Are Scots truly that Left Wing?

Milady, I wonder if we are in the same constituency - local Labour guy well regarded and known to work hard. I too will probably vote labour as I have on occasion in the past - voting for the candidate more than anything, due to his good track record.

Agree with Topaz that Miliband should have met his potential better - I am clinging to the hope that heis just be horribly misunderstood/underestimated due to the kicking he gets in the press and his crappy advisers.

I think most people are now voting SNP because of policies, not because of their independence stance. Indeed, I know a good few Labour voters in the north of England who would vote SNP if they had the option.

Labour has lost its way, Conservatives never been popular (in recent years) and the Lib Dems are relying on personal votes, not party votes to win through. Only Alistair Carmichael is likely to make it.

I'll be voting SNP for the first time. I have a huge admiration for Nicola Sturgeon. She has stuck to her principles, hasn't wormed around the way some of our Labourites have. She seems natural, honest and committed. The current crop of SNP prospective candidates have mostly had "real" jobs before putting themselves forward at this election. (not gone the Oxbridge PPE, party job, parliamentary job career ladder as most current MPs)

I think many in the rest of the UK will see the inevitable influx of SNP MPs as a welcome breath of fresh air.

Sorry, Hirples. My brain must have been thinking you were some kind of 'harpie'.

Indeed Hirpie, she was in WM first of all as an MP. Look her up if you wish. Roseanna Cunningham is her name. I wasn't really thinking. DS breathing down my neck for internet time.

Oh dear, did I kill the thread? Thing is many tax-payers in Scotland vote SNP so they must be happy enough with how the Scottish Govt spends the money, carol and others who are concerned about tax-payers' money.

I think the comparison above between Sturgeon and Miliband is slightly iffy. Mili is the child of immigrant/refugee parents and did attend comprehensive school, albeit in that huge metropolis in the south. His parents were/are both more socialist than he - didn't he or his brother say in an interview their mother thinks they've both sold out? Unlike Clegg, Cameron, Blair and many others he did not attend public school. What ahs happened to his brain since and political thinking since is sad but it's not to do with his family background. Just saying ... Then, look at Murphy and all the other Scottish leaders of main parties, Ruth D., Willy Rennie, all educated in state school.

Anyway, must go. Boy needs the router. We live in an internet 'cold spot, sadly.

I'll probably vote Labour. In a "lesser of all evils" way. We have a Labour MP who I have met and he seems a nice bloke with a good track record of working hard. But I really don't like Milliband so am havering. Murphy at least has the courage of his convictions and doesn't come out with bollicks statements because some strategist has told him it will play well

I actually really like Ruth Davidson, her politics notwithstanding. If you can be a high profile lesbian and leader of the Scottish Tories then it does give me some hope for this country and she is excellent when campaigning for gay rights and inclusion. Murdo Fraser I could cheerfully strap to the front of a JCB and drive off a cliff. Odious man.

So what if Tony Benn was a few years ago? My point still stands. Judging someone on their upbringing, rather than their actions, is prejudice.

I'm impressed that your MSP won her seat 20-30 years ago, given the Scottish Parliament opened about 16 years ago!

It's an interesting question. A few days ago I glanced at a research result - not sure where now, I'll have a think - that said this was a myth about Scots being more left-wing. Than elsewhere in the UK.

I am a Scot living in Scotland and come from a long line of left-wing people (Red Clyde-siders and the like) and yet there was always a smattering of Tory voter in the family. And of course a fair few, I am sure, who said nuffink about politics or their voting intentions. Of course at a time when Labour was Socialist. In the 1970s, when I was growing up, the SNP was widely dubbed the Tartan Tories. Certainly now they are much more 'social democrat' than even Labour. I truly believe society needs to look after their more vulnerable members, and the SNP does seem to have an agenda that protects more than the other main parties. But it's hugely complex and of course none of what we read/hear in the news/media is truly unbiased, I think.

Where I live in Scotland now we have SNP MSP whois Republican(anti-Royalist) and yet she is actually quite reactionary in her views on matters like gay marriage, abortion, physician-assisted suicide. She was not a supporter of the late Margo MacDonald's bill. I'm raking my brain to remember when she won her seat - from a Tory, one of the tartan trew- wearing landowner crowd. 20-30 years ago maybe.

Re-WM seat, they keep moving the boundaries, so we are often Labour but occasionally have had a SNP MP. I am unsure how to vote in the GE.
The SNP candidate stood for Tories previously and I am unsure of her agenda ( fear she is more confused than I am!), nobody is standing for the Greens. And I can't stand the Mili-Murf duo though I prefer Mili to Murf. I will end up voting Labour, I suppose. That in itself does not make me left-wing - though I am.

