Sunday, June 23, 2024

Would the SNP be in a better or worse position in the polls if Humza Yousaf was still leader?

Given that it's the penultimate weekend of the election campaign, I'm more than a bit surprised that there's no sign of any full-scale Scottish polls in the Sunday papers yet, although admittedly sometimes it becomes clear by mid-morning on a Sunday that there is one but it hadn't percolated through to social media overnight.  So we'll see, but I've had a look at the Scottish subsamples from the most recent GB polls, and it's the familiar pattern - the SNP vote seems to be resilient, but Labour's modest lead is stubbornly still there.

Which raises an interesting question - what would be happening now if John Swinney hadn't replaced Humza Yousaf?  It wasn't until after Yousaf stepped down that Labour really opened up some clear water, so it's reasonable to ask the question of whether the SNP would currently be polling better if he was still in harness - not because he was popular, but because the trauma of a leadership change does seem to have negatively affected the party's popularity.

Well, one thing's for sure - if Yousaf had dumped the Greens from government and then somehow clung to power, the SNP would be in a much worse position than they are now.  His personal ratings had always been low, but they still fell off a cliff after his strategic misjudgement, and if he had ploughed on into this campaign the SNP could have been facing something close to a wipeout by this point.  

So the only meaningful question is whether the situation would have been better if Yousaf was still there without having ditched the Greens.  That's much more difficult to say, but for what it's worth every instinct in my body suggests that even if the SNP had started the formal campaign period roughly level with Labour, they would then have gone backwards over the course of the campaign because Yousaf's unsuitability as leader would have made itself felt.  He probably would have been quite gaffe-prone on the campaign trail, and I think in particular the Question Time format the other night would have been ghastly for him.  It's the kind of setting where in the past he's come across as arrogant and really put people off.

It'll always be impossible to prove, but my guess is that the SNP are in a stronger position to face this election due to the leadership change, however intuitively unlikely that may seem.

*  *  *

Last night, I decided to take a whole evening off from writing constituency profiles and blogging, and I went to see the midnight cinema showing of the Doctor Who season finale.  In a way it was quite an odd thing to do, as I hadn't actually seen any of the season until then.  I found myself stepping from one of my home universes into another, because suddenly I wasn't surrounded by chatter about "Grangemouth" and "women won't wheesht" and "notional majorities" and instead it was "Big Finish audios" and "sonic screwdrivers" and "jeezo, I draw the line at Time And The Rani".  Oh, and there was a much higher percentage of people with blue hair than at an average Alba branch meeting.

My latest two constituency profiles for The National are Glasgow North East and Glasgow South - they don't seem to be on the main part of the website, but they were in the print edition, which means you can find them in the digital edition if you're a subscriber.

*  *  *

Although it's too late to register to vote, it's not too late to make sure that people who are registered also have the correct form of photo ID ready for 4th July.  If you know any independence supporter who may not have a passport or a photo driving licence, send them HERE to check if they have another type of acceptable photo ID, and if turns out they don't, send them HERE before the deadline of 5pm on Wednesday to apply for a Voter Authority Certificate.

104 comments:

  1. Lord of the SlippersJune 23, 2024 at 5:57 AM

    I agree with you entirely on this, James. A Yousaf led campaign with attendant Green lunacy would've been a disaster. As in, single figures SNP MPs returned. Lorna Slater alone would've probably cost them 20 odd seats!
    Swinney has been quietly impressive. He will undoubtedly get much of the core vote out on July 4th and it will salvage some sort of result. I still think a majority is unlikely but 20+ is now probable.
    The half hearted indy message is the limiting factor.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. And Swinney’s soporific personality. He set the heather asleep last time, too. That’ll win us our massive constitutional breakthrough, aye?

      Delete
    2. Truss, Johnston, May, Cameron. Sunak. No thanks. Level headed, professional, knowledgeable and intelligent. That will do me. And spare me the SNP Baaaad guff from the usual suspects. It’s as tiresome as it is idiotic.

      Delete
    3. Swinney is level headed, professional, knowledgeable and intelligent? That's as idiotic as it is tiresome.

      Delete
    4. Deary me, it’s the dregs on the back shift. Away back to WOS.

      Delete
  2. Agree with those praising Swinney. It was a good move to install him.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Who needs elected leaders anyway? It’s good enough for the Tories…

      Delete
    2. You appear not to understand the electoral system. No surprise really.

      Delete
    3. How very British.

