Scotland - election review

A cracking night for the Scottish LibDems, mild anxiety for Labour, disappointment for the SNP and frustration for the Scottish Tories.

The LibDems moved into second place in Scotland in terms of seats won and share of the vote. This reflects the national swing to them from Labour, and saw them take Inverness and E Dumbarton, though they failed to win Edinburgh South. Even in seats where they had "paper candidates" their vote was up by around 5%, which just shows that all those months of campaigning often are of little consequence.

The national swing did for the Tories too. Roughly static in terms of vote share across the UK, they failed to advance in Scotland, losing Dumfries but picking up Dumfries-shire. They went backwards in some other key seats, and the LibDem surge did them no favours. Their campaign in Edinburgh S probably did enough to keep the Libs out, and in the new N Perths seat they made progress against the SNP, though they failed to secure next door Angus.

The SNP had a frustrating night - although they won the Western Isles and Dundee East, they failed to take Ochil, or to advance outside their NE Scotland base. They too lost out to the LibDems, and to drop below 20% can only add pressure on Alec Salmond - surely another leadership election can't be on the cards?

Scottish Labour can breathe a sigh of relief - they held Dumfries and the two Edinburgh marginals, and will send 41 members to Westminster. Thank you, Gordon.

The Scottish electorate is showing signs of increased sophistication - the LibDems were rewarded for their stance on a range of UK issues that appealed to voters across the country who wanted to give Labour a bloody nose. Come the next Scottish Parliament elections the results may be very different - the most recent YouGov poll suggests as much - as voters turn to think about the record of the Scottish Executive. But, last night, Scotland voted broadly along UK lines - we're not that different, after all.

Comments

[dearieme]

Och, Annan folk were aye wiser than Dumfries folk.