#indyref: the winners and losers
Some came and conquered, others stumbled and crumbled while the union stayed intact. Channel 4 News picks three winners and three losers. Who are yours?
Winners
Gordon Brown
The great clunking fist came and conquered. Gordon Brown articulated the “no” more clearly and passionately than any of his peers – culminating in this barnstorming speech on the eve of the referendum. Where was any of this when he was prime minister, many wondered.
Democracy
“How do we engage young people and reignite their faith in politics?,” is the well-worn question asked by wonks up and down the country. Answer? Give them cause for debate, an offer to believe in, and a real chance for permanent change. Simple, really…
David Bowie
“Scotland stay with us,” the singer said while accepting a Brit Award in February, long before the referendum became cool. Why? Possibly because he sensed, long before most of us, that this would caputre the imagination and become one of the defining political campaigns of a generation.
The losers
Ed Miliband
The man eager to be the next prime minister seemed to have been upstaged by both the current and previous one. Mr Miliband was late to the party and unconvincing in areas that were once the home of Labour party loyalists. All this with less than nine months until the general election.
Alex Salmond
It was a passionate and well-fought campaign that ultimately fell short of its objective. Mr Salmond can take credit for galvanising the yes campaign, but will have to decide where he goes from here.
Rupert Murdoch
He once described Alex Salmond as the best politician in the UK. But Mr Murdoch was less clear-headed during visits to Aberdeen and Glasgow. “Wrestling with Scottish vote. Scottish Sun No. 1. Head over heart, or just maybe both lead to the same conclusion,” he wrote on Twitter. Er, OK. “The Sun Wot Won It” this was not.