      Delete
  3. I'm never going to join in with any praise for John REDACTOR MAN Swinney but I agree that James was right to post that if the SNP wanted to improve its position Yousaf had to be made to walk the plank. It was added value that the Greens went with him. The SNPs survival instinct kicked in at the right time and the SNP patsy called Yousaf was told his time was up.
    Slippers above called the SNP position a "half hearted Indy message" personally I see it as an insult to the intelligence of any independence supporter and generally an insult to go begging for a sec 30 from Westminster. Swinney is a gradualist/devolutionalist.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Aye and better a gradualist party wi MPs in WM than a unionist party. At least it keeps Independence in the public eye. If we hae 30 or 40 so-called Scottish labour MPs you can say good bye to talk of independence .
      If however , a fair number of SNP MPs are elected then HR 2026 would be the time to put pressure on the SNP to up their game on independence because there'll be other alternatives that stand a chance of being elected .
      Alba gu brath.

      Delete
    2. Unthirldom - I give you SNP policy of Both Votes SNP in 2021. Loads of SNP people didnae care then about all the Unionist politicians that policy would elect. People didnae say then that with all these Britnat politicians " you can say goodbye to independence" . Explain why it is different with MPs in the English parliament. Personally, I do not want to be represented in an English parliament that has held Scotland in a colonial prison for 317 years and that's why I am voting ISP. Britnats will always win a Westminster election it's designed that way.

      Delete
    3. Goodbye to Indy you say. How? Will you wheesht like London tells you? Do you really think the half of Scots who want independence will just fade away? How much BBC have you been watching?

      Delete
    4. Ross said the SNP manifesto could be summed up in one word "independence". Having the SNP with a majority in Westminster and in charge at Holyrood ensures that the opposition talk of nothing else but independence. The minute that they take control they will do their best to never mention the subject. They will seek to marginalise not just the SNP but the whole indy movement.

      It may be that the SNP lose a lot of seats in a few days time. Unfortunately for the country but probably fortunately for the SNP the incoming Westminster government is going to face impossible circles to square financially and by 2026 Labour might well be as unpopular as the Tories are now.

      As to James' point, changing a leader so soon before an election is not easy but on balance I think it has been handled well by the SNP and it probably has resulted in a bolstering of the position and may even have saved a few seats. The opposition were geared to attack Humza with the usual clichés and veiled racism and they haven't got to grips with John at all.

      Delete
    5. Anon@9:05, it’s actually just under 50% but I take your point.
      The task is to get support for independence above 50% and keep it there.

      Delete
    6. Shrimp you posted under my original comment but you have ignored my question re independence. So I'll ask again how many PMs telling the SNP to pissof with their sec30 requests will you accept before concluding it ain't working. It's 4 ( May, Johnston, Truss, Sunak ) going on 5 with Starmer. Is it 10 PMs or is it more?

      Or how many years will you accept the SNP being told to pissof with their sec 30 request by Westminster. It's 7 years and counting. Do you have any limits? Is it 20 years or more?

      If you have no idea perhaps you should ask Kavanagh to tell you what to think.

      Delete
    7. The idea any UK PM could now ever let the Scots have another referendum is beyond absurd. Ending the union is Armageddon for them. Literal political suicide.

      No. No. A million times no section 30. Never.

      Delete
    8. Absolutely , it is true that we will never win in an English parliament -
      I ken that but you have to think of the message to the establishment and the general public. If we had a general policy of withdrawal from the H of C then I'd support that. But are the public ready for that, would they support it or simply vote unionist?

      As to my point " goodbye to indy" . perhaps folk shouldn't take things said quite so literally!
      . I merely meant that Indy will be pushed further back . Although , I don't watch much Brit Bias Corp , and certainly don't get my opinions from it. However, many people are influenced by it , unfortunately.
      I don't think you realise the importance of keeping independence being talked about. Folk are fickle.

      Alba gu brath.

      Delete
    9. Swinney had no answer to Kuennsberg's question about asking for a sec 30. Just the same old drivel that Sturgeon and Blackford spouted for years. Whining about bad Westminster not letting us have our referendum.
      Scotland is England's possession/colony what else do you expect Swinney. They have made that crystal clear over the last 7 years. There is no democracy for Scotland.

      Once again the SNP is promising something they know fine well they cannae deliver - a sec30. At least this time they are not running a ' ring fenced ' Indyref2 scam.

      Just how many years will they continue to get away with this? If the Shrimp above is representative it will go on for ever and ever.

      Delete
    10. What’s ISP policy? Don’t they have less supporters than even ALBA?

