Nicola

You have to witness the Nicola phenomenon for yourself to realise how powerful and positive a force it is.   Everyone seems to want to be part of it.    

I have fought elections for almost forty years but today in the main square of Helensburgh walking around behind her and Brendan O'Hara, the SNP candidate for Argyll & Bute,  was an entirely new experience.

When I was SNP Chief Executive and regularly out on the stump with Alex when he was party leader I used to say that his ambition appeared to be to shake every hand in Scotland.  Now it seems every hand wants to take a selfie with Nicola. 

This  huge crowd (over 1000 I am sure, and apparently later there were almost 2000 in Largs) exuded happiness, commitment  and an affection for Nicola which was tangible.   You could feel them willing her to succeed and their pride in her doing so.   

Yet the the crowd was not unusual - and by that I mean it was as wide a cross section of Scotland as you could ever see.  Young mothers, old age pensioners, children, middle aged men and women, those who had been SNP members for years, those who had only just joined, those who declared themselves life long Labour voters (but no longer) - well, there was everything there. 

Including , on  the edge  of the good natured, happy  throng , four of five disconsolate looking individuals, one wrapped in a Union flag, and another in a knitted Union Jack skirt.  They could have been Tories, UKIP or football supporters - their  allegiance was far from clear.

But whatever they had come for, they were clearly not prepared for this and did not know whether to stay or go  , so strong was the attraction of this energetic, enthusiastic, extraordinary happening that was taking place in front of them and the charismatic pull of the woman in the middle of it. 

(You can see some more photographs from the Helensburgh visit on my Flickr page.)