QUOTES
Scottish National Party
Head of Digital from 2014 - Present
I have led as the Head of Digital for the Scottish National Party over the past decade, playing a key role in eight winning national elections.
My strategic work has been recognised both domestically and internationally by First Ministers, senior political figures, political opponents, cultural figures, academics, broadcasters and journalists.
As a director, producer and editor, I’ve collaborated with Golden Globe winning actor Brian Cox, best selling crime writer Val McDermid, award winning actor Alan Cumming, leading actor Martin Compston, former Machar Liz Lochhead, folk singer Julie Fowlis, actor and comedian Elaine C. Smith, UK number one album band Mogwai, the late artist and polymath Alasdair Gray, and an array of other leading political, literary, and cultural figures.
“We have a particularly good digital team in SNP HQ.”
“One of those people who has been at the forefront of how Twitter has been used in the indy debate is Ross Colquhoun, an SNP strategist who has been key to the party’s digital campaigning.”
“There are some fantastic people working on independence. Look at Ross Colquhoun who is doing social media.”
“The SNP online campaign reaches one million people without paid ads”
“The UK Government hope to match the impact of recent (pro-independence) SNP videos widely shared on social media.”
“As well as taking digital engagement to a whole new level for a political party – I’m not aware of any other UK party including these types of interactive tools in a manifesto previously – there are lessons to be learned for wider industry too. Creating engaging content to complement company announcements and publications is a great way of livening things up and attracting a wider audience. The SNP example also shows that if you’re going to do this, then make sure you do it well.
It is clear that creating digital content is a key strand of the party’s strategy and this is why it’s so impressive.”
“One party in Scotland has dominated the digital scene. The Scottish National Party not only has a legion of grassroots supporters ready to take to Twitter, it also has some of the most impressive digital engagement strategies in the world.”
“(The SNP’s use of Giphy was) a triumph of digital strategy.”
“The SNP’s social media campaign has been punching well above its weight this entire General Election 2019.”
“Events may create opportunities, but a bandwagon effect is encouraged through social media, generated in part from SNP HQ.”
“You’ve got to hand it to the SNP. Their social media game is totally savage.”
“No other Scottish political party comes close to matching the SNP’s online influence.”
“Research finds the SNP is the most trusted party on digital platforms.”
“The SNP has pioneered digital campaigning in Scotland.”
“The SNP: a campaign made in heaven”
“Significant news is the star signing of National Collective’s founder and digital guru, Ross Colquhoun, to the SNP for General Election 2015.”
National Collective
Director from 2011-2014
In 2011, I conceptualised, co-founded, and became director of National Collective, the non-party cultural movement for Scottish Independence. We set out with the aim of imagining a better Scotland and inspiring others to engage with politics and campaign through art, written and spoken word, events, local groups and social media. By the end of the campaign we had over 4,000 members, including the support of many of Scotland's most prominent artists, writers and thinkers. Despite being a sectoral campaign and partly self-funded, research by Heriot Watt University found that 30.8% of pro-independence campaigners were active in National Collective's campaign during Scotland's Referendum.
“National Collective were without doubt one of the highlights of 2014.”
“The success of National Collective had nothing to do with the arts-world names that it attracted. Any campaign can do that. It wasn’t trying to appeal to the arts establishment or bid for Arts Council grants. What was endearing and new about National Collective was the involvement of unimportant people who were invited to contribute their poetry, thoughts, art, photography, humour, knitting, or whatever, without being subjected to withering criticism.”
“A genuine powerful cultural front with a place in history.”
“National Collective changed Scotland.”
“National Collective, loved all you fuckers.”
“There was an explosion of creativity surrounding the referendum campaign in the run up to 18 September, as people took to the streets and social media to make their diverse voices heard. The artist-run National Collective helped channel this energy, organising numerous events under the Yestival banner over the summer and making major contributions to the debate. By acting like they live in the early days of a better nation, they continue to inspire.”
“Whatever your thoughts on the independence referendum, the National Collective, slogan ‘Artists and creatives for Scottish independence’, and its many supporters, is an impressive exercise in momentum-building, advocacy, organisation, and, for some, inspiration. In the cultural/political sphere, one can only see its membership and, perhaps, clout, burgeoning in the coming year.
It has provided a forum for some articulate thoughts about Scotland and its possible future. One wonders, too, whether it represents the foundation of something new in Scotland, and long-needed, a collective, grassroots voice for and from the artistic world not tethered to existing institutions.”
“National Collective have been the inspiration of the independence debate so far. Out of one idea – independence – they’re drawing complexity, imagination and grassroots engagement.”
Edinburgh College of Art
School of Visual Communication 2005 - 2008
In 2008, I graduated from Edinburgh College of Art's School of Visual Communication and started working in the design industry. During my studies I was the first person in the world to create art out of E. coli bacteria. The work was created in collaboration with University of Edinburgh's School of Biological Sciences.
“Damien Hirst take note”
“A germ of an idea blooms brightly”
BOOKS
Inspired by Independence
Wordpower Books, 2014
Co-edited by Ross Colquhoun and Christopher Silver
Inspired by Independence was a landmark collection of art and writing co-published by National Collective and Word Power Books in July 2014. Colourful, substantive and visually stunning, it includes some of Scotland's finest writers, artists and performers and marks Scotland's historic referendum with a celebration of cultural confidence.