      Delete
    11. "What’s ISP policy?"

      Freely available to read online, why don't you?

      "Don’t they have less supporters than even ALBA?"

      I voted for SNP in days when they had less support (or fewer supporters!) than Alba. Or maybe people should revert to voting for SLAB for years, after all they never delivered either and for a lot longer than 10 years!

      Delete
    12. Anon at 12.25pm - I posted some of their policies on SGP just the other day.

      Delete
  4. Had Swinney stood initially in the lesdership contest he would have had my vote. As it was, I voted for Kate Forbes and Ash Regan. In saying that, I think that Humza was probably better at the job than I had anticipated and he steered us through some very torrid waters. He did, however, make some key errors in my opinion - the worst being to let Michael Matheson remain in post until he eventually was forced to resign. I have no doubt that cost us sone support in the polls. On reflection, I think that Swinney's arrival as leader was the best thing for the SNP.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Sacking the Greens the way he did was a doozy of a political blunder, too. Don’t forget the one that killed his career!

      Delete
    2. I actually thought unshackling the SNP from the corrosive influence of the Greens was the most positive thing he did while in office. Shows what I know!

      Delete
  5. Kuensberg's sheer hatred of the SNP clearer than ever on her face in her interview with J Swinney this morning, in stark contrast to her treatment of Cleverly and thon new Labour wumman. Then "Mandy" Mandelson allowed to put his boot in at the end, basically comparing the SNP (and probably Scotland too if he'd had the guts to say it) to pests. Why do so many Scots want to stay in this relationship? I knew I shouldn't have watched it!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Aye the English Labour Lord Mandelson telling Scots what they need. Pure colonialism. Things will be great for Scots if Labour ran Westminster and Holyrood he said. Aye like McConnell sending money back to Gordon Brown because he wanted it back from Scotland and the disaster of PFI. The SNP are currently crap but the Britnat parties are colonial masters. Don't vote to be subjugated, subservient and humiliated by Britnat parties.

      Sarwar says this morning that the votes in the 2021 Holyrood election don't count because it was in a pandemic. That's your Britnat colonial Labour Party there.
      He also says there needs to be an overwhelming majority for independence for Indyref2 to be approved but refuses to specify what this is. Cameron got his EU ref with 37% of the vote. That's your Britnat colonial Westminster for you. Different rules for the colony.

      Delete
    2. Saying that a majority of SNP MPs would be a mandate for something and a minority of SNP MPs would still be a mandate for the same thing does invite a lot of ridicule.

      Delete
    3. Anon@10:54, you are correct.
      If the SNP lose a lot of seats and don’t have a majority of MPs, then clearly there is no mandate for anything, especially given the fact nothing has been achieved with the SNP having the vast majority of Scottish MPs in recent years.
      Claiming otherwise would undoubtedly invite much ridicule.
      This alone should be enough for supporters of independence to vote SNP.

      Delete
    4. For some SNP supporters The Song Remains the Same. Keep voting SNP for independence to infinity and beyond. In Swinneys gradualism (in the long run ) we are all dead. It never happens.

      Delete
    5. IFS, there is no sensible alternative option for independence supporters, other than voting SNP.
      Yourself, and several others on here, seem unable to grasp the fact that voting for another pro indy party or abstaining will achieve nothing, other than potentially handing seats to unionist parties.
      Makes no sense whatsoever.

      Delete
    6. I thought ISP was pro collective Marxist run by Putin? Lol

      Delete
    7. Wish I hadn't read this thread while eating. I can never think of Mandelson without picturing that photo of him slobbering over birthday cake with Jeffrey Epstein

      Delete
    8. Anon at 12.10pm - if you feel that way where were you when the SNP went for Both Votes SNP in 2021? That handed seats to Unionist parties.

      Delete
    9. IFS. Mandelson’s best recruitment Officer. Just too stupid to realise it.

      Delete
    10. Troll alert at 10.12pm - the same numpty from WGD making this a daily occurrence. This 🤡 thinks his trolling bothers me. Is that the best you can come up with. A definite lack of imagination there. But you are a WGD numpty after all.

      Delete
    11. Yet here you are, clearly bothered enough to spend time replying and illustrating with wee faces. Fish in a barrel.

