A year ago the public went to the polls and cast the votes that propelled the SNP to power. DAVID MADDOX talks to some of those involved in the historic events
Allan Wilson"I've stopped feeling angry about it now, but at the time I was furious and I thought the returning officer was a clown.
"What happened was that he denied me a recount even though the margin of error was so small.
I think that is unprecedented.
"It was also very depressing and at the time I was drained both emotionally and physically because I had been up since early the morning before.
"I often think that had there been a recount and I had been victorious, then Labour would have won by one seat, Jack McConnell would be First Minister and things would have been very different indeed."
• Allan Wilson, former Labour minister who controversially lost his Cunninghame North seat by 48 votes
Dave Thompson"At about 5pm we were called over by the returning officer to be told the results of the regional list vote and he said that Labour had four, the Tories two, the Greens one and none for us. I was amazed.
"I had been doing my own tally and reckoned we had 35 per cent of the vote, which meant we should have five seats. It did not seem right we should only have the four constituency seats, the same number as Labour.
"So just as the returning officer was about to get up on to the podium to announce the results I stood in his way to stop him.
"The resulting review of the result showed that the SNP list votes had not been counted and the party ended up with two regional list seats, Labour three and the Conservatives two."
I often think how different things might have been had I not intervened. We probably would have won a court challenge but it would have tainted the SNP victory, people would have thought we won on a technicality."
• Dave Thompson, SNP Highlands MSP who decisively intervened in Inverness
John Curtice"It was the closest election since 1974 when Labour and the Conservatives were neck-and-neck and I have to say it was very exciting.
"Of course we didn't know what was going to happen until right up to the end when the last seats were declared.
"I always thought the SNP would win by a narrow margin, but there were times when it looked like they wouldn't when they failed to win target seats, but then they made some surprising gains.
I have a certain sense of déjà vu this year with last year. I was sitting in BBC television centre waiting for the much delayed results of an election. This year it's London, last year Scotland.
"In both cases it was because of electronic counting which appears to be much slower than manual counting. It makes me wonder why we bother with it if it is not quicker than counting by hand."
• Professor John Curtice, leading election analyst
Kevin Stewart"I think that was one of the most memorable moments of my life when Alex Salmond walked in to hear the result. We cheered him all the way in.
"Having said that, none of us were sure we had won until the last seats were declared. I remember the excitement the next day when we realised that we had two list seats even though we had so many North-east constituencies and how that meant we were probably over the line.
"But then there was the disappointment over what we heard was happening in the Highlands and how we appeared not to have won as many seats as we had expected, but then the enormous relief after we heard of Dave Thompson's intervention there."
• Kevin Stewart, Aberdeen City Council SNP group leader, who was at the Exhibition and Conference Centre
Malcolm Bruce"Salmond was completely graceless in victory. He strode in surrounded by police and lackeys, made a highly political speech which ignored all the usual niceties of thanking people. Normally people thank the other candidates and the returning officer and staff. Salmond didn't bother with any of that.
"He treated Nora (Radcliffe] with absolute contempt which was completely unnecessary.
"Salmond then cleared off to declare himself leader of the nation in Edinburgh. He didn't actually thank the voters of Gordon for a whole week which I found quite astounding."
• Malcolm Bruce, Gordon Lib Dem MP who was also at the count in the AECC.
Annabel Goldie"I felt a certain wry satisfaction as the results came in and it became clearer that what I had always said should happen would happen. For two years I had been saying that it would better for Scotland to have a minority administration with parties working with them or against them on an issue by issue basis.
"I was much derided in all corners for saying that and for campaigning on it as well. But as the night and then day went on, suddenly people seemed to be agreeing with me.
"I think we can see now that those of us who were ready for it mentally have won concessions in parliament, whereas the former administration parties have achieved very little."
• Annabel Goldie, leader of the Scottish Conservatives
Colin Fox"It was an embarrassing debacle for Scotland. At the time I said it was like a banana republic without the bananas or the republic.
"Of course it was tense and frustrating. I remember after we were sent home I couldn't sleep. We were expecting to be wiped out because of Tommy Sheridan's court case and the resulting split of the socialists.
"I actually felt more sorry for the Greens who seemed to be genuinely shocked. Some of them were in tears. I think they genuinely thought they would make gains."
• Colin Fox, Scottish Socialist Party leader who watched at the Lothians count debacle
Mark Ruskin"I was just gutted. It was all the more depressing when I was involved in the negotiations with the SNP and it was clear our two MSPs had more influence than our seven had done before.
"I remember through the night at the Glenrothes Sports Centre how it was becoming clear that the SNP were making big surprising gains off Labour and how that meant that Labour would get list seats, when before they had none.
"There was nothing we could do about it, but it was very frustrating and totally depressing."
• Mark Ruskin, the Green campaign director who lost his Mid Fife and Central Scotland seat.
Gavin Brown"It was the longest and hardest night of my life.
"The count itself was a debacle and a joke. We were sent home at 5am and had to come back at 10am. But it was worth the wait in the end because I had the absolute joy and privilege of winning a seat and becoming an MSP."
• Gavin Brown, Conservative Lothians MSP
Hamish Macdonell"One of my strongest recollections from election night itself was frustration – because it soon became apparent we weren't going to get a definitive result for some considerable time.
"The early results were hard to gauge, principally because they came from Labour heartlands. Labour was winning most of its usual run of early seats but with greatly reduced majorities. The SNP was making progress but it was impossible to tell until the regional list results started coming through, whether the Nationalists would have done enough to win the election.
"The fiasco over the spoiled ballot papers hardly helped matters, because this also may have contributed to Labour's lower than usual returns."
• Hamish Macdonell is the Scottish Political Editor of The Scotsman
The full article contains 1308 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
