Scottish elecctions tend to be boring. Little happens. Small earthquake in Scotland, not many dead. Just for once, however, that has not been the case tonight. Labour’s dismal, depressing, you-cannae-do-anything-right campaign met its deserved end. Even so, who predicted the SNP could win FPTP seats in Lanarkshire and Renfrewshire. Who thought they could win a majority of Glasgow city seats? Who foresaw their historic breakthrough in Edinburgh?
Andy here’s-how-you-wash-your-hands Kerr and Tom McCabe and many other senior Labourites were toppled. Even Iain Gray only survived by 150 or so votes. Labour spent much of the evening arguing that the story was the collapse of the Lib Dem vote. In some seats, such as Aberdeenshire West, this was so. But in most of Scotland it was not. The Lib Dems deserved little better, given their cowardly campaign.
But, blimey, who thought the SNP would win so many Glasgow seats? This means, of course, that Labour will win more seats on the regional list. Lord knows how grim most of those MSPs will be.
Nevertheless, this has been a great night. I’m relaxed about the consitutional stuff but quite exercised by the need to beat Labour.
We’ll see what the final seat numbers are and, frankly, it’s a problem that the new SNP parliamentary party is likely to be even more to the left of the leadership, or its better bits, than has previously been the case. Q catch-all party? Sure but that’s what Labour have always pretended to be too.
Meanwhile, Eck and Annabel flirt and agree to disagree, while making it quite clear the Tories will support the Nats on at least a supply & confidence basis.
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