Sturgeon mobbed by SNP supporters after leaders' debate

Jubilant supporters have mobbed Nicola Sturgeon during a triumphant walkabout through west Edinburgh the morning after her performance in a TV debate made her the most popular party leader in the UK.
A crowd of SNP voters – some hardened activists, others new arrivals swept along in the swelling tide behind Sturgeon’s party – were uncritically ecstatic in their reception of Scotland’s first minister. If the event had been intended as a simple photocall, the upbeat atmosphere turned it into something closer to a coronation.
“Good job last night Nicola,” shouted one man. A woman close by yelled: “You were wonderful.”
Poised, coiffed and grinning, Sturgeon stood for a string of selfies. She was told by one mother posing for a picture with her sons: “Well done last night, you done women proud. Thank you. Thank you so much!”
There were toddlers to meet and chemists to charm. And as motorists sounded their car horns in an impromptu chorus, Sturgeon affected modesty over the acclaim following the seven-way leaders’ debate. “The feedback, as far as I have seen – and it is up for other people to judge – has been positive,” she said.
The SNP leader said she was delighted to have the chance to bring her message to a UK-wide platform. She said she would, in conjunction with the English Greens and Plaid Cymru, challenge “the old boys’ club” at Westminster, on behalf of not just Scottish and Welsh nationalists but progressives in England too.
“I’m very keen to find that common ground, and if we’re in a position to do so, find that common ground and deliver change,” she said. “We’ve got to see how people vote. After all, there’s a danger that all of us will get carried away with the post-match analysis.”
Judging by the energy and spirit of the scores of activists gathered on St John’s Road in the prosperous and secure suburb of Costorphine, the incumbent Liberal Democrats are unlikely to hold this seat at Westminster in May.
Until the SNP’s remarkable surge after last year’s independence referendum, Edinburgh West was a three-way marginal in which the nationalists were a distant fourth. Five years ago the Lib Dems’ Mike Crockart took it with a 3,803-vote majority over Labour, with the Tories a close third. The SNP was more than 10,000 votes behind Crockart.
But the referendum campaign has changed that. While Edinburgh West, like most of Scotland’s capital, voted heavily against independence last September, by 42,946 against to 22,615 in favour, the SNP has effectively kept every one of those yes votes and built on them. To have any hope of holding the seat, the Lib Dems need Tory and Labour no voters to act tactically in their favour to hold off the SNP.
To add to the Lib Dems’ discomfort, the SNP’s campaign headquarters are in the old Yes Scotland shop immediately next door to Crockart’s high street office.
Nevertheless, as scores of raucous SNP supporters – their saltires, SNP placards and balloons above their heads – greeted Sturgeon’s arrival, protected behind a privacy screen four Lib Dem staff stoically continued working on their campaign. Crockart was away at a meeting.
A tall young man in the subdued office seemed to shrug off the contrast. Were they flustered by the huge crowds outside? “Not really. We had it during the referendum. It’s fine. It’s democracy,” he said.
As across Scotland, the 2010 results in Edinburgh West are a historical irrelevance. The referendum has changed the political map. Now the SNP could well win. Their candidate is Michelle Thomson, a businesswoman who became an active figurehead of the small but active pro-independence Business for Scotland campaign.
Despite the surge of enthusiasm, Sturgeon had a warning to deliver. She had seen during the referendum campaign thousands of yes activists celebrating before polling day, assuming victory and then tasting defeat.
So in her parting words, Sturgeon yelled over her supporters heads: “If you want Michelle to be your MP, you’ve got to get out there and make it happen.”