JohnNicolson
@johnnicolson.bsky.social
Journalist. Scottish. European. Harvard & U of Glasgow alumnus. Harkness Fellow. Kennedy scholarship. Ex US Senate speechwriter, BBC & ITV news anchor and Member of Parliament. He/him.
http://www.youtube.com/@JohnNicolsonChannel
http://www.youtube.com/@JohnNicolsonChannel
It’s our 18th anniversary. 18 years ago today I met this handsome man. He asked me on a date. We fell in love. We’ve travelled the world together, sharing both heartache & joy. I can’t imagine life without him. Thank you darling Juliano for the days, months & years together. ❤️
January 29, 2026 at 9:52 AM
It’s our 18th anniversary. 18 years ago today I met this handsome man. He asked me on a date. We fell in love. We’ve travelled the world together, sharing both heartache & joy. I can’t imagine life without him. Thank you darling Juliano for the days, months & years together. ❤️
Lovely to be in Edinburgh for the @moleskine Scotland launch party - an evening of good conversation, fine poetry & wonderful pipe music.
January 28, 2026 at 5:52 PM
Lovely to be in Edinburgh for the @moleskine Scotland launch party - an evening of good conversation, fine poetry & wonderful pipe music.
Sharp contrast between Scotland & England. #Reform retains a huge lead south of the Border whilst in Scotland @theSNP dominant as Labour collapses.
Polling: @YouGov
Graphics: @LeftieStats
Polling: @YouGov
Graphics: @LeftieStats
January 27, 2026 at 10:46 AM
Sharp contrast between Scotland & England. #Reform retains a huge lead south of the Border whilst in Scotland @theSNP dominant as Labour collapses.
Polling: @YouGov
Graphics: @LeftieStats
Polling: @YouGov
Graphics: @LeftieStats
I have a new Instagram account if you fancy following? It won’t be focussing on politics but instead other stuff that interests me like buildings, music, and happy family photos. See you there! www.instagram.com/mrjohnmacken...
January 24, 2026 at 12:40 PM
I have a new Instagram account if you fancy following? It won’t be focussing on politics but instead other stuff that interests me like buildings, music, and happy family photos. See you there! www.instagram.com/mrjohnmacken...
Karlito is 11 months old and adorable. He gets bigger every day, eating like a small horse. When we adopted him from the wonderful @CatsProtection we didn’t quite appreciate we were adopting a Maine Coone mix who’d soon struggle to squeeze through the cat flap!
January 24, 2026 at 12:34 PM
Karlito is 11 months old and adorable. He gets bigger every day, eating like a small horse. When we adopted him from the wonderful @CatsProtection we didn’t quite appreciate we were adopting a Maine Coone mix who’d soon struggle to squeeze through the cat flap!
New polling for Holyrood. Clear lead for @theSNP
Labour & #Reform fighting it out for third place. Tories & LibDems nowhere to be seen.
And #AlbaNotRising on 0 seats.
Polling: @NorstatUKPolls
Graphics: @ElectionMapsUK
Seat projection @BallotBoxScot
Labour & #Reform fighting it out for third place. Tories & LibDems nowhere to be seen.
And #AlbaNotRising on 0 seats.
Polling: @NorstatUKPolls
Graphics: @ElectionMapsUK
Seat projection @BallotBoxScot
January 18, 2026 at 4:47 PM
New polling for Holyrood. Clear lead for @theSNP
Labour & #Reform fighting it out for third place. Tories & LibDems nowhere to be seen.
And #AlbaNotRising on 0 seats.
Polling: @NorstatUKPolls
Graphics: @ElectionMapsUK
Seat projection @BallotBoxScot
Labour & #Reform fighting it out for third place. Tories & LibDems nowhere to be seen.
And #AlbaNotRising on 0 seats.
Polling: @NorstatUKPolls
Graphics: @ElectionMapsUK
Seat projection @BallotBoxScot
Disastrous polling for Starmer at minus 46 according to @OpiniumResearch in today’s @ObserverUK This places him lower than May, Sunak & Johnson at the same point in their premierships.
Emulating the right on race & immigration pleases neither Reform nor progressive voters.
Emulating the right on race & immigration pleases neither Reform nor progressive voters.
January 11, 2026 at 11:15 AM
Disastrous polling for Starmer at minus 46 according to @OpiniumResearch in today’s @ObserverUK This places him lower than May, Sunak & Johnson at the same point in their premierships.
Emulating the right on race & immigration pleases neither Reform nor progressive voters.
Emulating the right on race & immigration pleases neither Reform nor progressive voters.
Reform stretch their lead in England. Labour now in fourth place.
Scotland a very different picture with @theSNP way out in front.
Graphic: @LeftieStats
Polling: @FindoutnowUK
Scotland a very different picture with @theSNP way out in front.
Graphic: @LeftieStats
Polling: @FindoutnowUK
January 9, 2026 at 8:10 PM
Reform stretch their lead in England. Labour now in fourth place.
Scotland a very different picture with @theSNP way out in front.
Graphic: @LeftieStats
Polling: @FindoutnowUK
Scotland a very different picture with @theSNP way out in front.
Graphic: @LeftieStats
Polling: @FindoutnowUK
Chilling by the fire with my beau.
