WITH the outcome in little doubt according to the polls and the campaigns lacking real fire, the Holyrood election has been a lacklustre affair so far in the view of most observers.
But that hasn't dampened Scots' interest in politics.
According to new research, it is running at an all time high, with voters even more engaged with politics than at the time of the independence referendum.
The respected ScotCen social research project found that 40 per cent of people in Scotland have ‘a great deal’ or ‘quite a lot’ of interest in politics.
The figure, based on the latest Scottish Social Attitudes survey, is five points higher than in the summer of 2014 and the highest ever since ScotCen first posed the question in 1999.
Read more: Scots more politically engaged than rest of UK since independence referendum, report says
Seventeen years ago, when the Scottish Parliament was born, just 24 per cent of Scots expressed an interest in politics.
ScotCen researcher Anna Marcinkiewicz said: "The striking thing about these findings is that interest in politics is apparently at a record high well after the referendum was over.
"This suggests that the high levels of public participation in the referendum may have generated a longer-term increase in political engagement in Scotland, as was evident in the seven point increase in turnout in last year's general election.
Read more: Five constituencies to keep an eye on in the Holyrood election
"It will be interesting to see if the higher interest also translates into higher voter turnout for the Scottish Parliament elections and EU referendum later this year."
According to the study, 30 per cent of those aged 18-29 said they were interested in politics, while 41 per cent had little or no interest.
Among older people, 45 per cent of over-65s said they had ‘a great deal’ or ‘quite a lot’ of interest in politics.
Gender and education were also factors, according to ScotCen.
Nearly half of men (49 per cent) said they were interested in politics, compared to 31 per cent of women.
Read more: Six things the polls are indicating ahead of Holyrood election
Graduates were more than twice as likely to say they are interested in politics (51 per cent) than people without qualifications (24 per cent).
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