TEN years ago today, the Scottish Parliament was born in chaos. The election count at Edinburgh's Meadowbank sports centre had been suspended partway through when exhausted tellers walked out at 6:30am.
The Lothians' new list MSPs – including the then Scottish Tory leader David McLetchie and the man about to become presiding officer, Sir David Steel, had to wait until late afternoon before they knew if they had been elected. It was a shambolic start
to the new democracy.
The controversy continued in the early months of the parliament. MSPs' holidays and expenses seemed to dominate the agenda and they were even accused of awarding themselves medals. Lobbyists were caught claiming special access to ministers in the Lobbygate affair. Donald Dewar had to sack one special adviser for feeding false stories to the media and another quit after being arrested in a red light area. And, of course, there was the building – the Holyrood project was already being dogged by soaring costs and repeated delays.
However, none of the problems and rows invalidated the devolution exercise. Indeed, the level of scrutiny and public interest in what the parliament and MSPs were up to could be taken as evidence of the vibrancy of the new political culture which had been created.
There was the novel experience of coalition government; the SNP had a new platform as the main opposition; and the new voting system also delivered Robin Harper as the Greens' first parliamentarian in the UK, Scottish Socialist Tommy Sheridan and independent Dennis Canavan.
Whatever the policy debates, decisions on key areas of Scottish life – health, education, justice and more – were now being taken in Edinburgh instead of 400 miles away at Westminster. And the parliament sought to shape its own distinctive approach, very different from the House of Commons.
The steering group which worked out the details of how the parliament should operate set out four founding principles – power sharing between the parliament, the Scottish Executive and the people of Scotland; accountability; accessibility, openness and participation; and equal opportunities.
There is widespread agreement that the Scottish Parliament has brought politics closer to the people.
But the first decade of devolution has also been marked by tragedy and scandal.
Donald Dewar's death in October 2000, after just 17 months as first minister, robbed Scottish politics of the man who had embodied the devolution dream.
His successor, Henry McLeish, served for an even shorter period – just over a year – before he was forced to resign because of a "muddle" over his Westminster office expenses.
And before taking over as Scotland's third first minister in as many years, Jack McConnell decided to admit to an affair seven years previously so he could "clear the air" and avoid another premature exit.
Mr McConnell's five and a half years at the helm gave devolution some welcome stability – until the next drama of the SNP's narrow election victory in 2007, once more amid counting chaos, and the formation of the parliament's first minority government.
Ten years is a long time in anyone's life. A pupil starting secondary school the year the parliament was established could well be married with children of their own by now.
But in terms of a nation's history, a decade is not that long at all. It could be argued it is still too soon to reach a meaningful judgement on the success of the Scottish Parliament.
Nonetheless, the advent of devolution ten years ago has surely transformed Scotland.
Whatever verdict might be passed on the parliament's achievements or the MSPs who sit in it, Holyrood's existence has made a dramatic difference to the way Scots think and feel about politics. Anyone in any doubt can ask the Scottish MPs at Westminster, who have lost most of the limelight they used to enjoy. Instead, the focus of attention has shifted to Holyrood.
Instead of a Scottish Office staffed by ministers from the majority party in the Commons and answerable to Westminster, there is a government of ministers accountable directly to politicians elected and sitting in a legislature here in Scotland.
It seems incredible now that it was ever accepted that five Tories in St Andrew's House should run Scotland despite their party never winning even one-third of the Scottish seats at Westminster at any time since the Sixties.
So a decade of devolution has marked a major advance – but the tenth anniversary celebrations are being kept decidedly low-key.
The politicians have learned by experience that voters are not impressed by lavish spending. And there won't be a medal in sight.
