Scottish Elections who do you think will take the majority of Seats?

[Fundays12]

As a Scot I genuinely have no idea who to vote for.

I dont trust the SNP and find John Swinney completely incompetent. I wouldnt trust him to run my household budget let alone the countries so he is out for me. I cant stand labour, the tories well are not my cup of tea, lib dems and green would never get my vote.

However i dont seem to be alone in having no idea who to vote for which leaves me wondering who will take the majority of seats across Scotland. What do others think will happen?

This is incredibly helpful and giving me a better idea of who to vote for. Thanks

Another good rule of thumb is to be aware of the 9 MSP's (all Scottish Greens and Scottish Lib Dem) who voted against the 'six words' amendment of the Forensic Medical Examiners Services Bill which allowed for rape survivors to request (not demand, merely request) a female forensic medical examiner.

Andy Wightman of the Greens voted for it under threat of deselection and punishment for defying the whip but resigned shortly afterwards -

www.holyrood.com/inside-politics/view,finding-the-words-interview-with-andy-wightman

I am not a fan of Scottish greens but was dithering about lib dems however this is concerning.

I thought it was two for? Jamie Green and Jackson Carlaw?

Alex Cole Hamilton, leader of the Scottish Liberal Democrats, who declared that he 'did it all for Beth' (Beth pictured below) in regards to his championing of the GRR bill, voted against the six words amendment.

Just saw Dr Sandesh voted for it too.

Of course you have deliberately picked two where you can try for the 'racist angle'. What about their other 517 policies. Like for example-

Scrap Net zero and invest in Nuclear
Disincentivise outsourcing of jobs for companies operating in UK
10 year qualifying period for benefits
Abolish inheritance tax
Deport foreign nationals convicted of serious crimes
Abolish capital gains tax to increase growth and investment
scrap the under £200 low value shoplifting rule
Community Service for those who engage in anti social behaviour
Withdraw the UK from the UN
Replace council tax and stamp duty with land value tax
Knife possession in youngsters = national service
Universal Child Education voucher
Tax wealth not work
Foreign aid to be linked to UK fiscal position
Replace complex tax with a flat 25% rate
Stop foreign nationals using the NHS
Increase SDLT for foreign buyers

What's your point?
I can go live in Spain but I'll never be Spanish.

Enough of the manifesto @SunnyButStillCold

I agree and that is why Reform or Restore Britain (when they are fully operational) actually have a chance of winning elections.

We've had tory, we've had labour and surely the greens are a joke of a party.
Who does that leave Liberal Democrats. I've never seen them be a major player in a major election. In fact usually I forget they exist.

The nineties are constantly bandied about as the golden age of recent times and I have to agree they were. Before mass immigration house prices were affordable, you could easily get doctor and hospital appointments, we had law and order and the economy was doing really well. Now that was under Tony Blair who was labour but he was alot more focused and driven and full of ideas that the current lot. He did bring us immigration though so not perfect by any means. He also had Brown as his chancellor so they were a formidable team.

The point being Reform or Restore want to reinstate a more 'traditional' Britain with old fashioned values sort of like the UK in the nineties, thus the appeal.

Do I think Reform will get the most votes. I think they will get more than many people think they will. It might well be a bit of a surprise 'brexit' moment. I certaintly think they will do quite well. SNP will probably still take the majority but I don't think it will be a huge win for them and I hope they don't get in again as they are useless.

I quoted like 10 points from the manifesto out of 519 that they actually have.
That's a tiny amount and I didn't even cover their plans for the NHS and nursing.

Not sure what your problem is but surely on a thread discussing political parties and elections it's very appropriate.

I guess it made them sound too appealing and common sense and ruined your racist angle you were pushing.

What? People have different opinions to you and so suddenly it's 'weird'

Will you go into meltdown if someone you don't approve off actually wins the election.

Nothing less weird than discussing political parties and manifestos on a political thread with an election coming up.

No, they’re bloody awful, but it’s clearly your agenda to push their (your??) policies

It seems (after more reading on my part yesterday) that you will not be able to vote for them in the Scottish Election as they are a new party and still in the process of setting up. They should hopefully be fully functional for the general election and based on the amount of support they are getting online I would think they might just have a good chance of winning. I guess you will hear more about them over the next couple of years.

