IT is unfortunate that the bogus fetishisation of a majority – despite the proportional voting system which we rightly have in Scotland – has become the favoured approach of a Tory UK Goverment and some parts of the UK media, determined to delegitimise Scottish democracy.

But the facts speak for themselves. Not only has the SNP taken 85% of the constituencies in Scotland but by any standard a party in government for 14 years which has just recorded the highest ever vote and vote share in a devolved election, is still taking new constituencies and has brought into frontline politics a whole host of new people (mostly women) is a winner and has the right to implement its manifesto. The fact that this has been achieved during a pandemic reflects even more strongly on the exceptional talents and leadership of Nicola Sturgeon.

More comparisons add to that fact. The share of the vote that the SNP achieved on Thursday is considerably greater not just than that won by Boris Johnson in the 2019 Westminster election (when he secured a Westminster majority of 80) but is also more than 10 points higher than David Cameron’s vote share in 2015 which allowed him to hold the Brexit referendum with no questions asked about his mandate.

The SNP will therefore bring an independence referendum bill to the Scottish Parliament at the appropriate time and – if it passes with Green support – an independence referendum will be held. If a Tory UK Goverment wanted then to interdict democracy in order to try and defeat the clearly expressed desire of the people of Scotland to choose their future then that would be their unfortunate, and self-defeating, choice.

These will be issues, however, for the coming months. The immediate work of the next two weeks will be to get the sixth Parliament since devolution up and running.

The sheer excitement that will be felt by the many new MSPs will be a joy to behold. I remember advising Ross Greer on his first day in 2016 to enjoy the experience, both at the start and throughout his term, and if he didn’t then to recognise that politics wasn’t for him. That remains my view.

The new members will start their job, after an inevitable party pep talk and the getting of the all important photo, access and voting pass, with a formal induction, which given Covid will undoubtedly be fully socially distanced Then later in the week they will take their oath or affirmation.

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I once took mine in the three voices of Scotland – English, Gaelic and Scots – earning a sneering rebuke from Alan Cochrane in his Telegraph column, but I would defend the right of any member to choose what expresses best who they are. Catalan, Urdu and Italian have all been used in the past.

Unlike at Westminster there are enough offices for everyone but no one will be able to settle down and unpack quite yet as the allocation of floors and individual spaces in the Members Block will depend on the numbers in each party, including the number of ministers. They are based in the Ministerial Tower, at the other end of the Holyrood’s central space, the Garden Lobby.

The election of the Presiding Officer at the end of the week is the penultimate step to getting normal business underway. Given the break down of the parties it is unlikely that any SNP member will stand, as that would reduce the party’s voting strength. That was why Bruce Crawford – the best Presiding Officer the Parliament never had – did not contest in 2016.

The job is particularly crucial at this time because the reform of some basic parts of the Holyrood system are long overdue. There are too many committees, spreading members too thinly and preventing them from specialising in a way that would help scrutinise and develop policy. That means that this time a strong leader of, and advocate for, the Parliament is needed with the determination to see change through and to do so quickly.

A Presiding Officer (and deputies) having been elected, the following week will see the nomination of the First Minister and then the other ministers by her.

With four retiring Cabinet members, and a host of talent on her benches, she has the chance to remake her administration and focus it on the challenges of rebuilding after the pandemic whilst facing up to the climate emergency.

As a result I suspect that special advisers will have spent long hours in recent days looking at the portfolios and working out what changes would fine-tune the Goverment and prepare it for another five years – and looking at who might fill them.

Finally, and again unlike at Westminster, the Parliament will vote on the nominations in what will be the first political battle. Election arguments unwon will be fresh in the minds of every MSP and therefore it will be a bit of a disappointment to anyone who is looking for a new start and a break from confrontation.

But the nominations will go through and the Parliament will be ready to start its sixth session.

I shall be watching with interest and rooting for all my former colleagues, and the newbies, but particularly for my successor Jenni Minto who stormed to victory in Argyll & Bute on Thursday.

Good luck to her and all of them.