However, for one day only, SNP members gathered in Edinburgh on Saturday for a campaign conference – a final chance to shape the manifesto that Scotland’s governing party will put to the country in the weeks to come.

It was great to catch up with members from across the country – I think I saw Robert Leslie in the distance at one point! – and capture some of the energy present in the Edinburgh International Conference Centre. The whole day created a positive vibe as we head into a campaign with a majority in Holyrood and a mandate for independence in touching distance for the SNP.

And that is in no small part due to the fantastic policies that the SNP has put in place to support folk across this country, demonstrating how we will always put Scotland first.

That includes improving our NHS, with waiting times halved for new outpatients, GP numbers up and the number of operations rising, with thousands more hip and knee operations.

It also reflects action the SNP has taken on the cost of living crisis, ending peak fares on railways – and of course the ferries to Orkney and Shetland, and the free bus travel for the youngest and oldest passengers, and free internal ferry travel for under 22s living in the islands.

Policies such as free childcare, worth more than £6000 per year, are among the reasons why Scotland is the only part of the UK where child poverty is being reduced.

With that in mind, I was delighted to hear John Swinney announce that in the next Parliament a re-elected SNP Scottish Government will extend childcare for every child in this country from 9 months to the end of Primary School.

This £500 million scheme will be available 52 weeks a year, creating a childcare system that fits around families, rather than expecting families to fit around the system.

With social care also stretched across Scotland, it is great to hear that the Scottish Government scheme to fix a Westminster mess around international social care workers is bringing in more staff. The sponsoring of skilled staff to come to Scotland has created 30,000 extra care hours every month.

These are the kinds of policies that show the SNP delivering for Scotland, and why we are set to be re-elected into Government in May.

As this is my last Orkney News column ahead of these elections, I would like to thank everyone I’ve engaged with in Orkney over the past five years. I have learned lots from folk in the islands and hopefully improved lives along the way, for that is what politics is all about.

It would be remiss of me to fail to suggest that if you want a fairer future for Scotland then it needs to be both votes SNP on Thursday 7th May.

This is a regular column by MSP Emma Roddick. All Highlands and Islands MSPs have been offered the same space in The Orkney News to share their personal views.