To wonder what the scots are thinking

[Ruperta]

If the exit polls are to be believed then tge Scots will have massively turned out in favour of SNP. This is less than 12 months after voting no to independence.

Why then vote SNP? Have they shot themselves in the foot or are the Scottish going to be protected from the welfare cuts that are going to be imposed on us? Are there NHS and education budgets more protected? Honest questions as I'm very confused!

Feeling very disappointed

I think the SNP are completely missing an excellent opportunity to draft a constitution which incorporates not only the ECHR but the EU Charter on Fundamental Rights. although that is where your FOI rights come from, and they don't have a record that stands up to scrutiny on that

apint we might be in the same constituency!

Labour were very active where I live and a lot of people said we were the only party to contact them. The SNP candidate interestingly made no mention on her leaflets if her role on the council, wonder if she thought it would work against her? I saw her twice in the constituency - once when NS did a poster launch, and on polling day when she drove past the polling station in her convertible and high-fived the SNP activist.

I was gutted that we lost our MP. Clearly people wanted change, I do accept that. But on a personal level we have lost a good man. And the identikit victory speech all the SNP candidates gave about Scotland's voice was pretty damn insulting to all the diverse Scottish voices that have been sent to WM previously. Fair enough, they weren't the voice that everyone wanted, but they were still a voice for diverse areas of Scotland. This election may have given virtually a clean sweep for the SNP but they still are not the voice of everyone in Scotland. I just hope the media do acknowledge that not everyone in Scotland has voted for this.

God, I am shattered. It has been a long campaign and last night was a long, tough night.

I feel completely disenfranchised. If the figures I have read are right, the SNP got 50% of the vote, and have 93% of the seats.

OOAOML - I saw a couple of the SNP victory speeches, and noticed them using exactly the same words (when they were saying how they were there to represent everyone in their constituency, no matter who they had voted for) - not just the same sentiments, but exactly the same words.

I didn't see enough of them to see if they all used those words, but if they did, I don't think that is a good thing.

Wow, MN is full of vitriol for SNP today and very little for all those who went and voted Tory down south. From the likes of MN, you'd think the SNP are responsible for Tory majority and not the voters.

We got drowned in leaflets (your seat OOAOML), but we didn't get a single knock on the door. From anybody - I'm not sure why. We lost a good guy unfortunately.

I feel pretty disenfranchised too.

No vitriol from me expat. I think there have been lots of factors which have let to this result and I think the rise and behaviour of SNP are just one of those factors which might have influenced how people all over the country voted. Just like UKIP, Europe, immigration, austerity, economics, the impact of the coalition on the Lib Dems...

Stats they may have knocked your door but every single canvass I've done has had lots of 'not in'. Whatever time of day/week. We have lost a good man. He took it well. I hope our new MP will be a fraction as good as he has been.

Oh god now we have to have the sodding EU referendum.

And this is Cameron's last term, so Boris for PM?

I'm just trying to reassure myself that politics is cyclical and eventually the SNP cult will wane. I just hope that happens before they secure another referendum.

That and the fact that we don't have Ed & Ed in Downing Street....

It's not a good thing to say they will represent ALL those in their electorate [hmmm]?

Isn't that exactly what they are supposed to do?

Sour grapes on behalf of those who are annoyed they didn't think to say this themselves

I'm at home all the time just now - injured! We never get doorknocked though, we didn't even get knocked up for indyref. I found ML to be pretty honest which was nice - when he was out campaigning for indyref someone cornered him and started talking about the 20mph limit (I think) and even though he could easily have nodded and agreed since he would never be asked to vote publicly and it may have endeared that swaying voter to his side, he said "I actually agree with that." Little thing, but showed integrity. He opposed Trident too funnily enough given the anti-nuc folk who yelled at us in his seat!

I am not saying that it is not a good thing that they say they will represent all their constituents. I am saying that it may not be a good thing if they were all using the same script - I am not sure I trust any politician to put the needs of their constituents ahead of the demands of their party, and this would be heightened if (and I do say if, as I don't know if they all did use the same script), they use the same script for their speech.

I didn't vote SNP - I would never vote SNP. I don't like their policies and think they are too left-wing for my liking. I think the other people saying they voted for them because they didn't want tory or labour is a bit short sighted - NS will use their votes to try and force DC to give them more power because after all why would anyone vote for SNP if they didn't want them to govern them... Why should they have more power? all they will do is raise taxes and spend money...

we haven't had anyone knock on any of the doors in our whole area - completely ignored by all parties. I guess mr hosie was too busy showboating with NS, by all account him & his wife(MSP) and very good friends with NS and her oh...

The SNP got double the amount of votes Labour got in Scotland.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/election/2015/results/scotland

Democracy is a funny thing.

It's quite simple. The SNP got 50% of the vote. Parties that are against independence got 50%. I'm willing to guess that 45% of the SNP vote also voted yes in the referendum. The other 5% may have decided they too would now favour independence, but I suspect a good proportion of them were simply attracted by the SNP policies, even though they do not favour independence.

That's democracy for you.

Wow, MN is full of vitriol for SNP today

It wouldn't be a mn thread on the SNP without expatinScotland's plaintive cry "its not fair to criticise the SNP"!

I haven't had time to read this thread so sorry if this has been said.

North of England Labour heartlands would also vote for an SNP type party if one existed. There's deep disillusionment with Labour who look increasingly like a London party only.

UKIP vote is getting big votes in those types of constituencies despite their frankly not very credible candidates with no grassroots history in the area and an image problem of being a bit of a dodgy racist/sexist party. Imagine if there was a party fielding locally respected people, trusted to be representative of the actual wishes of their constituents simply because they are like their constituents.

Well done to Nicola Sturgeon who has played a blinder.

What were the Scots thinking of?

Themselves. As a people, as a nation - something the English refuse to do.

Mhari Black MP is my new heroine....:smile:

...like sheep.

I can think of many acts which could be described as heroic. Standing for parliament in a country with free elections and no fear of persecution or violence isn't one of them.

Baaaaaa, from a well educated, well informed female. I make up my own mind, like most people.

Off to knit a nice pair of socks from my woolly coat

hello indy ref thread folks. What a strange day!
how you doing statistically?

Not about the indyref. I thought it was a general election. OR did I miss something?

oh yes sorry good shag, I was saying hi to the posters that used to post on the never bloody ending indy ref posts, who are also posting here.