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3 May 2011updated 18 Jan 2012 4:28am

How the uncrowned king of Scotland lost his way

The Scottish National Party, under the clever leadership of Alex Salmond, is likely to retain power

By Rob Brown

“The only question ye have tae ask yersel’, son, is this. Dae ye trust me?” Such was Alex Salmond’s final, desperate overture in 2007, when he sought to cajole Robin Harper, the then co-convener of the Scottish Green Party, into propping up the nation’s first nationalist administration. Now, for the second time, the Scottish National Party’s supremo is bent on boiling an entire election battle for the Scottish Parliament down to the same basic question. The answer he looks likely to get from the electorate on 5 May is much the same as the one he got four years ago: “Aye, up to a point.”

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