Podcast of Ideas: Has Scottish devolution been a failure?
From Academy of Ideas by academyofideas
May 2, 2026 · 1h 6m · Episode 316
About this episode
The episode discusses the implications of Scottish devolution and the upcoming elections, featuring insights from Dean Thomson.
Ahead of the elections to the Scottish Parliament on Thursday 7 May, Alastair Donald and Rob Lyons talked to Dean Thomson, author of Scotland Undone: Nationalism, Dogma, and Decline in the Devolution Era. In a wide-ranging discussion, topics included: Thoughts on what will happen in the election, including the fall and rise of the SNP, the Reform UK insurgency, the decline of Labour and Conservatives The much-forgotten 'double out' voters who want to leave the UK and voted to leave the EU How devolution came about and how the SNP went from opponents to claiming it as their own The rise of the 'lanyard class' in Scotland The prospects for the future - do we need a more federal UK?
People in this episode
Hosts: Alastair Donald, Rob Lyons
Guest: Dean Thomson
Topics covered
- Scottish devolution
- SNP
- political elections
- Labour decline
- federal UK
Keywords
- Scottish devolution
- SNP
- political elections
- Labour
- Reform UK
- federal UK
- nationalism
Mentioned in this episode
Books & works: Scotland Undone: Nationalism, Dogma, and Decline in the Devolution Era
Places: Scotland, UK
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