Scotland is going to the polls on Thursday for the seventh time since 1999 to elect 129 members to the devolved Scottish parliament. In these troubled times, filled with discontent, there are precious few havens of political stability around the world, but Scotland is one such place.

The Scottish National Party (SNP), despite a vote share predicted to drop by 10 per cent or more, is poised to be returned to power in Edinburgh where it has governed since 2007. Its dilemma, one it shares with Sinn Féin, is that it has enjoyed two decades of outstanding success in a political environment to which it does not want to belong.

Its dream of independence is stymied by its inability to get agreement to a second independence referendum, having lost the first one in 2014. It will view an overall majority in Thursday’s election as a mandate for a fresh poll, but London will beg to differ.

Scottish First Minister John Swinney caused a stir during the campaign when he expressed a willingness to co-operate with Sinn Féin and Wales’s Plaid Cymru. He suggested the UK would be “changed irreversibly” if all three devolved administrations were to be led by parties committed to fundamental constitutional change.

Ryanair’s Michael O’Leary calls for ban on early morning preflight airport drinking

Special savings scheme will benefit wealthy at State’s expense, say economists

Israel strikes Beirut for first time since ceasefire began

Graeme McDowell on joining LIV: ‘I should have just said it was good for my bank........

© The Irish Times