      Delete
  6. The answer to the S30 question is very clear in my opinion and is basically one of fairness and democracy. If a political party (or parties) who support independence place their commitment to have a referendum in their manifestos prior to an election and then gain a majority for that manifesto commitment then they are entitled to have a referendum. In 2021 independence supporting parties had that commitment and won a majority in the Scottish Parliament. Our last independence referendum was 10 years ago, and a significant period of time has passed. How Swinney and others have to respond to this is by contrasting the Westminster attitudes between a Scottish independence referendum and that of a reunification referendum in Northern Ireland - which was clearly defined in the Good Friday Agreement. Northern Ireland has an entitlement to hold a reunification referendum every seven years - if Stormont should decide to have one. Can you imagine any Westminster government refusing to grant that entitlement. Swinney and others in the SNP need to start asking their interrogators if they think that it is right that a peaceful civil national movement in Scotland should be denied a referendum after a democratic election when a referendum on Irish reunification would be given agreement by Westminster inside another part of the UK. They should also be asked to explain the reasons why this should be the case.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anon at 11.16pm - wrong about N. Ireland referendum. The Westminster sec of state has to approve it. " Can you imagine any Westminster government refusing to grant that entitlement" - yes I can imagine that.

      The answer to the sec 30 question is not to ask it in the first place. The answer will always be no.
      A different approach is needed but the SNP know that and don't want independence. SNP talk on independence is cheap. Its their lack of action that counts.

      Delete
    2. I simply could not imagine ANY NI Secretary of State refusing such a request. You know what the repercussions to such a refusal would be and so does Westminster. The reaction across the world (but particularly in the USA) would also be damning. I think you are being very disingenuous due to your dislike of the SNP.

      Delete
    3. Anon at 12.13pm - my honest opinion is what I posted. I could see it being refused initially and whether that position held could depend on who is in the White House. Irish Joe would put massive pressure on Westminster. Trump I'm not sure - depends on what might be in it for himself. I base that opinion on the history of Westminster - perfidious Albion - has a track record of blanking treaties/agreements when it suits them. They didnae exactly honour the articles of the treaty of union 1707.
      So no I am not being disingenuous and I don't see what my opinion of the SNP has to do with it.

      What you don't explain in your initial post is how will this line of argument make Westminster say yes. It won't, so again it is a dead end strategy that should have been binned long ago by the SNP if they were serious about independence. They aint.

      Delete
    4. The NI context is different from the Scotland context.

      Delete
    5. Anonymous at 3.39pm. Please explain why the NI context is different from the Scotland context?

      Delete
    6. For the 2017 General Election, the SNP said winning a majority of seats would give the party a "triple lock" of mandates to call a second referendum on independence and that the UK Government would find it "democratically unsustainable" to continue to oppose another referendum.

      Sound's a lot like their 2024 manifesto doesn't it?

      Delete
    7. Anon at 3.39pm - what you mean because N.Ireland is on a different island? 😀

      Delete
    8. The GFA & NI Act 1998 explictly establishes that the Secretary of State for NI may only call a border poll if they believe that a majority is in favour of reunification.

      It's also not applicable to Scotland, but if it was - that merely means Westminster has no obligation to faciliate a referendum UNTIL it believes there is a majority in favour of it.

      In either case, the real route to leaving the UK is to assemble a popular majority in the 50-55% range capable of winning any election or referendum.

      Delete
    9. It seems unlikely in NI for the next 10 years at least because pro-UI parties are not near a majority of votes and Alliance are not in favour of a referendum.

      Delete
    10. Pro-UI parties are still not in sight of a majority of seats in Stormont.

      Delete
    11. And how do you demonstrate that a majority is in favour? Is it not normally (and democratically) done by political parties putting a commitment into their election manifesto, allowing the people to vote on it and then derermining the outcome by the number of seats won? According to some on here it's a case of holding an election and then letting a 'governor general' appointed by Westminster decude whether or not he/she will approve a referendum. As I said in my initial post, I could never see ANY Westminster government telling Sinn Fein (when the time comes) that they cannot have a referendum. My contention is that is if it's good enough for Northern Ireland then it's good enough for Scotland.

      Delete
    12. For normal policies, pluralities can be enough. For this? More than 50% of the popular vote is needed, which is a threshold we have not actually crossed.

      I agree with you, Westminster would never refuse NI a referendum - IF there was >50% voting for nationalist parties. But that has not happened over there and it has not happened over here in Scotland.

      Delete
    13. Anon at 12.01pm says it has not happened in Scotland. WRONG.

      2015 UK GE
      SNP vote share 50.0%
      Scottish Greens 1.3%

      I'm sure you can do the arithmetic.

