So let me once again take you by the hand and try to navigate you through the wacky world of STV by-elections. The Liberal Democrats were technically defending the seat in Kirkintilloch and Twechar, even though they only finished third in the ward last time around behind the SNP in first place and Labour in second. Labour have won the seat tonight, so whichever way you cut it, this is a genuine gain for them.
Kirkintilloch East and North & Twechar by-election result on first preferences (13th February 2025):
Labour 30.2% (+1.0)
SNP 22.9% (-16.0)
Liberal Democrats 21.3% (+2.6)
Reform UK 15.0% (n/a)
Conservatives 4.1% (-7.9)
Greens 4.0% (n/a)
Alba 2.0% (n/a)
Sovereignty 0.6% (n/a)
It may seem strange that Labour have made another by-election gain at a time when they're dropping like a stone in national opinion polls and the SNP are doing pretty well, but you have to remember the baseline for the percentage changes is the 2022 local election results, when Nicola Sturgeon was still in her pomp and Labour were still well behind. As you can see, Labour have barely progressed from that baseline, with a mere one percentage point improvement, so their performance is actually in line with the current polls. It's the SNP that have underperformed poorly, and I can only assume that comes down to local factors or a below-par campaign. The swing is consistent with a Scotland-wide Labour lead over the SNP of almost five percentage points, so I think we can safely assume that's misleading.
It's another strong showing for Reform UK, although not quite matching the remarkable 23% they got in Bannockburn a few weeks ago. Alba have had a poor result, which looks like normal service being resumed after a few OK-ish results towards the end of last year - although there may have been an element of smoke and mirrors to those better results, because Alba were sitting out most by-elections and concentrating all their resources into a very small number of good prospects. And the Tories seem to be suffering horrendously from the Reform surge.
For the uninitiated, Sovereignty are a right-wing pro-independence party which some have touted as a kind of 'indy Reform', but they certainly aren't getting much traction so far.
By the way, Twechar is very close to Queenzieburn, which was within the catchment area of my secondary school and I was therefore baffled for years by the "Twechar Beach" references. I thought it was high time for you to be baffled too.
* * *
I launched the Scot Goes Pop fundraiser for 2025 a couple of weeks ago, and so far the running total stands at £1281, meaning that 19% of the target of £6800 has been raised. If you'd like to help Scot Goes Pop continue with poll analysis and truly independent political commentary for another year, donations are welcome HERE. Direct Paypal donations can also be made - my Paypal email address is: jkellysta@yahoo.co.uk
Encouraging result for Alba Party, more than 3x as many votes as for Sovereignty. Alba going really well, loads of momentum. I know the party didn't actually win this time, but the positive direction of travel is there for all to see.
ReplyDeleteSureness-of-touch from Alba in Kirkintilloch.
DeleteA bountiful good morning to the beloved people of Kirkintilloch. I am deeply humbled that you have placed your trust in us.
DeleteKenny MacAskill made a great speech at Conference. We can all agree.
DeleteAlba got 63 votes. Doing well? Terrible result for Alba.
Delete63 votes 😂 the ISP will be jealous!
DeleteAlba should amalgamate with ISP and Peter Bell's party, combined they might top a 100 votes at the next by-election.
DeleteNot really surprising as Marshall had a lot of resource put in.
ReplyDeleteAnd the pithy sneery folk say reform is no threat ro the snp.
ReplyDeleteA massive split in the unionist vote is an opportunity for the SNP, not a threat.
DeleteIt’s an opportunity for SNP if they exploit the division in the right wing parties (Tory, Reform and Labour). The SNP have a USP if they can get their arse in gear on promoting Indy.
DeleteThe political bubble boys claiming today's Reform doesn't appeal to any indy supporters and that Labour are "right wing" is rather funny.
DeleteThe world must feel so ordered to you lot. Everyone in neat boxes.
In what universe is Labour not right wing?
DeleteThe one where most people inhabit.
DeleteReform is a threat to Scotland.
DeleteAnon 7.19 Why should reform appeal to Indy supporters ? They are the British National Party in all but name.
