The BOTYS - Best non Liberal Democrat politics blog

We're almost there with BOTY nomination suggestions. The penultimate category is best non Liberal Democrat politics blog.

I am going to repeat last year's nomination, which actually made the shortlist, of J Arthur MacNumpty, whose thoughts are ghost written by SNP activist Will Patterson. In 1000 years time, when the internet as we know it is seen as some ancient anachronism, Will's well written weekly analysis of the workings of the Scottish Parliament in the 21st century will be a valuable and probably unrivalled resource.  He may not have much time for Liberal Democrats, but he is actually very liberal in outlook. He's also as into constitutional geekery as any Liberal Democrat electoral systems expert I know, as this series of posts shows.

Anne McLaughlin is an MSP in Glasgow and Indygal Goes to Holyrood is the latest in a series of blogs she's written. She wears her heart on her sleeve, which I think is a good thing. She has done so much to help Florence and Precious Mhango, the mother and her 10 year old daughter facing deportation and here she writes emotionally about their ordeal.

I'm finding it difficult to find a Labour blog to nominate, because most of them are just annoying me too much at the moment with the varying degrees of hypocrisy and bile they are venting into cyberspace. I would have chosen Yapping Yousuf, but since he graduated earlier this year, and stopped blogging, he's shut down his blog so I can't even link to it. There is always Eric Joyce, though, whose work opposing the Digital Economy Bill will appeal to many Liberal Democrats. Since then, he has formed the All Party Parliamentary Group of which our own Poster Boy on these issues, Julian Huppert, is vice Chair.

 Malc in the Burgh doesn't blog as often as he used to but his thoughtful observations on Scottish and Welsh politics in particular are always welcome. He's an eclectic mix himself, part Green, economically conservative, socially liberal and passionately Nationalist, there's something for everybody. I liked this recent post, where he took apart Labour's Scottish Justice Spokesman over comments he'd made on Megrahi's release.

I guess it's interesting that my nominees are all Scottish - but for those of you from other parts of the UK, this is a chance to have a look around some of the excellent blogs on offer up here.