The new road

Ten years ago today I was standing for re-election to the Scottish Parliament after four years of being out of it after my defeat at the end of the first session in May 2003.

As I was then a list member for the South of Scotland my count was in Dumfries but the final outcome was not known until almost 6.00am due in part to the counting staff in Ayr going home without communicating their figures! There were therefore very few of us left to hear the declaration though by that time on the national scene it was beginning to look as if the SNP might be the largest party.

However that was only confirmed much later on the 4th after an eagle eyed Dave Thomson corrected the Returning Officer in the Highlands regarding the totals in their list count ( the last one) propelling himself into the Parliament and securing the 47th seat which beat Labour by one.

By that stage Cathleen and I were back at home watching on TV and it was an emotional moment given we had all worked so long for the an SNP victory. I rang Winnie Ewing whilst we opened a bottle of champagne but even then nobody really knew if the party would be able to form a minority Government, something that was only confirmed when Alex Salmond was elected First Minister on the 16th of May.

I became Environment Minister on the 17th of May, much to my surprise, and in the last ten years I have held Ministerial office for all but 21 months , leaving in November 2014 after the referendum but being asked back by Nicola Sturgeon, the present First Minister, last August.

No Government is perfect but I hope that most would agree that we have all worked hard and tried our best to serve Scotland and all it's people with diligence and intelligence. There is much more to do ( as there always is) and the current threat of Brexit (which occupies almost all my waking moments ) is particularly worrying.

But progress continues - progress of all sorts, tangible and intangible . The former must include the new M8 which is now now fully open and on which I came back home for the first time tonight in time to be out working on the local elections tomorrow which are particularly crucial in Argyll and Bute given the very poor present administration.