DeleteAnon at 7.19 comes across as a Labour Unionist. Says nothing about Indy.
DeleteSeems like anonymous at 3.00 is celebrating reform…..obviously one of the neo nazi scumbag racist unionist brigade…you are not welcome in Scotland!!
DeleteCould be Manky Jaiket McConnachie.
DeleteAlba did indeed do well gaining solid traction whilst the SNP continues to haemorrhage votes across the spectrum of voters. Reform is a protest vote. Labour are unpopular unlikely to ever recover and like Labour the SNP have list people's trust. Alba has all the potential to grow, and it will I believe do so.
ReplyDeleteIndependence is the beast the British establishment cannot kill.
"Alba did indeed do well gaining solid traction"
DeleteEr...you do realise that the other people saying that were having a bit of fun? You sound serious, which is a bit scary. 2% is another terrible result for Alba.
Anon at 5.55 is at the wind up I suspect. Alba is doomed, doomed I tell you.
DeleteJames, do you know the turnout? I can't find it.
ReplyDeleteThe 18 votes for Sovereignty will encourage them. Not bad at all frankly considering their entire media footprint is their website, slick though it is. Alba only managed 63 votes in comparison, for all their fuss and infighting. I'm sure CM will spin that into a victory.
CM is on the conveyor belt heading towards expulsion, so I'm not sure he'd even want to talk Alba up at this stage. Someone else will have to try to spin the unspinnable. (Robert Reid?)
DeleteLooks quite obvious tory and snp votes going to reform. Any analysis on that? Is that possible?
ReplyDeleteLol. SNP votes going to REFORM?? What an ABSOLUTE NONSENSE take—except, wait… is that what’s happening? No, NO, IMPOSSIBLE. SNP voters wouldn’t ACTUALLY drift to a hard-right, BritNat outfit just because the leadership has spent the last few years alienating half the base, right? RIGHT?!
DeleteLet’s be CLEAR—the SNP vote didn’t COLLAPSE, it just, erm… took a wee HOLIDAY during a mid-term council by-election in Kirkintilloch. Because that happens. Meanwhile, Reform is somehow scooping up 15%, the Tories are faceplanting into irrelevance, and Labour is celebrating their stunning ONE PERCENT gain like it’s 1997 all over again. But aye, let’s keep pushing this UTTERLY RIDICULOUS fantasy that SNP voters could EVER be frustrated enough to drift to Reform. Just IGNORE the numbers, IGNORE reality, and STAY FOCUSED—SNP is STILL the most popular party on mainland Britain. Nothing to see here. Move along.
Looks like Reform votes went mostly to nobody else and some to the Lib dems on the transfer but it's fairly meaningless.
DeleteThey've come from somewhere.
Politics is in a funny place at the moment. No party popular.
"They've come from somewhere."
DeleteThey've come from Labour and the Tories, I expect, with an offsetting swing from SNP to Labour.
9.29
DeleteI don't think that makes sense. Labour stayed the same. SNP lost 16 points.
If they haven't gone to Reform, they've stayed home.
Those labour votes which may have gone to Reform would have been SNP votes in 2022 by that logic. Just depends when you cut the time period.
DeleteIgnore me, talking rubbish. I get what you mean now 9.29.
DeleteI'm not sure it's as clean cut as that though if I'm honest.
9.29 is right I expect. SNP votes move to Labour while Labour move to Reform. Net result :Labour stay as is, Reform go up, SNP go down. Makes a mockery of recent opinion polling. SNP should have won if polling was correct. Maybe polling is wrong and real voters are correct.
DeleteLol. Disaster for the SNP, 16% drop, Labour wiping the floor with them, Lib Dems right behind, and Reform of all parties smashing 15%. And yet—SNP still the most popular party on mainland Britain. Incredible.
ReplyDeleteThe movement remains strong even when the voters temporarily forget to turn up! Yes, the SNP just got battered in a ward they used to own, yes, their vote has collapsed, yes, Reform (🤣) is now taking chunks out of their base, and yes, Labour managed the staggering feat of gaining one whole percent—but let’s not get distracted. The BritNats are celebrating like they’ve won the referendum already, when in reality, SNP is still leading the charge for independence, still the dominant force in Scotland, and still going to make Westminster tremble at the next General Election. Keep crying, BritNats—this is just a bump in the road.
