Tom Peterkin: Humour, confidence and a touch of evangelical zeal

“The party’s on its knees, Angus Brendan. The party’s on its knees,” said one of his drinking companions, putting on his best prophet-of-doom voice.

The laughter rang out across the crowded bar. That deeply sarcastic remark from a non-SNP member was an acknowledgement of the rude health of the Nationalists.

It may be stating the obvious, but there can never have been an SNP conference quite like this one – held just a few months after the Nationalists formed Scotland’s first single-party majority government.

Alex Salmond may have been a trifle over the top in announcing that the eyes of the world were on Inverness at a time when Muammar al-Gaddafi had just come to grief.

Nevertheless, the number of international observers at this conference is just one indication that people beyond Scotland are taking notice of Salmond’s remarkable election victory.

Amongst the delegates, there is a real sense of purpose and almost evangelical zeal that would be alarming for their political opponents, if they ever managed to get their acts together.

As the SNP referendum campaign manager Angus Robertson declared, the SNP activists are girding their loins for the biggest push for independence in Scottish political history.

It is the sort of language that appeals to those who have devoted their lives to the achievement of independence, and similar rhetoric ran through all the main speeches.

Nonetheless, there were some small voices of dissent. The gay marriage issue did upset those who believe that it goes against the teachings of God.

On independence – the real reason for the SNP’s existence – there were those who urged the SNP government to pose a single “unambiguous” question sooner rather than later.

But a multi-option referendum is clearly what the party’s leadership is going for. Salmond’s opponents argue that a two-question poll would create uncertainty and damage the Scottish economy, but it makes sense tactically.

Most delegates recognise that, and a hugely committed army of activists is on the march once more.