A new dawn beckons ...Behold! A mighty Norseman has swept down from the icy wastes, plundering everything in his unstoppable path. This heroic figure will inspire and transform the parochial world of Scottish politics forever. His name? Tavish Scott.
Well, maybe not. Young Tavish was the predictable choice of the Scottish Lib Dems - all 4000-odd of them who could be bothered to vote. What difference will the bold Tavish make? Not a significant one, one would imagine. Outside the Holyrood bubble life goes on as normal and the elevation of Tavish has hardly captured the imagination. Will it change your life? Will you remember where you were when Tavish was elected leader of the Scottish Lib Dems? No, thought not. Is it even a new golden dawn for the Lib Dems in Scotland? Nah, don't think so.
The Lib Dem leadership election hardly excited the media much either, with so much of genuine interest going on elsewhere. The world's response to Russian aggression, Alistair Darling's refreshingly honest and candid Guardian interview on the state of the economy, Obama's coronation swiftly followed by the Republican's surprise choice of little-known Alaskan governor Sarah Palin as McCain's running mate - perhaps not too surprising that the media's attentions were elsewhere.
However in a spirit of generosity let me wish Tavish well - he's probably a damn fine decent chap in line with all the damn fine decent chaps who have gone before. But just perhaps the new leader will be able to make it clear at last what the point of the Lib-Dems is - just what are the Lib-Dems actually for?.
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