The 2021 May elections have not seen the overwhelming Scottish National Party ‘breakthrough’ that the nationalists were clearly hoping for, although this was arguably a matter of a few chance votes. The election did, however, see a significantly higher turnout than was present in other British elections, with 63.2% of eligible voters voting (as opposed to just over 42% in London, for example.) Despite this, only three out of seventy-three constituencies changed hands, and the winning party had single-digit majorities in sixteen seats. The second Party prioritising independence, Alba, did very badly, and the third, for whom independence was not an overwhelming priority, the Greens, gained seats. This leaves a mixed argument for those who claim that the vote was a ‘mandate’ for independence. The idea of a mandate is that an election is defined by one issue, and that a majority produced amongst diverse districts can be said to settle a question put by those who call the election. This is ...
This is a collection of personal and largely unedited observations covering the years from 2006 to now; I assert my copyright but am fine with links and footnotes. Some posts are obviously much more researched than others, and any errors are wholly mine except where I have innocently disseminated or linked to other bloggers or commentators.