“Inspired by Independence is a beautiful addition to my bookshelves, courtesy of the talented guys and gals at National Collective.”
“Inspired by independence is a rather splended piece of publishing.”
“Inspired by Independence has a wonderful third space dynamic energy underpinning it all. Not so much all power to the soviets as more power to your elbows.”
“Inspired by Independence is an amazing cultural reference for the 2014 referendum campaign.”
You can buy Inspired by Independence here or find copies of it in the National Library of Scotland, Library of Congress (USA), Trinity College Library Dublin, National Library of Wales, The British Library, University of Oxford Library, University of St Andrew’s Library, LSE, and SUB Göttingen.
National Collective are also featured in the books Disunited Kingdom: How Westminster Won A Referendum But Lost Scotland (2014) by Iain Macwhirter, Tsunami: Scotland's Democratic Revolution (2015) by Iain Macwhirter, Summer of Independence (2016) by Andrew Redmond Barr, and IndyRef to ScotRef: Campaigning for Yes (2017) by Peter A. Lynch.
SPEAKING
A brief history of political communication
Edinburgh College of Art
Monday 29th October 2018
Organiser: Marco Scerri
Lecturers: Ross Colquhoun and Fraser Croall
Creative activism workshop
Edinburgh College of Art
Monday 29th October 2018
Organiser: Marco Scerri
Lecturers: Ross Colquhoun and Fraser Croall
Power, Politics and the Media: Kingdom Not United
Royal Television Society
Tuesday 9th September 2014
Chair: Laura Kuenssberg, Political Editor of BBC News
Producer: Bobby Hain, Director of Channels at STV
Panelists: Ross Colquhoun, Director of National Collective; John Curtice, Professor of Politics at University of Strathclyde; and Gregor Poynton, Associate Director (International), Digital at Portland Communications
Imagine Wales
University of South Wales
Saturday 10th January 2015
Chair: Dr Ruth McElroy
Panelists: Ross Colquhoun, Director of National Collective; Miriam Brett, Policy Analyst at Commonweal; Welsh language campaigner, Angharad Tomos, and Professor Richard Wyn Jones, Director of the Wales Governance Centre
FILMS
Scotland Yet
2014
Rough Justice Films
Directed by Jack Foster and Christopher Silver
ARTICLES
After Scotland's Referendum The List magazine awarded National Collective second place in their 'The Hot 100', beaten to the top spot by Peter Capaldi, the newly announced Dr Who.
What Yessers say about a Twitter declines impact on the indy debate
The National, 19th November 2022
by Ninian Wilson
READ ARTICLE
Scottish election: Labour spent £190,000 on election adverts, three times SNP spending
The Herald, 11th May 2021
by Jack Aitchison
READ ARTICLE
How political parties are using GIFs to boost their campaigns
Sky, 5th December 2019
by Rowland Manthorpe
READ ARTICLE
The SNP reaches 1 million without paid ads
The Herald, 8th November 2019
by The National
READ ARTICLE
Who are the new members of the SNP?
Sky, 10th December 2018
by Professor James Mitchell, Dr Lynn Bennie and Professor Rob Johns
READ ARTICLE
Research finds the SNP are the most trusted party on digital platforms
The National, 31 August 2017
by Martin Hannan
READ ARTICLE
SNP take digital engagement to the next level with interactive manifesto
Weber Shandwick, 22nd April 2015
by Niki Stark
How the Yes social media strategy helped SNP effect seismic change in Scottish politics
The Herald, 15th September 2015
by Ana Langer, Michael Comerford and Des McNulty
'Take us with you Scotland' say thousands in the North of England
BBC, 14th May 2015
by Hannah Henderson
SNP's staggering dominance of social media
STV News, 27th October 2017
by Aidan Kerr
READ ARTICLE
The SNP: A campaign made in heaven
Sunday Herald, 10th May 2015
by Tom Gordon
Scotland is a young, vibrant nation, ready to meet the future head on
The Herald, 15th September 2014
by Ross Colquhoun
Hot 100 2014
The List, 11th December 2014
by Stewart Smith
Billy Bragg to feature in National Collective's Fringe show
The Herald, 8th May 2014
by Phil Miller
Summer Festivals 2014: The five best fests for culture vultures
The List, 20th May 2014
by Yasmin Sulaiman
Art Cave launched to push for a Yes vote in 2014 referendum
The Herald, 21st December 2013
by Phil Miller
In the hipster's den: The playful politics of #IndyRef
The Drouth, 31st January 2014
by Andrew Tickell
Scottish independence: Aye, have a dream
New Statesman, 26th September 2014
by Cal Flyn
What's new at Scottish art college degree shows?
The Sunday Times, 1st June 2008
by Rachel Devine
Scottish independence: Call for Better Together to return Ian Taylor donation
BBC, 18th April 2013
by Glenn Campbell
National Collective says 'it will not be bullied' by threats of legal action after publishing article on oil trader
The Drum, 18th April 2013
by Angela Haggerty