Scottish Parliament Election May 5th 2016

[cb a1]

I can only assume you're still counting the Lib Dems as a "mainstream" party, even though we got enough seats to bump them into 5th place...

Yes I do. We may have got more seats, but I still see us as a fringe party and the Lib Dems as a mainstream party.

I believe that we're not far off the maximum support we'll ever get whereas the Lib Dems are at their lowest.

 

[St Rollox]

Don't forget your pro-independence allies in my own party

Always wondered
Are there any Greens in Larkhall?

 

[me123]

Surely they'd rebrand as "Blacks"?

On second thought... perhaps that's not the best idea I've ever had.

 

[Robinson]

Always wondered
Are there any Greens in Larkhall?

Couldn't comment on that as I can hardly have spent more than 2 hours in Larkhall in my entire lifetime

But we did stand candidates on all the lists
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---

Yes I do. We may have got more seats, but I still see us as a fringe party and the Lib Dems as a mainstream party.

I believe that we're not far off the maximum support we'll ever get whereas the Lib Dems are at their lowest.

We're not even at the maximum number of MSPs we've ever had so far, never mind what might happen in the future with a much larger membership (and growing).

 

[overthewater]

Some people seem to be missing a very important point, the SNP had to become little bit more left wing to grab those labour voters. This has result in the SNP losing a good number of its more centre/right learning voters. Just look at this map

https://twitter.com/JamieRoss7/status/729223757915639809

The SNP are heading for trouble waters, and the council elections could prove futher backing to this point next may,

I think the Scottish Tories got in because everyone has had enough of Labour and not being a very good opposition party, and most people will think whats the worse that could happen. But there alot more to this then meets the eye.

 

[DynamicSpirit]

Some people seem to be missing a very important point, the SNP had to become little bit more left wing to grab those labour voters. This has result in the SNP losing a good number of its more centre/right learning voters. Just look at this map

Interesting conjecture. How would you reconcile that with the increase in SNP votes right across the Borders region, which the map you posted seems to show?

 

[Dave1987]

Sturgeon is such a massive hypocrite. She complains about the Westminster income tax policies, but then when she gets the power to change Scottish tax rates, she doesn't do it! Well she can't blame Westminster any longer.

 

[overthewater]

Interesting conjecture. How would you reconcile that with the increase in SNP votes right across the Borders region, which the map you posted seems to show?

You are correct but the tory vote also increase, so the question I'm lead to believe is Right wing snp people are switching to the tories while the left wing labour people are switching to the SNP.

 

[backontrack]

The SNP are, essentially, a blanket party; they cover a large electorate and a lot of ground politically. Although, historically, they are a left-wing nationalist party, they in fact pick up a lot of voters from both sides of the Venn Diagram, so to speak; right-wing nationalists and left-wing unionists. A vote for the SNP is no longer much of a vote made to seek a particular target (at least until they get another referendum, which could be relatively soon), but a vote for the incumbents for want of any kind of alternative; they were recently up against the Tories and thinly-veiled Blairism in the form of Kezia Dugdale.

I'm not saying that people don't vote SNP for genuine reasons - of course many people do - but it still strikes me that the party's basic structure and aims have changed quite a bit recently. Perhaps, if there were more competent opposition that tackled one half of that Venn Diagram (the left-wing bit, probably) then, if they were able to hold Holyrood to account well enough, they could quite possibly start to hoover up wavering voters as well. Heck, sometimes the SNP don't even look that left-wing (though, I admit, sometimes they do) - is it possibly that, now that they hold the balance of power and are beginning to affect politics over the border, they have a slightly more centrist agenda?

 

[St Rollox]

I was in SLAB for years.
Anything they did on the constitutional front had to be dragged out them one slow step at a time.
Now SLAB is making noises about full Home Rule after the horse has bolted.