January 2, 2026 at 7:34 PM
Chilling by the fire with my beau.
Happy Ne’er Day from the two of us. Wishing you peace, happiness & love in 2026.
“Let our three-voiced country
Sing in a new world
Joining the other rivers without dogma
But with friendliness to all around her.”
‘The Beginning of a New Song’ : Iain Crichton Smith.
“Let our three-voiced country
Sing in a new world
Joining the other rivers without dogma
But with friendliness to all around her.”
‘The Beginning of a New Song’ : Iain Crichton Smith.
January 1, 2026 at 1:04 PM
Happy Ne’er Day from the two of us. Wishing you peace, happiness & love in 2026.
“Let our three-voiced country
Sing in a new world
Joining the other rivers without dogma
But with friendliness to all around her.”
‘The Beginning of a New Song’ : Iain Crichton Smith.
“Let our three-voiced country
Sing in a new world
Joining the other rivers without dogma
But with friendliness to all around her.”
‘The Beginning of a New Song’ : Iain Crichton Smith.
Blow your nose, pull up your socks, and shut up. You don’t have to be a grim old stoic, either. Your life could be such fun. Now run along and enjoy yourself. And let’s try to make this a HAPPY new year.”
Christopher Isherwood diaries. #hogmanay #newyear #Isherwood #christopherisherwood
Christopher Isherwood diaries. #hogmanay #newyear #Isherwood #christopherisherwood
December 31, 2025 at 10:46 AM
Blow your nose, pull up your socks, and shut up. You don’t have to be a grim old stoic, either. Your life could be such fun. Now run along and enjoy yourself. And let’s try to make this a HAPPY new year.”
Christopher Isherwood diaries. #hogmanay #newyear #Isherwood #christopherisherwood
Christopher Isherwood diaries. #hogmanay #newyear #Isherwood #christopherisherwood
I’ve been a picture addict since I was a kid, picking up sketches from jumble sales, markets and auctions. I’m selling these two by the great Scottish artist John Bellany next month at Lyon & Turnbull. One is a rare early self portrait.
December 27, 2025 at 11:25 AM
I’ve been a picture addict since I was a kid, picking up sketches from jumble sales, markets and auctions. I’m selling these two by the great Scottish artist John Bellany next month at Lyon & Turnbull. One is a rare early self portrait.
We’re slouched in the basement kitchen eating pizza & drinking champagne from our hollow stem Art Deco glasses. Here’s to chilling. Happy Christmas Nigella. X
December 24, 2025 at 9:20 PM
We’re slouched in the basement kitchen eating pizza & drinking champagne from our hollow stem Art Deco glasses. Here’s to chilling. Happy Christmas Nigella. X
Karl’s first Christmas tree. He’s fascinated!
December 23, 2025 at 2:50 PM
Karl’s first Christmas tree. He’s fascinated!
A few winters ago #onthisday my beau & I were travelling by horse drawn sleigh through the snow to stay at King Charles’s beautifully restored house in #Transylvania
December 22, 2025 at 3:33 PM
A few winters ago #onthisday my beau & I were travelling by horse drawn sleigh through the snow to stay at King Charles’s beautifully restored house in #Transylvania
Goodbye to Berlin.
December 15, 2025 at 12:39 PM
Goodbye to Berlin.
Visiting a surviving stretch of the Berlin Wall with the excavated SS and Gestapo cellars behind. Crowds of teenagers in the Topography of Terror Museum file silently past the photos of children murdered. #Berlin
December 15, 2025 at 9:42 AM
Visiting a surviving stretch of the Berlin Wall with the excavated SS and Gestapo cellars behind. Crowds of teenagers in the Topography of Terror Museum file silently past the photos of children murdered. #Berlin
Wee absinthe aperitif at the #AbsinthDepot in #Berlin Delightfully louche.
December 13, 2025 at 6:06 PM
Wee absinthe aperitif at the #AbsinthDepot in #Berlin Delightfully louche.
Sad to read the news about Stanley Baxter. He thought no one would love him if they knew he was gay. When he came out in his 90s he discovered a new generation loved him just as much. Here’s a wee piece I wrote for the @alloatiser Rest in peace Stanley. #ParliamoGlasgow #LGBT
December 12, 2025 at 1:41 PM
Sad to read the news about Stanley Baxter. He thought no one would love him if they knew he was gay. When he came out in his 90s he discovered a new generation loved him just as much. Here’s a wee piece I wrote for the @alloatiser Rest in peace Stanley. #ParliamoGlasgow #LGBT
The genius that was Charles Rennie Mackintosh. Died on this day in 1928 aged only 60. If he could only have known how revered he was to become in the century to come….
December 10, 2025 at 10:51 AM
The genius that was Charles Rennie Mackintosh. Died on this day in 1928 aged only 60. If he could only have known how revered he was to become in the century to come….
Do you send Christmas cards? I do. I like keeping the tradition alive. This year I’m sending these wee 1960s originals I found still in their original packaging on eBay. My Dad loved sending tiny cards with robins to my Mum so these make me think of them both.
December 7, 2025 at 1:26 PM
Do you send Christmas cards? I do. I like keeping the tradition alive. This year I’m sending these wee 1960s originals I found still in their original packaging on eBay. My Dad loved sending tiny cards with robins to my Mum so these make me think of them both.