Hear hear! You are spot on the money with your analysis as always David Francis. Superb performance in the revs department. Once Swinney shifts it out reverse and finds first gear, glory days are coming!
DeleteBest leadership nationwide. We can surely all agree.
The SNP really made Westminster tremble in 2015 with 56 of 59 MPs? WM ignored them! Winning SNP MPs produces no result. Winning SNP MSPs produces no progress for Indy. Independence minded voters need to look elsewhere.
DeleteTas and beachside "company property":
ReplyDeletehttps://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/politics/alex-salmonds-widow-angry-close-34674313
Alba at low end of the scale it must be said. Their mind was elsewhere - but will they be compos mentis after 26th March? Tories got eaten by Reform but big surprise was Labour trouncing SNP. So gie's peace fae the "Steady Swinney" revivalist talk, folks.
ReplyDelete"Alba at low end of the scale it must be said."
DeleteNot really. They've gone even lower than 2% plenty of times before.
They'll be delighted with 2% at Holyrood. They never even managed that in 2021 with Salmond.
DeleteMaybe you can expect something like 1.66% if you compromise with the SNP.
DeleteALBA not having Salmond could be a plus for them. voters believed the Sturgeon lies about him. That could be a reason not to vote ALBA, that reason has gone. Could help ALBA.
DeleteAlba with 63 votes, the only way is up (with Ash in charge)
Deletein Cumbernauld we referenced Twechar Beach in the early 1980s...we tried to justify it as it had the canal and somehow that was beachy. TBH Twechar Beach just sounds cool - like a pop song :D :D
ReplyDeleteTwechar Beach, far away in time ...
DeleteReform getting 15% in a ward like this is pause for thought. 4 way marginal with all the mainstream options available and they harvest a decent amount.
ReplyDeletePeople are scunnered by woke nonsense and ordinary communities seeing little investment.
There were some local factors in play. In the week before the election, the Council announced the cancellation of the annual canal festival and changed the pick up of general waste bins from every second week to every third week. Both got significant local press. These had bith been in the pipeline for some time and the Council Chief Executive was asked to delay them until after the election but she refused. Might not have made a huge difference but it didn't help.
ReplyDeleteThe cancellation of these community events leaves a bitter taste.
DeleteWe seem to be pressed for more and more and get little back. Other countries seem to be able to provide cultural events as a basic service.
Here we go—“local factors”—the last desperate excuse whenever the SNP take a hit. Pathetic. Funny how “local factors” NEVER seem to matter when Labour or the Tories do badly, but the SECOND the SNP lose votes, suddenly it’s all about “specific ward issues” and “unique local dynamics.” Give me a BREAK.
DeleteIf you’re the MOST POPULAR PARTY ON MAINLAND BRITAIN, then local factors SHOULDN’T MATTER. The SNP should be winning EVERYWHERE because they represent Scotland’s FUTURE!
Sometimes I think Scotland doesn't even deserve the Scottish National Party. Show some self respect, Kirkintilloch!
Delete"These had bith been in the pipeline for some time and the Council Chief Executive was asked to delay them until after the election but she refused."
DeleteThis was unhelpful towards the SNP candidate who deserved better.
Shouldn't be seen as a negative for SNP as Labour threw resources at this.
ReplyDeleteResources like what: a wizard? That slump in SNP votes is downright catastrophic! What did the candidate do!??
DeleteAnon at 10.24: Don't be so bloody silly.
DeleteAnon 10:24: Genius analysis! Because SNP losing votes can only mean their candidate personally set fire to a puppy shelter or something. Definitely nothing to do with Labour throwing everything but the kitchen sink at this one. Nope, just pure SNP self-destruction. 😏
DeleteJust apathy.
DeleteYip. But SNP should be galvanising the activists to get out.
DeleteHonest question: what can Labour do right now in a campaign? They're on the hook for everything that's wrong in Westminster. They're an increasingly powerless proposition in Holyrood too, as Sarwar's hands are tied from London and it's only getting tighter.
