It would have been easy to forget the SNP’s manifesto launch was for a local election, not a national vote.
From pledges to push for independence to denials of a cover-up over the ongoing ferries fiasco, council issues were largely absent from the discussion at times.
And in truth, the SNP manifesto looks rather thin, with very little in the way of new policy proposals or ideas.
Net zero pledges and promises to keep council tax bills down will be more than familiar to voters by now.
Tackling the cost of living crisis was the main theme of Nicola Sturgeon’s speech to supporters in Greenock.
It certainly gave the First Minister another chance to take aim at Rishi Sunak and Boris Johnson.
But the cost of living emergency has perhaps become a useful shield for the SNP and rival parties. Something to distract them from being forced to deliver key local services.
While Nicola Sturgeon was happy, at times, to talk about national issues, her frustration was apparent as she was repeatedly quizzed over the ferry scandal.
However, SNP members and their leader herself remained optimistic at the manifesto launch. And perhaps with good reason.
FInally it's no surprise that independence and a referendum appear in an SNP manifesto, but is it really appropriate for one which is about what councils can deliver? pic.twitter.com/gZexUNSAl5
— @GinaDavidson (@ginadavidsonlbc) April 22, 2022
If the First Minister failed to offer any new ideas during her speech, it was perhaps because she doesn’t have to.
After 15 years in power at Holyrood, her party still looks set to dominate next month’s local election.
And with Labour demanding windfall taxes and the Tories fighting on the union, the SNP are hardly the only party to put out a national manifesto for a local election.
Local matters may continue to go unnoticed, but there’s a sense that perhaps that’s by design.
Conversation