For the record, there's a Scottish Roundup election special on the way (hopefully to be published at 10pm), and I'll plan to focus my energies on Twitter tonight - with more expansive notes on here as required.

Ironic is that the 800th post on this blog should be a plug for my Twitter feed, where I will, of course, be following the debate.

MacNumpty on your Mobile

Don't worry, I'm not hacking into your bluetooth, I've just registered with this new fad, so as to make it easier to read the blog on a phone.

Simply go here:

http://macnumpty.mofuse.mobi/

Of course, seeing as most of my posts are - how to put this? - rather comprehensive affairs, it'll still take a while to load, but comes with a lovely quick index of recent posts, and without all the bells and whistles that trying to load the web page comes with. So a rather nifty thing, I think.

MacNumpty is 3

Yesterday, it transpires, was the third anniversary of this blog, which I opened with a post on the Thatcher legacy, and another on a row between Jack McConnell and the Home Office.

It's been some three years for my subject matter: the Dunfermline By-Election, which humiliated Labour; the Moray By-Election, which started the SNP ball rolling all the way to Bute House; the Election itself, of course; the establishment of the SNP Government; Gordon Brown's ascent to the Premiership; Labour's leadership travails at Holyrood; the Election that wasn't; the Glasgow East By-Election; and more recently, Glenrothes.

And it's been some three years for the blog (and the blogger): things started with the newly-installed Tory Leader of South Ayrshire Council contacting me regarding the change of Leadership there; being interviewed on Radio Scotland as the voice of Scottish bloggery; getting the chance to help out at the Scottish Roundup; getting involved with the ill-fated Terrywatch; and now having a monthly contribution in the Welsh publication Barn - I'll be producing the original versions of the articles at some point.

So all in all, it's been fun. Year 4 is shaping up to be a good one as well...

The more eagle-eyed amongst you will spot two new additions right at the top of the sidebar.

Lucky Number 2

This blog is two years old today, and I celebrate it on my decomposing laptop, with a monitor that has ceased to be and a keyboard that has its own ideas of what I should be typing, and how I should be typing it. It is, therefore, a typical birthday celebration in my family: a bit crappy and with a fiasco just around the corner. I was going to refer to various insanities that have taken place on birthdays past, but I'd be typing all night.

I was going to say something profound about how things have changed in the past two years. But why bother? I'd just be repeating myself. After all, the whole point of this blog is to say things about the changes as they are happening. Well, actually, it's an ego trip in which I swan about the internet, saying poncey things about politics, and the result of a wet day with nothing to do.

Of course, I have more to do these days, but I'm no less of a ponce and I still like a nice ego trip.

Two years on, and still swanning about. And as yet, no reason to stop.

Blowing one's own trumpet

Clearly, the good folks at STV (I refuse to do the lowercase thing) do not read this blog. Tonight, they expressed surprise that Rhona Brankin is the new Communities Minister, but when Chisholm resigned I discussed his replacement, and used the words: "My money's on Rhona Brankin, the Deputy Environment Minister."

Granted, I reached the conclusion by simple process of elimination, but all the same, I have been proven correct this time. Why can I predict this, but not the correct football results on a Saturday?

Anyway, Sarah Boyack is the new Deputy Environment Minister. Boyack was Transport & Environment Minister under Donald Dewar, then Transport & Planning Minister under Henry McLeish, then Backbencher under Jack McConnell, so this post has a 'Back to the Future' feel about it. There are three conclusions that we could come to (if we wanted to) about the appointment:

1. McConnell has been stung by criticism that his Ministerial team has a West of Scotland bias. Therefore the MSP for Edinburgh North & Leith (Chisholm) has been replaced by the MSP for Midlothian (Brankin), who has been replaced by the MSP for Edinburgh Central (Boyack). Even if Boyack's seat is very, very vulnerable.

2. McConnell is so worried about his long-term survival as Labour Leader that he is desperately trying to patch up the differences caused by his sacking of almost the entire Labour Ministerial team upon first taking office. Wendy Alexander is Convener of the Finance Committee. Tom McCabe is Finance Minister. Jackie Baillie seems to have become the Labour Party's 'fixer' and has got the Executive out of a number of tricky situations. Angus MacKay lost his seat in 2003 and Susan Deacon is standing down, so neither of them are a post-2007 threat.

3. The Labour MSPs who have not been appointed to anything at any point since May 1999 are such dodos, that even Jack McConnell will not let them near any levers of power.

Aaaarrrggghhh!!!!

Turns out I was on Radio Scotland this morning, discussing the state of Scottish blogging (the interview had been prepared before Christmas). It also turns out that I clearly need elocution lessons and a good voice coach. Oh well.

Fame at last!

Well, folks, I'm now on my way to fame and fortune: The Herald has picked up my ramblings on the decline and fall of the SSP and stuck them in their Blogworld feature, along with a snippet from the excellent doctorvee.

I shall, of course, be hiring Max Clifford to sell my life story to the highest bidder (the News of the World can't afford me anymore). I then expect nothing less than the pundits' spot on Politics Now. Or Politics Scotland, it depends on whether BBC Scotland or stv have the nicest buffet (or, indeed, any buffet).

When newsmakers talk, they talk to me!

I'm going to award myself a pat on the back and a fish supper for this: a man purporting not to be related to the new leader of South Ayrshire Council, despite having the same first name, surname and enclosing some South Ayrshire Council-related press releases and a link to Councillor MacDonald's website - www.gibsontmacdonald.co.uk - has been in contact with me to introduce himself an some of his policies (OK, it's not quite the same as getting an exclusive interview with George Bush the such like, but for a site that's less than a month old, I'm chalking this up as an early success).

I think it's fair to say that the good Councillor has decided to swig from a poisoned chalice: his administration has pledged to clear the Council's projected £15million defecit. This means that it's curtains for the Council's Environment and Infrastructure Department, which according to projections, had it not been broken up by the Council on Friday, would have overspent by £1.66 million.

Of course, the reality is that he needs the voters of North Carrick and Maybole East to be favourable to him by returning a Tory in February. If they vote Labour, then he's in real trouble (they're back to the 15-15 stalemate and a Labour Provost holding the casting vote). If they vote for someone else entirely then he might just get away with it (though there will have to be concessions to the new Councillor).

But what's really surprising is that the LibDems haven't put a link to the By-Election (due on 2 February, and bound to get ugly) on their website. Normally when a sitting Councillor dies, they announce the impending vote before rigor mortis has set in. Perhaps they don't quite know how to deal with a resignation like Andy Hill's?

P.S. The good Councillor made the time to describe this humble site as 'very neat and crisp'. Say what you like about the Tories (and I frequently do), they can be charming.