While the left unsurprisingly praised the result, anarchists should be more critical. After all, we have been here before. A hundred years ago saw the social democrats do the same thing across the world. It did not take long for them to descend into reformism. Three decades ago, a similar fate awaited the German Greens. Today Brazil sees a former leftist head an amazingly orthodox government aiming to make capitalism work better.
Anarchists, therefore, have a role to play in raising critical voices. The history of radicals using elections has been a sorry one. We should renew our arguments for direct action and anti-parliamentarianism so that we are a pole of attraction for those sickened by the compromises of electioneering and the rising reformism of these parties. We will not have long to wait.
The politics of the SSP are a mishmash of populism, Scottish nationalism and social democracy. Which means that there will be a significant left reformist voice in the Scottish Assembly, nothing more.
The SSP is sowing illusions in reformism while proclaiming itself "revolutionary" as well as nationalism. Throughout the campaign they put forward a Scandinavian social democracy as a model for Scotland. Tommy Sheridan, its leader, even went as far as saying he was in favour of the 'mixed economy' and did not call for the nationalisation of key companies such as Tescos (anyone familiar to his book "Imagine" will not be surprised by this).
The long history of elections de-radicalising those who use them is being repeated.