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Category: Scotland

Will being called ‘Skintland’ boost the YES or NO campaigns?

Will being called ‘Skintland’ boost the YES or NO campaigns?

What’ll the “Economist cover” do to the referendum? Above is a version of what’s said to be the front cover of the latest Economist which hasn’t going down too well in nationalist circles overnight north of the border. As can be seen Scotland has been renamed “Skintland“; the country’s capital becomes “Edinborrow“; the Orkneys and Shetlands are dubbed the “Orkward” and “Shutlands” islands while the Lowlands region is termed “Loanlands“. Amongst the other re-namings are “Grumpians” for Grampians, “Aberdown” for…

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Back Jackson for Tory Scots Supremo

Back Jackson for Tory Scots Supremo

HenryG looks at the betting for the leadership contest Some of my best political bets have been with the Conservatives. Duncan Smith (33/1) and Cameron (11/1) have both come up trumps for me in the past. Now that we know the names of qualifying candidates for the Scottish Conservative leader and have seen them in action at conference there is one name that leaps out in value. Jackson Carlaw looks tidily placed to mop up from his more fancied opponents’…

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Will breaking away detoxify the Scottish Tories?

Will breaking away detoxify the Scottish Tories?

Would autonomy stop them being seen as the English party? The 2010 general election demonstrated more dramatically than ever before the extent to which Scotland has become a different country politically. While the Conservatives made gain after gain in Wales and England, north of the border not only was there precisely no change in seats but the Conservatives actually went backwards in vote share. The proposal by the contender for the leadership of the Scottish Conservatives, Murdo Fraser MSP, to…

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Without Scotland can Labour ever win again?

Without Scotland can Labour ever win again?

BBC news As I reported last night I had an accident yesterday and am just recovering quietly at home – so there’ll be limited posting from me for the next day or so. The big polling news in the past 24 hours has been the Ipsos-MORI survey of Scotland which shows a big swing to the SNP, These are the figures:- Westminster voting intention (May 2010 election) SNP 42% (+22%) Lab 33% (-9%) Con 15% (-2%) LD 6% (-13%) Other…

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Does this put YouGov’s daily movements into context?

Does this put YouGov’s daily movements into context?

Remember Scotland May 5 2011? There was as lot of excitement on Tuesday night when the News International/YouGov daily poll came out showing the Tories on 39% – just one point behind Labour on 40% – the smallest Labour lead for months. Last night’s poll had it looking differently although the changes, Labour up 2 the Tories down 2, were within the margin of error. But how much notice should we take of the daily changes from the online pollster…

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Dare George Osborne grasp the Scottish spending nettle?

Dare George Osborne grasp the Scottish spending nettle?

Should the Scots continue to get a better deal? Some months before the 2001 general election I found myself sitting next to the young George Osborne, then not even an MP, at a dinner in Oxford and we talked about the coming fight. One of his ideas, which at the time seemed particularly smart, was for the blues to “play the English card” focussing particularly on the subject that’s the main lead in the Mail this morning, the big difference…

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Does anyone want to follow Iain Gray as the SLAB leader – anyone?

Does anyone want to follow Iain Gray as the SLAB leader – anyone?

Henry G Manson on Labour’s challenge in Scotland The bookmakers were quick to develop a market for the successor to Labour’s Iain Gray after he announced his resignation in May. Months on, Gray is still in place, there is no timetable for the contest and currently no eligible candidates declared. Earlier this summer I tipped Ken McIntosh and went reasonably big on him on the grounds he was the party’s best remaining communication. It now seems in there’s a chance…

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Is this Labour’s big nightmare?

Is this Labour’s big nightmare?

What if leader ratings are more predictive than VI? I’ve recounted here before how last March I gambled half my entire month’s pension on my strong belief that leader ratings are a better guide to election outcomes than voting intention numbers. Above is the polling that convinced me. Labour were comfortably ahead of the SNP in the voting intention (VI) polling and with the way seats are distributed look set for a substantial lead on seats in the Holyrood elections…

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