It’s remarkable how we now take SNP electoral success for granted. For more than 70 years after its formation in 1934, the party that is “national” in name never came close to winning a parliamentary election in Scotland. The high point was October 1974, when the SNP took 11 of the then 71 Scottish seats in the House of Commons: about 15%.
The 2017 general election was a significant setback, with 21 seats lost out of the 2015 tally. Yet with 35 MPs out of 59 in Scotland — nearly 60% — the SNP still came out on top. In this time of minority government at Westminster, that’s the kind of “setback” the British parties would be delighted to have across the UK.
The likelihood