There were tears, there were cheers, there were clichs galore. Oh yes, this was an emotional outpouring which could be summed as one great cry for “freedom”.
So what if the referendum result has already been declared? As Jim Sillars so succinctly put it: “We lost arithmetically on September 18 but we won politically.” Then he said he wanted another independence charge by 2016.
At least Alex Salmond, bombastically basking in the glory of his farewell address, had the good grace to say he’ll wait for devolution promises to fall by the wayside before letting Westminster find out “that Hell hath no fury like this nation scorned”.
Wowzers. Nicola Sturgeon was, as expected, far more measured but vowed to keep fighting to leave the UK, as did new depute leader Stewart Hosie.
The Dundee East MP’s election creates a real power team at the top of the SNP. Already we have Sturgeon as leader with her husband, Peter Murrell as chief executive.
Now Mr Hosie, the husband of Cabinet member and very close Nicola ally Shona Robison, is in number two post it is no wonder folk are confident of excellent working relations.
A tangible buzz was about Perth Concert Hall yesterday. With surging membership and a leadership team hyped up and ready to go, it’s little wonder they’re confident.
It is remarkable and impressive that a party which should be so down in the dumps after referendum defeat has bounced back stronger.
Sooner or later, though, there’s going to have to be policy beyond what the people just rejected.