This week will be a busy one at Holyrood. Although he is leader of the party with a majority in the new Scottish Parliament, Alex Salmond still has to be nominated as First Minister. The Queen carried out the formal appointment on the advice of the Presiding Officer within 28 days of the General Election. The provisional date for the first meeting of Parliament and election of the new Presiding Officer is Wednesday May 11 2011. Some pundits have said that Tavish Scott would like the job and that is why he has resigned from the leadership of the LibDems.
Tomorrow at 2pm you can go along to a University of Edinburgh event to discuss the recent election. Dr Nicola McEwen, Co-director of Institute of Governance and Dr Meryl Kenny, Politics and IR, will give an overview of the campaign and the result of the election to the Scottish Parliament, held on 5 May. The speakers will also address questions about the extent to which the elections can be classed as “second order”; and the impact of the election results on gender balance and prospects for “new politics”.
A drugs courier arrested at Haymarket Station yesterday is thought to have been carrying around £140,000 worth of heroin, according to Scotland on Sunday.
The BBC remind us that the smelly plant, Titan Arum, is due to flower at The Botanics in a few weeks. Go there if you dare. We went a couple of years back and it is very smelly indeed. It is said to smell like a corpse to attract insects. Another of the weird and wonderful plants that they have at The Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh. And tonight you could start a botanical art class at The Botanics which takes place weekly until the beginning of July. “This 8 week class introduces students to techniques in botanical painting. Students will develop drawing skills, learn to use watercolours and pen and ink effectively and create work inspired by fresh material from the Garden.”
STV report on the joint initiative between Edinburgh International Film Festival and Sheffield Doc/Fest where they are going to share films in something called a ‘double impact premiere’. The article also has a list of the films which will be available.