DeleteIn local government, surely they're not promising higher council tax, so they're just as tied up there as well. You see it in the Labour-run councils they have now: cuts and unpopularity.
So their policies are shite. What else can they promise? "No2indyref2?" That's what the Tories are there for.
What is the positive case for Labour? How could they win people over in droves if the SNP's not driving them away?
If Labour wasn't doing so shit at Westminster all they really would need to say in 2026 is: Do you feel that things are poor in Scotland at the moment? Who's been in power for 19 years? Time for a change.
Delete@10:47
DeleteTheir winning strategy in 2024 again. It certainly worked that time. But can enough people be fooled again?
Sarwar's in a much tougher spot than Starmer. No higher party HQ writes Starmer's "block grant" or forces policy harmonisation on him. I wouldn't wish a Labour Scotgov on Sarwar, let alone Scotland. Change? What change? Here's another bucket full of hearty cold sick.
Enough folk will still think it's time for a change.
DeleteNo change will occur but the window dressing will be different
"No change will occur but the window dressing will be different"
DeleteI think the electorate are picking up on that now. That sentiment seems to be the fuel for Reforms rise, especially in England.
10:43:
DeleteOh, so you seem to be saying Labour should just pack it in, right? No point even trying?
Brilliant.
I mean, why bother with policies, vision, or, you know, *campaigning* when they can just sit around twiddling their thumbs, watching the SNP implode, and hoping people magically flock to them out of sheer boredom?
Brilliant strategy.
Because it's not like they could, say, offer competent governance, make a case for economic stability, or present an alternative to Tory chaos and SNP dysfunction.
Nope, they're *completely* helpless, just flailing around, victims of circumstance.
Might as well just rebrand as "Not the SNP or the Tories" and call it a day.
That’ll definitely win over voters *in droves*.
"That’ll definitely win over voters *in droves*."
DeleteI mean they did remain the dominant Party in Scotland for decades essentially by just saying "We're not the Tories".
A lot of the SNP supporters on here also essentially just say: Vote SNP because they're not unionist. Policies don't matter.
SNP policies are mostly okay ...well okay except on independence...that's the problem that needs addressing but I just don't see anybody in the party breaking through and coming up with a viable means of achieving it. Until that happens the SNP are stuck in the doldrums.
DeleteQuite right, 11:06 and 11:25. Where’s the vision for independence? Why are we still in sleep mode?
Delete@11:01. I’m not advising Labour, they remain the single biggest political roadblock to Independence, which is my primary objective in all of politics. The sorry state they're in provides an open chance for us. But where's the signs we're taking it? Surely Scotgov's not about to miss ANOTHER open goal in front of them?
Labour's all out of options because of Starmer's choices. He's following the Blair playbook in an era when nobody wants it any more. That's his mistake to make. Poor Sarwar just has to carry his master's bags for him.
Anon at 11.27am " miss another open goal in front of them" - they don't even try.
DeleteAye, you're spot on, IfS. We could forgive them if they miffed. 2014 was that: they took the shot but narrowly missed. (There was even still a goalie back then.) The aftermath? HUGE support for the SNP and excitement in the whole electorate, which turned out in record numbers for the next few years.
DeleteThere is NO good reason not to take the shot. Your supporters WANT you to do it for them. And your opponents already hate you for having the chance. So KICK IT with all you've got!
12.02:
DeleteNaturally—because nothing says strategic genius like blindly punting the ball up the park without checking if your strikers are even in position. Who cares if the last shot was blocked and the team regrouped? Just boot it and hope for the best, right?
I mean, why bother with that pesky thing called "winning conditions"? It’s not like history has shown that preparation, timing, and majority support actually *matter* in referendums. Nah, let’s just launch another one right now, consequences be damned! Who needs a credible path to victory when you can just shout "Kick it!" and hope the ball magically lands in the net?
But aye, let’s ignore the fact that 2014’s aftermath *only* led to Westminster slamming every possible door shut while the electorate gradually shifted focus. And let’s pretend that a failed second attempt wouldn’t utterly torpedo the movement. SNP gradualism?
