The SNP can succeed by being both humble and hungry

A less than eventful 2016 election campaign ultimately delivered an intriguing set of results with something for every party to hold, or in some circumstances, cling on to. 

Firstly, the SNP recorded a hugely impressive and historic third term victory and, despite the minor setback of coming agonisingly short of a second majority government, will continue to call the shots in Holyrood. 

This is Nicola Sturgeon’s moment and I fully expect her to seize it. She will hit the ground running in the coming weeks with a fresh-faced new cabinet and a flurry of announcements designed to ensure the SNP has the political momentum going into the summer recess. 

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Longer term this will be a challenging period of office for the SNP – every third term is – but both the First Minister and her deputy, John Swinney, know from the 2007-11 experience how to skilfully play the minority sum game. They will succeed by being both humble and hungry. 

For the Conservatives, Ruth Davidson deserves every credit for leading her party to a long-awaited electoral breakthrough. 

Her campaign was bold, based on a simple yet effective dual message of providing a strong opposition to the SNP and the staging of a second independence referendum. It paid off handsomely. 

A new dynamic in Scottish politics has emerged and the battle for supremacy in Holyrood will include the Conservative Party as a major force for the first time. Ruth Davidson has the wind in her sails and she will be a formidable opponent throughout the term to follow. 

For Labour, it is, at first glance, very hard to find any morsel of comfort for Kezia Dugdale’s party. This is without doubt the most humiliating of results for a party that was used to weighing the votes in Scotland not so long ago. 

They got caught out badly in their messaging this year as ultimately voters seemed to be swayed by debate on the constitution and the Labour Party had only a confused and uncommitted line to sell on the subject. 

However, the party machine is right not to call for the ousting of Dugdale. She is certainly not responsible for the long-term decline in Labour’s fortunes and appointing a ninth leader in 16 years certainly isn’t the answer. 

Ms Dugdale is talented and, without the added pressure of being the principal opposition, has space and a blank piece of paper to begin a fightback of sorts. She should at least be given the opportunity to present a coherent narrative to be tested at next year’s local elections. 

Beating the Liberals to fourth place represents a great result for Patrick Harvie and his Green Party.

There is certainly one to watch in Ross Greer, Holyrood’s youngest MSP and a class act who has the potential to be the Scottish Parliament’s equivalent of Mhairi Black. 

In organisational terms, the 2016 election will have given the Green Party more statistical electorate information than ever before, which gives them a great platform going forward. 

And for the Lib Dems, who were braced for a wipe-out at this election, while they will obviously be disappointed at being overtaken by the Greens as the fourth force in the Scottish Parliament, there are reasons for cautious optimism. 

They held on to the Northern Isles seats with ease and, very surprisingly, took two mainland constituency seats from the SNP. 

The gain of North East Fife is testament to the high profile and likability of Willie Rennie and the victory in Edinburgh Western suggests the Lib Dem brand is beginning to lose the toxicity the party has tried so hard to shake off since its five-year coalition in the UK Government. 

Well, that’s the Scottish election done with and for those who are suffering from a serious dose of political fatigue, I’m afraid there is little respite. It’s less than six weeks until we all vote in the referendum on the UK’s membership of the EU and the council elections are only a year away. Oh joy!