Theme: Parties & Elections | Content Type: Journal article

Free to read

Diary of an SNP First Minister: A Chronopolitics of Proximity and Priorities

Hannah Graham

zoran-borojevic-6qThS1x6P6A-unsplash

Zoran Borojevic

| 1 min read

This article provides a content analysis of Nicola Sturgeon's first ministerial diaries in the final two years of her leadership (April 2021–March 2023). As first minister, to whom and what did she give her time—which issues and interest groups had access? Which didn't? Or, who and what may be missing? An audience with a national leader can be indicative of priorities and potential for influence—as can its absence. The lens of chronopolitics—the politics of time—is used here to consider twenty-four months of diaries, with 681 entries. Some key social and political issues in Scotland were kept away from the FM's meetings and delegated to other ministers to oversee, whereas other issues appear to be signature priorities, including climate and the environment, economy and finance, culture, and health and Covid-19.

Read the full article on Wiley

Need help using Wiley? Click here for help using Wiley

Volume 96, Issue 4

Latest Journal Issue

Volume 96, Issue 4

Includes a broad range of other articles including 'Nigel Farage is no Ramsay MacDonald: Comparing the Rise of Reform with the Rise of Labour' by Ben Jackson, 'Are the Rights of Nature the Only Way to Save Lough Neagh?' by Laurence Cooley and Elliott Hill, and 'Modernising the House: Why the 2024 Parliament Highlights the Need to Formalise Party-Group Rights in the House of Commons' by Louise Thompson. Reports include 'Before the Boil: Addressing the UK's Living Standards Crisis' by Alfie Stirling, and 'Understanding Inequality in the UK: What Can We Learn from the Deaton Review?' by Indranil Dutta. Finally, there is a selection of book reviews such as Mary Dejevsky's review of Everyday Politics in Russia: From Resentment to Resistance, by Jeremy Morris, and Donald Sassoon's review of One Day, Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This, by Omar El Akkad.

Find out more about the latest issue of the journal