After Hubris Syndrome, Nemesis? (2014). What awaits Alex Salmond

“There was too much over-confidence, a willingness to believe the advance hype that victory was inevitable. And then there was the biggest block of all: Mr Salmond’s refusal to listen to advice.

Chris Deerin blog, 11 August 2014.
Also published in the Scottish Daily Mail

An MSP recounts how he was eating in the restaurant of the Scottish Parliament recently when Alex Salmond came in. Upon sitting down, the First Minister regally held out his hands. An accompanying flunkey whipped out some hand sanitiser and reverently smeared it on to the sacred mitts of power.

A small thing, perhaps, but small things can contain big truths. The man who no longer believes he should have to apply his own soap is the same man who swaggered into last Tuesday’s debate with Alistair Darling expecting to walk it and who staggered out two hours later having been roundly thrashed. I don’t think the two events are entirely unconnected.

…

The reasonably basic question SNP strategists need to answer before the second debate later this month is: what the hell is wrong with our guy? I’m told that during their practice sessions for the debate Mr Darling was played brilliantly by the lawyer and former MSP Duncan Hamilton. The Labour man’s every tactic and question were anticipated, ‘almost as if Duncan had the No campaign script’.

But against this there were too many advisors offering too many clashing opinions. There was too much over-confidence, a willingness to believe the advance hype that victory was inevitable. And then there was the biggest block of all: Mr Salmond’s refusal to listen to advice. This takes us to the heart of a messy problem that may be unfixable.

Read the full blog here: After Hubris Syndrome, Nemesis?