Lesley Riddoch: Covid has revealed governments' true colours

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We asked what she thought of the upcoming Holyrood election, her view of indyref2 and where she most likes to visit in Scotland...

Actually, the late, great Herald features writer Anne Simpson approached me in the 1980s, when I was presenting a daily current affairs programme called Speaking Out. She suggested that with the volume of information I was ploughing through every day, I should find column-writing relatively easy.

That started me writing Herald columns - though, an edict from the BBC soon stopped them. Later I left broadcasting permanently to write, campaign and work in papers. I've no regrets!

Career! I don't think I've been a conscious part of anything that planned. But I suppose winning a Sony Speech Broadcaster Award was a highlight because it was so competitive.

With parents from Wick and Banffshire and thus 16 years of northern childhood holidays, the Highlands and Islands are my favourite part of Scotland - the more remote the better.

I go to Orkney for the folk festival, the Uists for cycling, machair and general dreaminess, Assynt for mountains, Eigg for the craic and all points between to visit friends.

I realise the main reason I'm not living north of the Great Glen fault right now is that I cannae choose between all these locations.  

Embarrassing. I was awarded a PhD last year that took a decade to finish and promptly turned it into a book - Huts,a place beyond. I had to plough through so many articles and books (in English and Norwegian) that reading became a non-stop chore.

There's a leaning tower of books waiting to be read. So far I've only finished one - a spectacular and mystical book about Finland's love affair with the forest; Tree People by Ritva Kovalainen and Sanni Seppo.

It would be great to write about the whole gamut of social and political issues facing Scots. I've spent most of the past twenty years arguing for land reform and more genuinely local control and as Director of the Policy Group Nordic Horizons, I'm keen to encourage Scots to know more about small countries that share our population size and latitude.

Realistically, though, the constitutional question will dominate Scottish political life until a second indyref resolves it.   

The slow return from Covid lockdown will dominate daily lives, the May elections and subsequent demands for indyref2 will dominate political headlines and COP26 and a renewed sense of purpose in tackling the climate crisis will gather pace as countries around the world build back differently from the Covid crisis.   

Covid has revealed the two governments in their true colours. The British Government tends to make (and break) wildly overblown promises on testing, PPE, school return and public services other countries just get on and deliver.

It consults inexperienced cronies who win multi-million contracts - but local government, devolved administrations and the scientific community not so much.

The Scottish Government's preference for a four nations approach has meant hesitancy and delay, but few seriously doubt their bona fides and trustworthy leadership has bolstered confidence and lockdown compliance.   

Despite current infighting, and an electoral system that should prevent it, I expect the SNP will win an overall majority. I

ndependence supporters have nowhere else to go with their first votes, Nicola Sturgeon has won new support for her Covid management and opposition parties are still in disarray.

It will be the talk of the steamie across the whole of Britain until it actually takes place.