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All the Holyrood elections have been strange affairs and this one is not bucking that trend.

In addition to the campaign in Scotland, there is the Euro referendum, the self-immolation of Jeremy Corbyn’s Labour, the Conservative civil war, the collapse of the Lib Dems and UKIP finding it impossible to morph into a serious political party.

Something more serious is going on. This is the first Scottish Parliament election since the democratic explosion of the independence referendum – a Big Bang of energy and matter sweeping through our politics and public life like a hurricane, uprooting old ways and ramshackle attitudes.

READ MORE: Party leaders push for votes in run up to Scottish election on last leg of campaign trail

(Image: PA Wire)

Eventually, the storm passed and a new landscape emerged, utterly changed and, for some, completely bewildering.

All of this was democratising, even revolutionary. One where the clock cannot be put back or business as usual returned to. The 84.6 per cent turnout was higher in this country than at

any time since universal suffrage was introduced.

The slow retreat from that high watermark saw a turnout of 71.1 per cent in Scotland in last

year’s UK election – exactly five per cent above the UK average.

This year’s Scottish election will be down on this figure again – but higher than the 50 per cent figure of the last three contests. Already electoral registration at 4,100,280 is down significantly on the referendum – of 4,283,392.

There is Labour confusion. The party are not sure they should unapologetically represent the No vote in the referendum and worry they have permanently lost former supporters who voted Yes.

They have given half-hearted mea culpas and apologies, walking around pleading for people to stop hating them and to give them a second chance, all to no avail.

This shouldn’t surprise anyone as these were the Tory tactics of self-humiliation which they tried to no effect from the fall of Thatcher until recently.

The Scottish Tories seem to be a one-woman show but an impressive one.

You know where you stand with Ruth Davidson – for the union, no tax increases and ending some of the “free” stuff voters like.

They have become, by a mixture of their determination and Labour incompetence, the only empathic voice for No voters and the sole party who believe in the union with no qualms.

The Lib Dems have done well to keep going, with Willie Rennie showing verve and energy to little effect.

The Greens are a rising force with interesting ideas, positioning themselves on the side of a radically different independence from the SNP.

The battle for second and third position between Labour and the Tories, and fourth and fifth between Lib Dems and the Greens, is the main electoral battleground and may be decided by whose voters are most motivated.

There is much that should have dominated this election. The slowing economy, the crisis of public spending and the savage cuts coming.

The onward march of centralisation in public bodies and local government.

The failing standards of education and widening educational apartheid facing working-class kids.

The SNP, defending their record and impregnable lead, have wanted to keep off any such substance.

Instead, we have faced blunder-bussing. Easier and more convenient to talk about “opposing Tory austerity”, another referendum (for or against) or the prospective impact of Brexit than real bread and butter issues.

READ MORE: Nicola Sturgeon slammed by critics who claim pollsters will now decide when we have second Indyref



(Image: Getty)

This election confirms that a large part of Scotland has matured, grown up and doesn’t want to be fed the same stale, spin-controlled politics – but the same cannot be said for many of our politicians.

There is a paucity of ideas, of imagination and serious policy, combined with a lack of candour.

Worse, there is a fundamental lack of ambition for our country.

Westminster politics is broken. This leads to a conceit that all is well and healthy with home-grown Scottish politics.

When I watch some of the lacklustre Scottish TV political debates, with their evasions and half-truths on all sides, I am not sure what it is an advert for.

How would an independent Scotland be different from this childish behaviour? It even, for a second, makes me think we should return to Westminster direct rule. And then I remember the broken nature of that system.

That leaves us in a strange place. What has happened to the democratic spirit and energy on

display in the referendum campaign? That wasn’t just about Yes or No but a belief we could change and shape our own collective future.

This election has too many times seen the politicians of all the main parties carry on as if nothing has really changed.

People have grown up. We should not pretend that the charade of political debate before us is adequate for a nation which aspires to more than a slightly better version of today’s status quo, whether independent or not.