      Delete
  7. having just seen dross interviewed - it seems the only obsessed with independence is dross


    ReplyDelete
  8. Sarwar , Lord Mandy , Laura Kuensberg and co all want to spin it that a vote drop and loss of seats for the SNP is the death o independence .
    Hence vote SNP
    Then hold them , the SNP , to account in the HR election where there are other Indy parties with a chance of putting pressure on them to advance independence. If , say Alba got 10 or 20 seats even, a lot could be achieved.

    But a good result , which looks likely, for SLab will give them an advantage in HR election .
    And , I'm sorry but many ordinary folk are quite likely to loss heart.

    Or are all you key board warriors going to lead the revolt , take to the streets and raise the saltire?


    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Unthirldom - you are dancing to the Britnats tune. You shouldn't need to put pressure on a party that claims to want independence.

      Delete
    2. Aye we shouldna but we hae tae live in the real world. Politicians respond to pressure . SNP is a collective of pro Indy , indy-lite, fearties, gradualists etc. Some really do think they have to get to 60% support. Others think more like you and I do. We need to strengthen their position.

      Voting IPS is better than naught but will be a mere footnote in 2weeks time. (Unless you can persuade , maybe , 5 to 10% to vote for them , the SNP and others will ignore them.)
      Tha mi duilich , I am sorry!



      Delete
    3. Fair enough unthirldom. Respect to you for your position but I am voting for a party that reflects my beliefs. Much better in my opinion than voting for a dud party that has proven to be useless with multiple mandates and probably has a reasonable contingent of British state actors in it.

      Delete
    4. Trouble is in the Holyrood election the SNP will rightly say that they're not expected to do as well in the Constituency ballot as in previous elections so it will be even more crucial to vote SNP 1&2.

      The SNP and it's supporters will be pushing that messaging excessively and like in this election will argue a vote for anyone else risks letting unionists in.

      Delete
    5. I’m afraid you are wasting your time. IFS really is too stupid to think this through. He’s best ignored and he might go back to WOS and the Mail.

      Delete
    6. Just read a post by IFS calling someone a liar. Irony on steroids.

      Delete
    7. Troll alert at 10.15pm and 10.20pm. The same guy who says I'm best ignored but does the opposite 🤡🤡🤡 what a clown. And he calls me stupid. This troll is probably a WGD carrot muncher who I have upset by telling the truth about Sturgeon's gang.

      Delete
    8. He wasn’t talking to you, and he seems to have called it right. You really are really stupid.

      Delete
  9. Is ISP the same crowd as IPS but fell out. Either way less than 1% won’t give independence.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Ifs

    If SNP lose MPs they will lose resource for fighting Holyrood.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. A supposed party of independence relying on the colonial oppressor state to fund it.
      Why don't all the people who post on SGP saying they support the SNP stick their hands in their pocket and contribute more.

      Delete
    2. This is of course important too - the SNP has a lot of members and financial backers. Every penny counts!

      Delete
    3. Anon at 1.20pm assuming you are not a robot care to tell me the current % contribution of Westminster short money to SNP funds. Excluding the missing ring fenced £600k of course.

      Delete
    4. Can't put a percentage figure on it but as I say every little helps.

      Delete
    5. Anon at 3.32pm so you really don't know that much about how the SNP is financed.

      Delete
    6. However what I said "If SNP lose MPs they will lose resource for fighting Holyrood." and "Every penny counts!".

      Both statements remain valid.

      Delete
    7. Just to be clear. You are saying that funding given on account of the number of SNP MPs in Westminster can be used for Holyrood purposes. Really?

      Delete
    8. Still waiting. Come on IFS. Easy question. Surely you weren’t telling fibs again.

      Delete
  11. No difference is my view but better on the whole with Swinney in charge

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Well there arecsome people who would disagree with that. But I have to say, in the famous words of Celine Gottwald there are also some who would agree. Its interesting to think about it but at the ssme time it isn't. At least not for everybody, but that's not to say that everybody is right. Or wrong for that matter. Yes indeed.

      Delete
  12. Does anyone find it odd though that right up until the moment he resigned Humza Yousaf was being praised as the new fresh face taking the SNP into a positive new direction, and he would be the man lead us all to independence but now those same people who praised him are now saying: We always thought he was shit, it was the right choice to replace him.

    It's like people's opinion changes with the wind. I'd hate to hear what they'll say about Swinney as soon as he's out the door!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. He was literally being described as the only UK leader to take the morally right stance over the Gaza issue, showing true leadership & people said he made them proud to be Scottish.

      But after he was knifed in the back it became unfashionable to say anything positive about him.

