General election 2024: Hopes for a better relationship between UK and Scottish governments

In 10 days' time, the general election will be over, the votes counted and the results known.  If the polls are right, Labour will become the new government with a comfortable majority and Keir Starmer can begin making the "change" he has been campaigning for.

In Scotland, of course, it's not quite as simple. The SNP - however well or badly it does on July 4 - will still be in power at Holyrood.  So what will relations be like between the first UK Labour government for 14 years and the SNP Scottish Government which has been in office for the past 17 years? 

Labour's Ian Murray and the SNP's Kate Forbes have both spoken about the need for Westminster and Holyrood to work together. | collage

It has to be hoped that there will, at least, be an improvement on the repeated stand-offs and court clashes we have seen between the current Conservative government and Holyrood over everything from gender recognition to bottle recycling.

Labour's shadow Scottish Secretary and Edinburgh South candidate Ian Murray has already spoken of his desire to "work together for the benefit of everyone in Scotland". He said surveys showed people wanted governments of whatever colour to work together and argued co-operation between the two administrations would be the only way to deliver change. He noted, however, that it "takes two to tango"

But at a Holyrood magazine event marking 25 years of devolution, Deputy First Minister Kate Forbes made comments indicating she might be ready for a dance. 

Reflecting on how things had changed since the early days of the Scottish Parliament, she said the SNP government elected in 2007 had sought solutions for Scottish problems.  "That's why you see right now significant spend on welfare areas that are actually still reserved, because there is a willingness to try and solve them."

She continued: "Financial pressures are acute, expectations are much bigger and I do think we need to be clearer about what we can do and what we just can't do."

But she said: "The opportunity at this election, dare I say it, is that we might have a reset in relationships and actually try to confront some of those problems collaboratively."

Ms Forbes added: "That may sound radical coming from my lips in terms of my constitutional preferences but I think that's the only way to do it, not least on the economy where still a lot of powers are reserved but we can make a difference when it comes to things like planning - so, real cross-government work to try and solve the big problems. The Scottish Government can't do it alone."

It sounds as if there could be a consensus here, with key figures from each side recognising the need for the UK and Scottish governments to work together.The challenge will be to stop politics getting in the way. With the next Scottish Parliament elections - expected to be a closely-fought contest between the SNP and Labour - just under two years away, that could be tricky. 

The way powers and responsibilities are divided up between Westminster and Holyrood means that in many cases the two governments have to co-operate if anything is to be achieved. They need each other - and the sooner both recognise that, the better for Scotland.