Job Discussion Forums

[scot47]

Is no one out in the Real World interested ? Max Keiser says it is an indication that the referendum in September was rigged.

[caliph]

Not really.

[reddevil79]

Very interested Scot47. I think rather than the vote being rigged, the SNP landslide was more of a reflection of the utter failure of the big three parties to connect in Scotland, especially hapless Labour. They saw in the SNP a party that would defend their interests more than the other parties, but these voters wouldn’t necessarily vote for independence in any future referendum. I think the 2014 vote would have been much more interesting with a third ‘Devo Max’ option

[Phil_K]

Not interested. First, the natural party of government got elected, which is much more important for our future, and second, if you lot don't want to be with us, why should we care? There are 50m of us, we'll survive.

[HLJHLJ]

I'm interested but I don't see any conspiracy.

SNP took 50% of the vote of a 71.1% turnout (1,454,436 votes).

The pro-independence vote was 44.7% of a 84.59% turnout (1,617,989 votes).

How does that point to anything being rigged?

[Kofola]

I'm not very convinced that Max Keiser knows anything about Scottish politics. Also pointing out potential discrepancies in UK elections is a bit of a Russian media hobby.

Looking at the seats doesn't really tell us much because of how unreflective FPTP is of how people actually vote. But the percentages are interesting.

UK general elections %

2005 2010 2015

Tories 15 17 14.5
SNP 17 20 50
Lib Dem 22 19 7
Labour 40 42 24

Scottish Holyrood elections %

2007 2011
Tories 15 14
SNP 32 45
Lib Dem 16 8
Labour 33 32

The Tory vote actually differed little in the UK parliament and at Holyrood. In the general election the SNP took from the Lib Dems who clearly suffered from being in coalition with the Tories and from Labour who didn't fight on austerity (although interestingly there was actually little diff on this in their manifestos according to IFS). Labour also suffered in the referendum campaign because they failed to fight a positive Scotland in the UK campaign.

The SNP did not campaign on independence in the general election and there is no evidence to suggest that people voted SNP because they wanted independence (anecdotally or otherwis). Plus the SNP share within the Scottish parliament has grown suggesting that this is not about independence. Be interesting to see if Labour or the Lib Dems can resurrect themselves in Scotland in time for the election next year.

[scot47]

Keiser was saying that the referendum in September was rigged and that the election in May was proof of that. How come only 45% voted YES and then a few months later a huge majority of SNP MPs were returned ?

Personally I have more faith in Moscow Centre than in those Old Etonians who are in charge of Ukania.

[Sashadroogie]

Damn right! Hic!

[sheikh radlinrol]

[Dedicated]

The election results reveal it is time to recognize that the current First Past the Post system is ripe for reform by some means of proportional representation.

Surely it isn't right that the Lib-Dems, Greens and UKIP combined only have 10 MPs representing 7.5 million voters, while the SNP has 56 MPs representing 1.5 million people. The SNP only received 4.7 per cent of the total vote compared to Labour's 30.4 per cent.

Nicola Sturgeon declared repeatedly during the campaign that her overriding ambition was to prevent a Tory government in Westminster. On this point, at least, she failed spectacularly. Cameron could now call the SNP's bluff and give it the full fiscal authority it affects to crave. The reality of a 7.6 billion pound funding gap ending the Barnett formula that funnels billions of pounds from England to Scotland would soon hit the SNP government in Scotland that already has a tight-fisted record on NHS spending. The SNP also fares worse at getting students from poorer homes into university, despite it being free, than the hated Tory-led administration in London.

[scot47]

http://www.heraldscotland.com/politics/scottish-politics/mhairi-blacks-diary-of-a-novice-mp-in-which-our-heroine-goes-through-the-.126259431?utm_source=headlines&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=email%2Balert

[Hod]

This 20-year-old MP, Mhairi Black...

[scot47]

I prefer her to the likes of Greville Janner. And, unlike him, she has some experience of work in the real world.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greville_Janner,_Baron_Janner_of_Braunstone

[mnruman]

Is there any signs of another referendom? To be fair it makes sense not to break away from UK as Scotland alone wouldnt be very powerful, where as if SNP got in as a coalition government things would be a little different.

[Dedicated]

The SNP landslide on 7 May was dramatic but it did not make a second referendum on independence more likely. What will matter is next year's Scottish Parliament election. If the SNP, together perhaps with the Greens do not win an overall majority once again, there is no prospect of another ballot because the votes will not be there to pass the necessary legislation.

Also unlike the General Election, the Scottish election will be held under proportional representation, making it much more difficult to win a majority. Even then, everything will depend on whether the SNP promise another referendum in their manifesto. They will be reluctant to do so unless they think they have a good chance of winning. The nationalists cannot afford to lose a second referendum - that would certainly mean the end of their dreams. At the moment, the polls suggest there is still a small majority in favour of staying in the UK.

However, as soon as Nicola Sturgeon thinks she stands a chance, she'll go for it. Scotland's right to self determination has already been established by David Cameron agreeing to hold last year's referendum.