Reporting from the SNP manifesto launch
I wrote this blog for my work's website . The huge queue which stretched down Morrison Street seemed more akin to a sold-out concert than a party political gathering. The buoyancy and confidence was palpable as over 1,400 party members packed out the Edinburgh International Conference Centre for a sleek and tightly-managed event. As the lights dimmed and the room fell silent for a slick audio-visual display on the auditorium’s four-sided screen, it hit home just how far the SNP has come in such a short space of time. John Swinney’s declaration that this was the “largest manifesto launch Scotland has ever seen” was beyond dispute. It was all a little bewildering for one long-time SNP member, who said he could recall an era when the party held these kind of events in somebody’s front room. He might have been exaggerating, but this launch was further confirmation of this party’s metamorphosis from recalcitrant outsiders into a new – and seemingly untouchable – political estab