SNP SECURE HISTORIC WIN IN MORAY 

UNPRECIDENTED WIN FOR RICHARD LOCHHEAD

The SNP tonight secured an unprecedented result while winning the Scottish Parliamentary by-election in Moray.   

The SNP victory saw: 

- A record majority in the seat

- An increased number of votes for the party

- An increased share of the vote

- The SNP's majority was the greatest for the party in a modern election 

Speaking this morning following his victory in the Moray by-election, Richard Lochhead MSP, the victorious SNP candidate said: 

"This is a tremendous night for the Scottish National Party. 

"This spectacular SNP victory sends a powerful message to the nation. 

"The people of Moray have rejected the London-based parties in favour of Scotland's independent future. 

"The scene is set for next year's Scottish elections when the future of Scotland will be at stake. 

"Scotland faces a straight choice between the failed Labour and Lib Dem devolved administration or a new start with a real Scottish government led by the SNP 

"This Moray by-election is the first SNP victory on the road to Scotland's new government. 

"I would like to thank the returning officer and all his staff for carrying out their duties so efficiently, as well as the police officers and others on duty today. 

"I would also like to thank my election agent Ian Hamilton and my campaign manager Angus Robertson and each and every one of my campaign team who helped make tonight possible. I also thank Winnie and Fergus Ewing for their support. 

"The support of my wife, Fiona, and the rest of my family is massively important to me and I thank them from the bottom of my heart. 

"A special thank you goes to the people of Moray who have placed their trust in me. 

"I will serve you all to the best of my ability in the times ahead." 

"My task is straightforward. It's to work for you and do all I can to give you a better life in a better country.

"Friends, it's an enormous privilege to be elected to represent this beautiful constituency in the Scottish Parliament and to continue Margaret Ewing's good work. 

"Margaret has been in our minds throughout the campaign. 

"Everyone, no matter their own political views, took time to pay tribute to Margaret which speaks volumes about how she was held in such high regard throughout Moray. 

"Margaret would be proud of this resounding victory for the SNP and the cause of independence. For 20 years, Moray has been in the vanguard of our national movement and the tradition continues."
 

Smile, it’s less-than-candid Cameron.

Every successful political leader needs to be seen to be decisive, inspirational and in touch with the voters. They need to have that certain sense of destiny about them - that they happen to be just what the country requires at that given point in time.

The need to be seen as a winner, of having those all-important silver hairs on your back, can sit uncomfortably with the mundanities of day to day politicking and the feet of clay which most of our leaders actually have. So it is that parties spend much time and effort trying to manufacture a narrative of success for their leaders, to give them that whiff of Camelot that will draw in the support of those uncommitted key swing voters who always seem to vote for the party which wins the election.

Most people like to think that they're immune from such easy manipulations, yet we still lap up details of how such and such a leader is now wearing ‘softer’ pastel colours, or has taken to wearing designer glasses. Its almost as if we want to feel we’re in on a secret to which no-one else is party, and then pump ourselves up because we alone can see why fellow voters now support the leader concerned.

Upon taking the helm of a party, it becomes time to start making lots of 'keynote' speeches saying that you are favour of good things and against bad things, while taking care not to get too hung up on the details. Its a time to get yourself associated with lots of uncontentious good causes, especially if they can involve the environment or, better still, telegenic small children. Above all, its a time to establish your credentials as a statesman, talking vaguely about the future and our collective responsibilities towards the aforementioned telegenic small children.

'Change' is always a good thing to call for at this point, especially if it refers to minor cosmetic alterations which can be dressed up in more radical language. If all this can somehow be presented as representing a 'challenge' to your party, then so much the better. The message must ring out that a new Captain is at the bridge, who believes whatever you believe, talks your language and knows just what needs to be done. And if you can do all of this within your first 100 days in the job, you might even start to win the support of some of the media talking heads who create the mood music now so crucial to ensuring a smooth elevation from opposition to power.

David ‘Dave’ Cameron, learning the lessons of how Tony Blair was created, is the latest in a line of Conservative Party leaders to go through this process. Gone are the stuffy jackets – its all open necked shirts and relaxed informality. He likes the Scots, since he holidays on Jura. And we'll have less of that chippy nonsense about him being an Eton toff, thank you very much. He might be a distant relation of the Queen and his wife a minor member of the aristocracy, but she does has a tattoo on her ankle. 'Chav-tastic', we are invited to exclaim- 'he's just like us after all!'

His latest wheeze has been to undertake some eco-tourism to a melting Norwegian glacier, to see for himself the effects of global warming. Sadly, no-one recorded whether he received an icy reception, or whether there was any symbolism with being out in the cold. Instead, we are being invited to believe by those who know that his visit demonstrated his acute understanding of the challenges presented by global climate change.

He doubtless returned to discuss his carbon neutral trip with colleagues over a cup of the Fairtrade tea they now serve back at Tory central office. Just don't ask too many questions about why he's chosen to trade in his gas-guzzling government car for, er, an equally thirsty SUV. Still, let's not be too harsh. After all, that four wheel drive and locking differential really will be handy for negotiating those speed bumps whenever the au-pair has to pop down to the local Waitrose.

So there you have the new, ethically aware and socially responsible Conservative party, being challenged and harried back into the mainstream of politics by the only man capable of effecting such a transformation. Ladies and gentlemen, I give you, your mate and mine, 'honest' Dave Cameron. Haud me back, as they say.

In case you detect a note of cynicism, let me say that its less about Cameron the individual, and more a revulsion at the perpetuation of the sinister and manipulative cult of personality which inflicted Thatcher and Blair upon us. It's a peculiarity of English politics that a people who have managed to resist totalitarianism down the centuries, still somehow seen to yearn for a benign dictator, who can bestride government like a colossus, will brook no dissent, is always right and can be relied upon to see off any uppity foreigners or bolshie trade unionists.

As a democrat, I actually quite like the idea of having a leader who is not all-powerful, who consults his party and who in office, needs to consult with others in order to enact policy. Elected dictatorships built around the supposed infalibility of a dear leader really aren't my thing at all. That's one of the reasons I want to see an Independent Scotland which has a balance of representation, and where people gain seats in the legislature based not on writing cheques or Prime Ministerial patronage, but instead on the breadth of support their views can command amongst the voters.

Cameron's great opportunity is that the leadership of the Conservative party has fallen into his lap at exactly the right time. The public seems finally to have tired of Blair's chicanery over 'cash for honours' and Iraq. Meanwhile, Gordon Brown is portrayed increasingly as something across between a figure of fun and the devil incarnate. People have huffed and puffed over Labour's lack of principals and integrity for a long time, but only now does it look like the house might actually be in danger of falling down.

At a Westminster level, England seems prepared at the moment to give Cameron a chance. But while he's clearly done his homework on how Labour managed to portray itself as a party capable of sweeping an incompetent and sleazy administration from office, he has yet to show that he's learned the most important lesson of all about Blairism. Namely, that while branding a party in the image of one man to whom the electorate seem to have warmed can bring success, it also shortens dramatically the shelf-life in government of that party.

Ultimately, no leader can be greater that the sum of his party, or as one of Cameron's speechwriters might be tempted to put it, it needs to be about 'we' rather than 'me'. It is often said that those who don't learn from history are condemned to repeat it. With England set to choose our government for us once more, the question is whether the Cameron effect will prompt the Scots to break this cycle when they next get the chance in 2007?