Without Yes or No answers, can you tackle our fiendishly difficult Political Quiz of the Year?
From the indy debate to Labour’s troubles and the rise of Ukip, it’s been an exciting year. So how closely did you follow events?
IT has been a remarkable year in Scottish politics that will be remembered for generations to come. But how closely were you paying attention to the independence referendum and the changing fortunes of our political parties at Holyrood and Westminster in 2014? Here, Scottish Political Editor Alan Roden poses some fiendish questions…
INDEPENDENCE REFERENDUM
1) How many of Scotland’s 32 council areas voted Yes to independence?
2) Who did David Cameron say had ‘purred’ over the result of the referendum?
3) The biggest single donation to Better Together came from which famous supporter?
4) Model Kate Moss delivered the message ‘Scotland, stay with us’ on behalf of which celebrity at this year’s Brit Awards?
5) Which football star said ‘What unites us is much greater than what divides us. Let’s stay together’?
6) If Scotland had voted Yes on September 18, when did the SNP Government claim ‘independence day’ would be?
7) Alex Salmond said Scotland could ‘do a lot worse’ than choose which song as its national anthem?
8) The UK’s annual defence and security budget is around £35billion. How much did the Scottish Government say it would spend on defence in an independent Scotland?
9) What pro-independence group was launched on Valentine’s Day?
10) Groundskeeper Willie from The Simpsons cartoon series came out in support of independence, but which part of Scotland does he claim to hail from?
11) Which prominent Nationalist threatened a ‘day of reckoning’ for companies which had backed a No vote?
12) Online ‘cybernats’ soured the referendum debate. Who is credited with coining the phrase ‘cybernat’?
13) What did the Queen urge voters to do as she spoke to well-wishers at Crathie Kirk?
14) How did Alex Salmond damage his wrist on the campaign trail?
15) Who was chairman of Yes Scotland?
16) Jim Murphy toured 100 towns in 100 days. What did he stand on while speaking to passers-by?
17) Where did Alex Salmond announce his resignation on September 19?
18) Who chaired the first head-to-head TV debate between Alex Salmond and Alistair Darling on STV?
19) Bank of England governor Mark Carney made several key interventions in the referendum. He is frequently described as bearing a resemblance to which Hollywood superstar?
20) To what was Alex Salmond referring when he said: ‘This is a new low from the Treasury who should apologise to people across Scotland for this patronising gimmick’?
SCOTTISH POLITICS
1) Alex Salmond was criticised by Amnesty International for praising which world leader?
2) Name Scotland’s first Ukip MEP, who was elected in May’s European elections.
3) Who was elected SNP deputy leader at the party’s annual conference?
4) Kezia Dugdale was elected Scottish Labour deputy leader, but who did she replace?
5) Which Nationalist MSP resigned from the party in September, citing an ‘increasing conflict’ with the leadership?
6) Independent Margo MacDonald passed away at the age of 70. The Proclaimers performed which song at her memorial service?
7) Which SNP minister wore a pair of £125 ‘Bambi Deer’ high heels, from the Irregular Choice shoe company, to Holyrood?
8) Alex Salmond will celebrate which milestone birthday on Hogmanay this year?
9) Who was appointed by David Cameron to chair a post-referendum commission on further devolution to the Scottish parliament?
10) What is the name of Nicola Sturgeon’s husband, the chief executive of the SNP?
11) In February, MSPs voted by 105 votes to 18 to legalise same- sex marriage. Name one of the three SNP ministers who voted against the legislation.
12) Name the Scottish Labour leadership candidate who listed one of his hobbies as ‘going for a pint’.
13) Who was appointed Health Secretary in Nicola Sturgeon’s first reshuffle?
14) Alex Salmond unveiled a memorial to one of his own policies. What was the policy?
15) The Scottish Government announced that outstanding debts from which tax will be written off?
16) SNP MP Pete Wishart missed a Commons vote on the ‘bedroom tax’. What was his excuse?
