To wonder why people keep voting SNP?

I'm English born but a long time resident of Scotland.

I definitely want independence for Scotland.

I was a big admirer of Nicola. Since she has no longer been leader I have been less and less enthusiastic about the SNP. I vote Green whenever possible but will continue to vote SNP when Green is not an option becuse Scottish independence is of paramount importance for Scotland.

So why do so many on Mumsnet loathe them and their idea of independence when independence is so popular? Because people on mumsnet are by and large thinkers. They come for debate. People who vote for the SNP do it blindly, without logical thought. In the same way that if you’re a staunch catholic living in Glasgow you’re going to choose to support Celtic over Rangers.

Born and bred, it’s an absolute shitshow. Every policy drags us down to the lowest common denominator, their legacy is appalling. The ministers they inflict on us are stunning in their mediocrity and dullness of thinking. Only family ties keep me here.

They are dreadful and feed the pro-Indy people a lot of lies. We had a lot of money from North Sea oil & gas - and we could have more if the SNP wasn't so obsessed with Net Zero -which is pointless unless China, Russia, India & the USA get on board - spoiler alert, they don't care. Scotland could cease to exist and it would make zero difference to global warming.

The SNP are currently committed to keeping male offenders including murderers in women's prisons. They wanted to remove the right of a raped woman or man to chose the sex of their medical examiner. They are incompetent lying bigots who are running Scotland into the ground. Why anyone thinks Scotland would be financially better off independent is beyond me - there's a massive hole in our finances already. We have higher spending per head of population than England but lower life expectancy, an underperforming economy, rising violence in schools and falling school outcomes.

Whoever said Scotland has less democracy is round the bend. They have a form of proportional representation to vote their government in, so does Wales and Northern Ireland. In England we have the antiquated first past the post system. Scotland also has more funding per capita than England. So basically the English have less say and less cash.
Pinning your hopes and votes on one thing never goes well, ie: Brexit.

The SNP are like the lefts version of Reform, theyre only there because of one policy and are incapable of sorting all the other issues out.
No political party is perfect, but a party that concentrates it's efforts on one issue - that they haven't even thought through properly - will never make a good government.

I was’t surprised at all to hear that they fully support the WASPI women. They will never be in power in Westminster so will never have to pay a penny as a result of giving this support. And I’d guarantee WASPI women would be bottom of their list of priorities if they ever did get independence.

They’re just a bunch of bigots, lying to their voters in a desperate attempt to get Indy. Laughably some of their supporters ask why the SNP doesn’t give them a white paper about how an Indy Scotland can be economically successful. They can’t as they know it would be an unmitigated disaster. It’s terrifying that the country could get drawn into this by lies but hey we had Brexit so who knows.

The thing is Scotland just now could be successfully run. It has huge amounts of funding compared to other areas of England - far in excess of other areas of England- but the SNP are totally and utterly clueless. This week’s example- thry spent a day today in parliament deciding that they didn’t think Palestine Action was a terrorist organisation fgs, shallow gesture politics while the country they are supposed to be running goes to shit.

Totally agree could have written this myself. The state of things there currently is awful.

I think Reform will make some surprising headway in Scotland.

The SNP have made an absolute mockery of devolution with their ridiculous pet projects, dysfunction and corruption. It hate to see it, I was a huge supporter of Independence but I wouldn't shed a tear if they wrapped up the Holyrood circus now.

I used to vote SNP but I won’t anymore. They have been a disaster for education. Jenny Gilruth is incompetent. The problem is I don’t know who to vote for. I would never vote reform or Tory, Greens are crazy and Labour are making a hash of things in Westminster. So that leaves Alba or Lib Dems. 😥

You don't live in Scotland but don't understand why people would vote SNP?

The majority of Scots want independence. An aggregate of 2025 polls shows an overall independence majority, but neither the last Tory government or this Labour one will allow another referendum, because they would lose.

It is a violation of democracy to not be permitted an independence vote. Every other country subject to colonialism has a right to do so. NI have a right to do so enshrined in the Good Friday Agreement.

We cannot have equal rights in the UK parliament as we are too small to form a majority, so must always accept a government elected by another country. That's to say nothing of EVEL, which bans Scottish MP's from some parliamentary votes, on the premise they affect only England, something no other MP's are restricted by.
So until we have a right to an opinion, people will keep voting SNP. The only way to make them less popular as a party would be if they achieved their objective of an independent Scotland.

At the moment we will be voting SNP as a majority at both the Scottish Parliament and UK Parliament elections, getting SNP in Scotland but next election Reform in the UK- and the Reform government we didn't vote for will hold power over the government we did choose.

Historically they were held back by England though, they imagine the sovereign wealth fund they'd have had like Norway if the first referendum hadn't been tinkered with.

Indy became cool in 2014 (it wasn't before) and people feel it was within grasp and then stolen from their fingertips by evil overlords. That is broadly true. It also reminded people of the bad faith shenanigans in the 70s. It looks bad, everyone hates Lab/Con so they're a viable alternative, just a shade less batshit than Greens.

I am Scottish but I don't live in Scotland and therefore can't vote in the Scottish elections, which is a pity because I would love to vote the SNP out. I have spent a lot of time in Scotland over the last few years as my parents' health has declined. My view of the SNP is skewed by one very specific issue (their abysmal handling of commissioning a new ferry for my parents' island), but I think it indicates the wider point that they are really not good at the bread and butter stuff of government. No recent UK government has been either, certainly not during the chaotic Tory years, so they don't stand out there, but it makes me despair. Competence should be the absolute minimum requirement for a government.

I think a dispiritingly large number of people vote for the SNP because they hate the English and have a completely fact-free idea that Scotland is being held back. If we got our independence we would immediately join the EU (they're not keen on acknowledging that that would not be a shoo in) and everything would magically be much better all at once. The SNP could put up a serial killer in some places and he'd get elected as long as he campaigned in a kilt and plastered his campaign van with saltires.

No idea who would be any better, mind you.