      Delete
    2. Does seem to be a thing, look at Labour and Corbyn.

      I didn't vote for Humza but I thought he actually handled a difficult period very well. The communication from party HQ was excellent. OK, he misjudged the Green situation but they were asking their members if they should stay in the coalition. Why do that unless there was a ground swell asking for a vote. Also we don't know how difficult Patrick and Lorna were making Cabinet meetings. Perhaps it was just time. Their revenge was his job. He stood down. Who knows with hindsight he may get plaudits for the position took.

      The SNP might appeal to broader span of voters under John (it may be hard to assess that though) but I don't think that makes Humza a bad leader.

      Delete
    3. Shrimp you ran away from my other question to you. Pretty standard stuff for WGD numpties. How about this question. You think Yousaf was ok as FM. Was he right to turn Bute House in to a Mosque on his very first day as FM and send out pictures to the media? Surely this is an easy one for you to answer or are you going to get guidance from Kavanagh.

      Delete
    4. To be fair to the Greens (and I don't say that often) Harvie & Slater were willing to put their leadership on the line. They stated if their members voted to end the Bute House Agreement then they would resign as a consequence.

      They were willing to make that kind of self sacrifice to ensure the agreement survived. I can see why they were pissed off.

      Delete
    5. Shrimps scuttle, they don’t run. Silly billy.

      Delete
  13. The only reason John Swinney was installed as leader was so that he could take the hit for the next two electoral loses & then retire on a First Ministers pension.

    He's literally the fall guy for when the shit hits the fan. If you believe that not to be the case then why didn't he run for the leadership last year?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Make your mind up. Is he the fall guy or the guy milking the system.? Perhaps you should follow Mark Twains advice.

      Delete
  14. Stop lying. Why does anyone do anything. Why did Salmond chicken out of the Rutherglen by-election. Why is he still not standing this year?
    It is clear some on here don’t want John Swinney as SNP leader.
    He has made the SNP electable. Unintended consequences of ALBA Labour and tories actions at Holyrood.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anon at 4. 42pm - Salmond says he wants to be an MSP not an MP. Did your school report say 'needs to pay more attention' ?

      Delete
    2. Swinney has already led the SNP into 3 electoral loses: 2001 General Election, 2003 Scottish Parliament Election and the 2004 European Parliament Election.

      I guess two more won't hurt!

      Delete
    3. Aye...and if you believe that I've a friend in London with a bridge to sell if you're interested.

      Delete
    4. Why would anybody vote Alba? Alex Salmond does not support independence or he wouldn't have begged David Cameron for Devo Max would he, Salmond is the original con man devolutionist not Sturgeon Yousaf or Swinney, they never mention Devo Max ever

      Delete
    5. Back to bed, Jim

      Delete
    6. They're too busy trying to help Ian Blackford get into the House of Lords or fulfilling Pete Wishart's dream of becoming the Commons Speaker (arguably the most unionist ambition for any MP).

      Delete
    7. Dr Jim at 6.27pm posting his lies again.

      Delete
    8. Seems to be what you call everyone. Bit of a bore.

      Delete
    9. Anon at 8.26pm - you seem wrong. Best go to specsavers. Correct you are a bit of a bore.

      Delete
  15. Ifs ,The reason Salmond didn’t stand was he knew he would be beat. Still as one of his followers - even although you vote for another party I am sure you will agree in another few years he will be in his 70’s and still unelectable. He had his time and blew it.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. IFS is a Tory troll

      Delete
    2. And Dr Jim at 6.28pm is a nasty WGD numpty, a liar and a man who boasts about assaulting women.

      Delete
    3. Anon at 6.25pm something seriously wrong with people like you. I am not a "follower of Salmond ". Just because you and your like are nicophants disnae mean everybody else is similarly afflicted. I am of independent mind.

      Cmon Scotland get right intae them.

      Delete
    4. Itscabout tome they did!

      Delete
  16. Ifs- saddo angry person.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It would be better if she was called Porker McDaid.

      Delete
    2. Is that all you've got IFS everybody is a Dr Jim if you don't like what they say, not right in the head son

      Delete
    3. Dr Jim at 10.38pm posting complete gibberish. I ain't your son Jimbo.

      Delete
  17. Time and the Rani seems a very strange place for anyone watching the current seasons of Doctor Who to draw a line!

    I found the episodes involving Missy far more compelling if I saw her as an iteration of the Rani. My memory's fuzzy, but I think a later episode unfortunately made that viewing quite impossible due to how she interacted with Simm's take.

    ReplyDelete