Kind of gutted that they are not available to vote for in the Scottish Elections but I'll have to make do with the existing parties for now.

yes it appears that I did. Not sure why that is such a problem to learn about parties that are in the process of becoming fully functional. I am just in the process of learning about them myself and wanted to share with the thread.

Is my opinion on a new party and their polices 'propoganda'. It's just an opinion on a public forum by a member of the public on a thread re the upcoming elections. Hardly the end of the world.

Quite refreshing and hopeful to have another party which sounds great in the pipeline especially in these dark political times.

As it is I am stuck voting reform for the coming Scottish election.

You’re obviously on here spouting this mince as a political push not just char

I was always a Tory voter. I thought Maggie T was a great PM. Strong and decisive and 'not for turning'

I don't like the current Tory leader. I am voting reform in the scottish elections as I am really concerned about law and order and anti social behaviour. Also about our huge benefits bill. I know he plans to change the NHS and quite frankly something needs to be done about it. I can't get a GP appointment and have had to go to a private GP recently. I'd rather have an operational and fast system that I have to contribute to. Right now I would be scared to go to A&E if I had an accident due to all the horror stories on here plus there are no ambulances that come quickly anymore are there (according to what I hear)

Tory have just had x years to fix these issues and didn't and so given that I don't like their leader now I'm voting reform.

nope. I am nothing to do with the party although I am thinking I might donate to them in the future.
I learned about them a few days ago from someone else who was praising them and so I was passing on my new found knowledge.

Wouldn't you like to be aware of any new parties in the pipeline given how everyone is saying the scottish election is depressing and they have nobody to vote for.

Ffs

They are nothing to do with me. I only found out about them a few days ago and for the first time in ages I am hopeful we might have a good political party to vote for in the general election.

I'm quite flattered though that you think a middle aged retired woman in the throes of menopause has the energy to set up a new political party especially one that sounds this good.

so who are you voting for?

Yeah but here we have the concept of being a “new Scot” ie you can come here and become Scottish.

So em that kind of enthnonationalism just makes no sense in Scotland, and makes me think that - as well as being racist - they have no clue about Scotland/our politics.

Great Yarmouth are very welcome to them!

I was ill before Christmas, I went to my same day GP appointment and she called an ambulance which arrived in 20 minutes. I was taken to hospital, waited in the waiting room for 20minutes or so before being given a bed in the admissions unit and was transferred to the respiritory ward a few hours later with covid, pneumonia and very low oxygen levels.

I stayed in hospital for a week and had really good treatment, the only problem I had on follow up was a heart echo the respiritory specialist requested would have taken 26 weeks so I was given an ECG and blood test instead. Thankfully these came back normal so they could cancel the echo.

I know there are problems with the NHS, especially getting GP appointments but the NHS can also be exceptional. You will her a lot of stories telling you where things go wrong but people also need to talk about when it goes right.

We need to accept that at best the nhs in both Scotland and England is patchy though. Have you tried getting treatment for adhd? The wait is at least 4 years. 4 years of suffering. 4 years of not being able to give your best at school / work. And that’s before we get onto the fact that our cancer stats are the worst in Europe.

Can we please say we deserve better? If I’ve broken a leg and called for an ambulance, I want an ambulance to come immediately. Is that too much to ask?

We need to bin the current model and do better. Politicians need to concede this and stop messing around. If they leave it to Reform we’ll get a US healthcare system when a European one would be so much better than that - and SO much better than what we have now!

I agree that sometimes the NHS does get it right. I'm on a waiting list to get some treatment which has been over a year now since the first appointment with a nurse. It's a long time to wait. I don't know even when I will get the treatment.

It seems from reading mumsnet that the NHS are quite good with emergencies but not so much with ongoing care of things. However where I live which is in a small city they have built so many houses that all the public services are groaning under the weight. I could be dying and I still would have to phone up at 8am and then there are no appointments left when you get through so I guess I would go to A&E if it was really that serious but then I hear the horror stories on here about A&E.

I am very glad that I at least have access to a private GP. Not ideal but if needs must I guess. I'm glad you had good service and they dealt with you promptly but I know I am not the only one who has trouble getting GP appointments. I've read other threads on here about it. I'm hoping for some kind of subsidised system where we can take out some kind of insurance plan (like my dental insurance which is £35) and then gives me a better service. All I know is for me the current NHS is desperately slow or unavailable.