Scottish politics, the parliament, the nature of government and the role of First Minister changed when the SNP inched past the Labour Party in May 2007 and formed its first ever administration.
The role of First Minister has been of major importance in the evolution of devolution and Scotland. But it has to be seen in a broader context about the changing nature of leadership and political leadership, voter expectations, and the relevant role of other political institutions and of democratic accountability.
Scottish political discourse over the past 24 years has articulated too much in terms of Scottish exceptionalism, with too little reference to what people, processes and institutions actually do. One example being the chasm between the real parliament and what it does – and the idea of a parliament – the differences between which being barely examined.
This needs to change in the future, otherwise the establishment of the parliament will become less associated with self-government and more with the transfer of power from one insider political class to another insider political class, with the vast majority of people reduced to passive spectators.