THE late Chinese premier Zhou Enlai when asked about the historical impact of the French Revolution allegedly answered: “It is too early to tell.”

Alas the story is apocryphal, for Richard Nixon’s translator eventually clarified that the revolution being referred to was the 1968 Paris student uprising, not the storming of the Bastille 179 years earlier.

Living through events it is hard to appreciate their significance. But as the first rule of politics, according to American president Lyndon Johnson, is to learn to count, perhaps simple arithmetic might help us assess how the principal party backing Scottish independence – and by extension that cause – has been doing over the past decade. In fact, two decades illustrate the issue even better.

The National: Richard NixonRichard Nixon

In 1999, on this last weekend of the year, there were a total of 43 SNP parliamentarians serving in three parliaments – 35 at Holyrood elected in May that year, six at Westminster and two in the European Parliament. That was up from a grand total of four in December 1989.

READ MORE: A few beers and a big pile of books of the decade

On the same weekend in 2009 the SNP was two years into its first term as a minority government, having secured 47 seats at the 2007 Scottish election. But its total in the other two parliaments had remained static – it still had six in London and two in Brussels – giving a total increase of only 12 in a decade.

Yet 10 years further on, that total has more than doubled. There are now 62 at Holyrood, 47 at Westminster and, until January 31 at least, three in Brussels. Add two seats won by the party but presently occupied by non-SNP members, and the effective total is 114.

There is no doubt that the biggest electoral winner in recent years has been the SNP. Nor is there any doubt about the biggest loser because Labour, which now has only 25 Scottish parliamentarians, in total had 115 seats in 1999 and 89 seats 10 years later.

The LibDems have suffered too, going from 28 in 1999 and 2009 to 11 this year. However the Tories and the Greens have seen increases, the Tories going from 20 to 19 to 38 and the Greens from one to two to six.

The National: Jo Swinson led the LibDems to defeatJo Swinson led the LibDems to defeat

Perhaps more significantly, although opinion polls may indicate a near tie on the issue of independence, the weight of Scottish parliamentarians in favour of it is heavy – some 120 to 74 (including one former Brexit Party MEP).

But what, if anything, do these figures tell us about the future? Well, like investments, political success can go up or down. To secure it the SNP must go on delivering in government for the people of Scotland.

Our opponents are keenly aware of that fact, which is why they viciously attack our actions at all times.

Nothing in life is ever sorted forever so problems will occur and re-occur during any long-lived government. But no one should be in any doubt that it is the SNP that has the record, the team and the vision to resolve the problems that Scotland faces rather than any of the current opposition parties.

The politics of the situation are equally clear. The issue which now must be tackled is the reverse of that which confronted the SNP between the Westminster elections of 1987 and 1992, when we put on 50% in our vote but took not a single extra seat. Then we struggled to convert votes into seats. Now we need to work out how to convert seats, the bulk of which have been won in first past the post contests, into a majority of votes for independence.

But we have an advantage in that task too. SNP membership is vastly greater than that of any of the other parties – and probably all of them put together – and it keeps growing.

At the start of this new decade we need to put into the hands of every single member, adherent and supporter the material that will allow them to convince their family, friends, neighbours and workmates of the case for independence and the threadbare nature of the opposing arguments.

The National: The National hasn't been around for a decade yetThe National hasn't been around for a decade yet

Material like the paper you are reading. The National didn’t exist a decade ago. It has already contributed to the growth of independence and it can, working with others, do even more to make every member of Scotland’s independence generation active, engaged, knowledgeable and persuasive.

That is the way to ultimate success – and well before this decade is out!