ABSTRACT
This conclusion presents some closing thoughts on the concepts covered in the preceding chapters of this book. The book analyses the trend in unemployment in Scotland in the twelve to eighteen months before an election with that in the United Kingdom as a whole. It argues that it was highly instructive that of the eight elections covered where the Conservatives were the incumbent party, there were just two in which the Scottish economy was outperforming the rest of the United Kingdom - in February 1974 and 1992. The book shows that the strengthening of the party’s organisation by professional central control was at the expense of social and cultural ties, particularly at the local level. The policy commission was given the task of creating new policies which would be ‘made in Scotland’. A unionist party in Scotland should be wary of simply offering an alternative nationalism. In fact its theoretical stand should reflect the principles of patriotism which is inclusive.
