottish Parliament to be run by a party other than Labour. I don't want this to sound like I am against Labour or pro SNP/Lib Dems (we can effectively rule out the Conservatives from the race). I do feel that the Parliament hasn't been as effective as it should have been due to the fact that Labour are the majority party in Scotland and the UK in general. Even though there has been some individual Scottish policies put through such as the smoking ban, it seems that Scottish Labour will only do what Westminster tells them to do or allows them to do. They are at the end of a very short leash and for the Scottish Parliament to be effective it needs to have more freedom to make decisions for Scotland, not for the UK as a whole.
The individual campaigns have also been very interesting especially for Labour. For the ruling party, their style is very negative and there seems to be very little faith placed in Jack McConnell the First Minister. The initial campaign seemed to be based around the fact that if you don't vote Labour then the SNP will get in and the Union will break up. I appreciate that in politics there are often negative campaigns with digs at other parties but I'd far rather hear what Labour are actually planning on doing instead of casting up worst case scenarios. McConnell has seemed marginalised in the campaign with the Westminster heavyweights Brown and Blair being very visible in Scotland for a change. It's almost like the two of them forget they are Scottish until it's time for the Scottish elections. McConnell has only now started to show his face after turning down numerous debating opportunities with the other party leaders. It's almost as if Labour/McConnell are running scared. The Iraq situation seems to have had a big impact on Labour support so perhaps having Blair up here isn't really helping their campaign.
At least the other parties are focusing on what they plan to do if they are in power. This may partly be due to the fact that most of them have little chance of being in power therefore have little to lose but at least it's positive. However there is a chance that one of these parties (probably the Lib Dems) will be involved in a coalition for power so they may well have an impact.
We will see what happens on May 3rd but it could end up being the start of a new era for Scotland if the opinion polls are right.