When my sister-in-law stood in the recent local elections in England, I cheered her on. And when she won a seat on her parish council, we cracked open the Champagne.
In all the political drama of the past 48 hours, in Strasbourg and in London, the sideshow of the SNP’s Westminster rump has not merited much attention.
The people I know who marched through London on Saturday demanding a second referendum on Brexit all had a good day out.
The world’s view of Britain is shaped as much by cultural and sporting events as by politics and international conflict, according to Neil MacGregor, who has made a programme, As Others See Us, currently being aired on Radio Four.
When Pete Wishart announced last week that he was hankering after the speaker’s job, if John Bercow ever quits, he was mocked and mostly by his own side.
Conservative threats to kick out Michael Heseltine for backing the Liberal Democrats show how perilously close the party is to self-destruction.
Nicola Sturgeon is in London again today, this time not just for the photo opportunities – although she is certain to grab those, too – but to discuss Brexit with the Prime Minister.
Derek Mackay, the SNP’s finance minister, thinks if he keeps blaming Scotland’s problems on Brexit they will go away. As he prepares to deliver his budget in the Scottish parliament today, he will be hoping the chaos over Europe will serve as a distraction from his own predicament.
Where has Tony Blair been for the past two or three years? Clearly not in Scotland because he doesn’t have a clue what people here are thinking.
There may be a few days left of 2018, but I think it’s safe to say the big triumph this year is that we’ve got through it without an election.