Thanks to the hundreds of you who voted in the poll asking whether the SNP's "A-team" is to be found at Holyrood or Westminster these days. The result was much more decisive than I expected, although as someone pointed out, it's perhaps inevitable that the A-team is whichever team Nicola Sturgeon is in.
Which is the SNP's "A-Team"?
Holyrood MSPs : 72%
Westminster MPs : 28%
I find the presentation of this poll disheartening. Why 'devalue' some elected members of the SNP (and representatives of just over half of Scottish citizens) just because they were elected to do a different job in that other place down in London?
ReplyDeleteHad the question been posed in a quite different manner e.g. which team is most likely to contribute to the changes needed to bring about an Independence nation I could see some sense in it. This would have introduced some consideration of factors likely to influence such an outcome. As posed, the question simply seems to be judging the individuals concerned and the outcome does no credit to those who voted.
I can't win, can I? Half the time I'm accused of being a mindless, tribal SNP droid. Then I run a harmless poll like this as a bit of fun, and suddenly I'm undermining the party. It goes without saying that your criticism of the people who voted in the poll is completely absurd.
DeleteI think what that proves is that a certain percentage of SNP supporters seem to be so prickly about the mere hint of criticism of their heroes that they even start criticising people who bang the drum for the party 24/7. If it makes you feel any better, I wouldn't doubt for a second that you're a mindless, tribal SNP droid. Your credentials are impeccable on that front.
DeleteMany thanks, Beth. And if it makes you feel any better, I wouldn't doubt for a second that your real name is not "Beth". Intriguing how the McDougall-sponsored trolls are so often instructed to adopt female names.
DeleteI'm not surprised at the result. For god sakes, Team H has been doing its job for eight years now and Team W hasn't even finished its second month, however much of a splash it has made(which unfortunately seems to be merely cosmetic).
ReplyDeleteI voted for Team Holyrood because like I said previously it was them who delivered the referendum and don't forget the landslide they won in 2011 paving the way for the referendum and the resulting UK landslide for the SNP at Westminster. Given time though, the SNP Westminster team will match the Holyrood team and even now the new SNP MP's are outstanding.
ReplyDeleteI didn't vote. I'm an ex-member of the SNP and I could see some serious shitheads on both lists (Alex Neil? FFS!). And yet some very good people too. I think I'll wait and see how it all shakes down.
ReplyDeleteOne of the things that occurs to me is that in politics, a seemingly solid positon can quickly turn to dust. Maybe not long after your position seems so secure as to be unquestionable.
ReplyDeleteIt could also be because in Holyrood, the SNP run the show, but they can only ever be the third party in Westminster: this means they have much more relative power in HR, and with it, much more responsibility. Plus the devolved powers we have and those which were always independent (health, education, law) are run from Holyrood.
ReplyDeleteIt could also be because more people who visit the site see Holyrood as "their" parliament, and Westminster as a foreign polity: Team 56 are thus something like ambassadors to another country, but Team 64 are the people who truly run Scotland. As a result, if you're going to have A Teams and B Teams, it's more important to have your A Team be in the place you need them most.
The poll is indeed harmless fun. The only way it will ever possibly become more serious is when the Westminster Establishment political and media get hold of it and try to spin and twist it into something that it never was. They may be held back by the realisation that, in the mind of the UK and international public mind, Nicola’s membership of both W and H teams means that they are, in reality, all one team…in common cause with all the residents of Scotia.
ReplyDelete