No, grimbletart, Nicola's party did not lose the indyref, because it wasn't a party-political issue. The Yes campaign lost. Nicola did not lead the Yes campaign.

Milady, I agree with your analysis about the SNP being populist as much as popular.

I am not an SNP supporter, but they don't seem to have totally screwed things up while in power in Holyrood. Not any more than any other parties. That sounds so cynical doesn't it?

Who knows if everything will implode though - I can't work out how they can afford to fund things like free prescriptions and no council tax rises.

I am worried about how powerful they are predicted to be in the next Westminster parliament. I think it's going to cause havoc, which a lot of people seem to think will be a good thing. I think people might rue the day

Scotland tends to vote to the left of centre.

Tony Benn was a long time ago.

Whose money carol? I hope you don't mean 'England's money' because you might get a verbal kicking.

carol I'm not sure I quite follow?

Whose money do you think the Scottish Government are spending? We do pay tax in Scotland...

Hmm I dunno derxa what does one of us mean? We are a hugely diverse nation. I'd rather judge someone by their actions, not their background. Anyone want to suggest Tony Benn was not a "man of the people"?

Can't speak for Scotland, but ItsAllGoingToBeFine don't forget Wales. Plaid are certainly a more left wing option than Labour and are pretty successful. (Shame I live in a Cons/Labour marginal!)

Of course it is easy to be socialist when you are sepnding other people's money.

Oh FFS

Hirpies: I was accurate. Nicola's party lost the referendum, therefore she was a loser. If I came second in a two person race I, also, would be a loser.

Hollywood? Hollyrood!

I've voted for the SNP in previous elections. I won't be this time as I fear they have become too powerful. I don't like to see Sturgeon grandstanding on UK issues, as I don't believe that is what the SNP are about or should be about. I've always admired their Scotland only and not be drawn on anything else stance. That's changed and I suspect it's because they are trying to ensure Labour are truly finished in Scotland and are continuing the anti-Westminster stance that got such support in the referendum.

I voted SNP in the past because I wanted a party in Hollywood that would govern Scotland for Scotland's interests. Now it seems we may get an SNP that will involve itself in UK wide issues for Scotland's interests and I'm not sure I'm ok with that. I acknowledge that it's democratic for them to do it, and a byproduct so to speak of union, but it's not a stance I support.

They are left wing. Far more socialist than Labour. They are however hugely populist, and I think it is this that ensures a strong support in Scotland. Personally I would rather they plugged the gaps in NHS spending in Scotland than give me free prescriptions. I'm very pleased we have free tuition but am appalled at the proposed huge cuts to education budgets being rolled out across local authorities at the moment and if I had a choice I'd divert some of the funds to stop that. Yes the Forth crossing is going up on time and budget but where are the promised funds to dual the A9?

Since the referendum and Sturgeon as first minister I've moved away from the SNP as a party whereas previously they did have my support. For transparency I voted No. I am looking forward to seeing Salmond in Westminster though. He'll cause chaos .

Can't vote in Scotland but would like to see the end of Labour stranglehold in Scotland. Scots have woken up to the fact that Labour seem to have a vested interest in keeping the 'working class' in the status quo. People can't relate to a London metropolitan elite. If you compare the background of Nicola Sturgeon to that of Ed Milliband... well there's a staggering gap. Nicola is one of us, people are saying. I do believe that Scots traditionally believe in equality and fairness. There is a saying, "We're all Jock Tamson's bairns", which means that everyone is created equal. It is ingrained in our psyche. Do you really believe that David Cameron, Ed Milliband and Nick Clegg are men of the people?

If the Tories can win an outright majority, there's nothing Nicola can do. But that's kinda up to the English, isn't it? Everyone knows the SNP won't prop up the Tories (so we can lose the Tartan Tory tag), everyone knows there's no coaltion on offer between Labour and SNP. It's down to both Labour and Tory parties to convince their English electorate, and we'll all be bound by that.

And by Parliamentary law, of course.

Yes might have lost the indyref, but describing UK's most popular political leader, head of the fastest-growing party in the UK, as a "loser" is, um, interesting thinking.

I see the sainted Nicola, miffed at losing her aim of breaking up the UK, is now determined to have her way over England as well even if the Conservatives look likeliest to be able to form a Government.

"The politician pledged that if there were a hung parliament, SNP MPs would vote to "stop a Tory government even getting off the ground".

www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-scotland-politics-32094423

She really is a bad loser.

I think a lot of the UK would rather vote left, but unless you live on Scotland,/under the FPTP system, you have no real opportunity to have a non right leaning MP.