Nicol Stephen 'gets things done'

By Andrew Black
Political reporter
BBC Scotland news website

It perhaps was not the best start to the Scottish Liberal Democrats' manifesto launch.

There stood party leader Nicol Stephen, the magnificent backdrop of the Edinburgh skyline behind him, ready to deliver his bold proposals to "get things done".

Nicol Stephen has placed a high priority on young people

But when he started to speak his voice was not heard.

Actually to be fair it was heard - just not through the headphones of various members of the broadcast media who attended.

The cause was apparently a spot of microphone bother.

After a quick fiddle with the technical equipment, an undeterred Mr Stephen took a second shot - but the gremlins had not left the building.

A party worker arrived at the lectern to help solve the problem while photographers eagerly snapped away - a mobile phone ring adding to the tension.

But eventually the Lib Dem leader decided just to go for it.

Mr Stephen's message was that the Scottish Liberal Democrats had become the party of the future, winning, according to his manifesto, in new parts of Scotland and with an increasing share of the vote.

Build momentum

The 87-page document set out their plans for health, justice and education, as well as the headline policies on young people and renewable energy.

The calendar-style manifesto included a month-by-month account of when new policies would be brought forward - May for health, June for the Future of Scotland Bill, July for crime reduction, and so on, but seemed to stop after December.

So what would happen after then? Would that be it for the Scottish Liberal Democrats?

Absolutely not, insisted Mr Stephen, who said the manifesto would build momentum before delivering plenty over the forthcoming four-year parliamentary session.

And during the launch event at a conference centre in the Scottish capital Mr Stephen, whose party has served in two coalition governments with Labour, insisted the Scottish Lib Dems were a political force in their own right.

He said the campaign was not looking ahead to negotiations and expressed his wish for the party to be the biggest in Scotland.

Mr Stephen has always made much of the fact that he and his party campaigns positively, away from the "Punch and Judy-style" politics of rivals.

As some observers may argue, there's no show without punch.