17) Name the MSP who reported herself to Holyrood’s Presiding Officer after it emerged she had hired her lover’s wife as a photographer.
18) Gordon Brown announced plans to stand down as an MP at the next General Election. In what year was he first elected to parliament?
19) The Cowdenbeath Holyrood by- election in January was won by which party?
20) Political leaders gathered in Rosyth to witness the naming of a new aircraft carrier. What is the ship called?
UK POLITICS
1) Douglas Carswell defected from the Tories and resigned his seat, triggering a by- election at which he became Ukip’s first elected MP. Which Essex constituency does he represent?
2) Britain’s youngest MP – the ‘Baby of the House’ – turned 30 this year. Which MP currently holds this title?
3) Save the Children controversially handed a global legacy award to which former politician?
4) Which former party leader presented plans for ‘English Votes for English Laws’ to the Commons in December?
5) A jogger collided with David Cameron in which English city?
6) Which word did MP Penny Mordaunt repeat several times during a Commons speech following a dare by her friends in the Royal Marines?
7) A row over which flag led to the resignation of Shadow Attorney General Emily Thornberry?
8) How many seats across the UK did the Liberal Democrats win in the 2014 European Election?
9) A by- election was held in Newark after an MP stood down when Parliament’s standards committee suspended him for six months. Name the MP.
10) Nigel Farage clashed with which comedian on the BBC’s Question Time programme?
11) Maria Miller’s apology in the House of Commons for over- claiming expenses lasted how many seconds?
12) Nicky Morgan replaced who as Westminster’s Education Secretary?
13) Which former radio DJ brought out a Ukip calypso-themed song?
14) The annual Westminster Dog Show was won by Diesel. What breed of dog is he?
15) Ed Miliband and Nick Clegg wore grey T- shirts emblazoned with what slogan?
16) A proposal to merge the catering department for MPs and Lords was reportedly rejected because Lords feared that the quality of what would ‘not be as good’?
17) Former pop star Myleene Klass used a TV show to attack Ed Miliband over which Labour policy?
18) Name the MP who resigned as Minister for Civil Society following a ‘sexting’ scandal.
19) What did Labour councillor Karen Danczuk start selling on eBay?
20) Who did Nicola Sturgeon declare was ‘better looking’– David Cameron or Ed Miliband?
INDEPENDENCE REFERENDUM
1) Four (Glasgow, Dundee, North Lanarkshire, West Dunbartonshire) 2) The Queen 3) JK Rowling 4) David Bowie 5) David Beckham 6) March 24, 2016 7) Freedom Come-All-Ye by Hamish Henderson 8) £2.5billion 9) Florists for Yes 10) Orkney 11) Jim Sillars 12) Lord (George) Foulkes 13) ‘Think very carefully’ 14) Shaking hands 15) Dennis Canavan 16) Irn-Bru crates 17) Bute House, Edinburgh
18) Bernard Ponsonby 19) George Clooney 20) Lego characters used to persuade Scots to vote No
SCOTTISH POLITICS
1) Vladimir Putin 2) David Coburn 3) Stewart Hosie 4) Anas Sarwar 5) John Wilson 6) Sunshine on Leith 7) Angela Constance 8) 60th 9) Lord (Robert) Smith 10) Peter Murrell 11) Roseanna Cunningham, Fergus Ewing, Alasdair Allan 12) Neil Findlay 13) Shona Robison 14) Free university education
15) Poll tax (Community Charge)
16) His flight was delayed by 20 minutes
17) Joan McAlpine 18) 1983 19) Labour 20) HMS Queen Elizabeth
UK POLITICS
1) Clacton 2) Pamela Nash 3) Tony Blair 4) William Hague 5) Leeds 6) Cock 7) St George’s Flag 8) One 9) Patrick Mercer 10) Russell Brand 11) 32 12) Michael Gove 13) Mike Read 14) Alsatian 15) This is What a Feminist Looks Like 16) Champagne 17) Mansion tax 18) Brooks Newmark 19) Selfies 20) Ed Miliband