Oh dear.
Best get it over before Niko does a power of gloating... It was a hellish night. I'm eating crow Niko!
Oh yes, the share of SNP votes in some seats many have gone up, but under the system of voting that the London parliament uses that doesn’t mean diddly.
In Dundee East I was gratified to see Stewart Hosie returned with an increased majority, but in Dundee West they re-elected Jim McGovern for Labour: almost unbelievable when you consider the man’s track record.
All over Scotland they re-elected Labour, and in the seats they lost in by-elections, they elected Labour and overturned SNP and Liberal by-election gains. The result in effect looks like it is unchanged from 2005 except that Labour will have the seat that was Michael Martin’s as Speaker.
So, all the expenses fiddles, all the do-nothing MPs, secure in the seat for life; all the incompetence in London that resulted in the financial mess that we are in... it all means nothing. The Scottish public went out and voted in 41 Labour MPs. Oh well. That’s what they wanted; that’s what they have got. Red rosettes and cabbages come to mind.
What happened to the Liberals? The Clegg bounce? Clearly it evaporated in the last week as Brown and Cameron scare mongered that British politicians were eit
her too stupid or too lazy to cope with a balanced parliament (I venture both), and in Scotland that largely meant reverting to Labour. The economy is in safe hands with Labour. We must have strong government. If we had a hung parliament the markets might not like it. We might have a recession. ...... sheeeesh! That seems to have worked in the UK too, with a reduced number of Libdems seats on approximately the same vote as 2005.
Overall in the London parliament, at time of writing (8 am), there appears to be a majority of Tories and the prediction is there will be more. But where are the Tories in Scotland? Same one seat. David Mundell will be delighted. After his massive TV coverage he has increased his majority. I thought he was appalling in the debates, but there is no accounting for taste.
Who will form the London government? Well Brown says that under the constitution he has the right to stay and try to cobble together some sad acts that will support him. Cameron says that Brown has lost the moral right to form a government (I wonder if he ever had it, being there on Buggin’s turn).
The only parties who can join a formal coalition are the Liberals and the one Green MP. The Celtic parties have no mandate to coalesce on matters that do not affect their countries. I wouldn’t want to be Nick Clegg this morning. Whomever he does a deal with is going to have to do horrific things, and in a few months or a couple of years at the most, a new election will have to be called. The public will be mindful of who supported whom at that point.
One thing is clear either Scotland or England is going to be unhappy with this outcome. In England they have pretty solidly voted Conservative. In Scotland, whether I like it or not, we have voted overwhelmingly for Labour. Whichever party emerges victorious one country will blame the other for inflicting government on them. What does that tell you?
I imagine that in the end it will be the Tories who form the government. So the slogan for Scotland would be: Vote Labour, Get Tory.
When will we learn?
Best get it over before Niko does a power of gloating... It was a hellish night. I'm eating crow Niko!
Oh yes, the share of SNP votes in some seats many have gone up, but under the system of voting that the London parliament uses that doesn’t mean diddly.
In Dundee East I was gratified to see Stewart Hosie returned with an increased majority, but in Dundee West they re-elected Jim McGovern for Labour: almost unbelievable when you consider the man’s track record.
All over Scotland they re-elected Labour, and in the seats they lost in by-elections, they elected Labour and overturned SNP and Liberal by-election gains. The result in effect looks like it is unchanged from 2005 except that Labour will have the seat that was Michael Martin’s as Speaker.
So, all the expenses fiddles, all the do-nothing MPs, secure in the seat for life; all the incompetence in London that resulted in the financial mess that we are in... it all means nothing. The Scottish public went out and voted in 41 Labour MPs. Oh well. That’s what they wanted; that’s what they have got. Red rosettes and cabbages come to mind.
What happened to the Liberals? The Clegg bounce? Clearly it evaporated in the last week as Brown and Cameron scare mongered that British politicians were eit
her too stupid or too lazy to cope with a balanced parliament (I venture both), and in Scotland that largely meant reverting to Labour. The economy is in safe hands with Labour. We must have strong government. If we had a hung parliament the markets might not like it. We might have a recession. ...... sheeeesh! That seems to have worked in the UK too, with a reduced number of Libdems seats on approximately the same vote as 2005.Overall in the London parliament, at time of writing (8 am), there appears to be a majority of Tories and the prediction is there will be more. But where are the Tories in Scotland? Same one seat. David Mundell will be delighted. After his massive TV coverage he has increased his majority. I thought he was appalling in the debates, but there is no accounting for taste.
Who will form the London government? Well Brown says that under the constitution he has the right to stay and try to cobble together some sad acts that will support him. Cameron says that Brown has lost the moral right to form a government (I wonder if he ever had it, being there on Buggin’s turn).
The only parties who can join a formal coalition are the Liberals and the one Green MP. The Celtic parties have no mandate to coalesce on matters that do not affect their countries. I wouldn’t want to be Nick Clegg this morning. Whomever he does a deal with is going to have to do horrific things, and in a few months or a couple of years at the most, a new election will have to be called. The public will be mindful of who supported whom at that point.
One thing is clear either Scotland or England is going to be unhappy with this outcome. In England they have pretty solidly voted Conservative. In Scotland, whether I like it or not, we have voted overwhelmingly for Labour. Whichever party emerges victorious one country will blame the other for inflicting government on them. What does that tell you?
I imagine that in the end it will be the Tories who form the government. So the slogan for Scotland would be: Vote Labour, Get Tory.
When will we learn?