Aye, what a ridiculous concept—planning, building sustained majorities, and ensuring international backing? Who needs that when you can just take a wild swing and risk blowing the whole thing permanently?
Great strategy. Truly.
Ten years is an awfy long time to be telling ourselves just to wait for "winning conditions" to come along and hand it to us. Ten years is more like personal nest building in so many political careers.
DeleteWhat's not good enough about Brexit to do it?
What's not good enough about Boris Johnson to do it?
What's not good enough about sustained majority for Yes during Covid to do it? We still had elections during the pandemic, so that's no excuse.
What's not good enough about the "Supreme" Court telling us have no right to self determination to do it?
And what's not good enough about the most unpopular Labour government in a century to do it?
What are we waiting for? Prime Minister Farage? He's coming soon at this rate.
We'll never, EVER, get Yes up to 60 or 75 or whatever unnamed number Swinney wants it, without an EVENT which we CAMPAIGN for in earnest, like a Referendum. We'll all be long deid, with indy chuntering along at 50:50 while no one takes the ball.
If you think that goal is well defended right now, I'd like to know what an open net looks like to you. Has the section 30 got to be delivered in person by the prime minister in his mouth? It'll never come. The only way we get this is by forcing it ourselves.
Oh great. Great.
DeleteBecause nothing says "serious political strategy" like launching yourself headfirst into a referendum with zero legal mechanism, no plan for international recognition, and a UK government just *dying* for an excuse to shut it down completely. That'll go well.
Brexit? Aye, let’s take inspiration from that shambles—a masterclass in how *not* to run a major constitutional change.
Boris Johnson? Aye, because folk *definitely* were desperate to vote for anything he didn't like.
The Supreme Court? Oh, let's just ignore legal rulings we don’t fancy, that'll surely win folk over.
And of course, the Labour government—because nothing strengthens a movement like wildly underestimating your opponent and assuming they'll just collapse on their own.
But aye, let’s just ignore every lesson the SNP should take from the past and just charge forward like a bull in a china shop without strategy, because apparently, patience and actual planning are just "nest building." Maybe if we just *wish* hard enough, indy will magically appear without us needing to do any of that boring groundwork.
Genius.
The cowardly anon above has forgotten the SNP had its 11 point plan for independence. So was that a lie and/or “ serious political strategy”. The SNP independence strategy is the “do nothing “ strategy.
DeleteHappy Valentines Day to lovely people leading 💕 a lovely life.
ReplyDeleteI can't understand why Honest John wasn't able to deflect this Labour attack with his Steady Shield and Sword Of Truth.
ReplyDeleteDeclan is raging lol.
ReplyDelete(The numpty)
IFS tells the truth to power. Numpties are numpties.
ReplyDeleteThere is nothing like the real thing. Yes Declan will be raging but at least we do not need to read his rubbish SNP propaganda.
ReplyDeleteJeez.......SO much frothing over a local by-election with a meagre 26% turnout and which is completely contradicted by just about all available polling stats.
ReplyDeleteStill........gives IFS and the wee Anons something to clutch onto.
Bless 'em.
David Francis is raging as well.
DeleteA lot of of Indy folk were not so long ago calling Reform “faaacists” and other choice names. Looking at these numbers the country must have an awfully lot of them!
ReplyDeleteI don’t think this will shake Swinney’s steady hand. But if Reform touch 35% nationally then he’ll have to apply his magic.
Main thing is look after your own health and don’t burst a gasket.
By the way if anyone has been following the nurse Peggy case its time for a bit of Musks department of gov efficiency and a few prosecutions in Bonny Scotland.
"A lot of of Indy folk were not so long ago calling Reform “faaacists” and other choice names."
DeleteSome people even did that to the Nazis when they started to win elections. Just bonkers.
Reform touch 35% nationally.
DeleteBy nationally you mean England.
We wholeheartedly agree with you !
Delete"Reform UK is as establishment as it gets. Four out of the five Reform UK MPs—Nigel Farage, Richard Tice, Rupert Lowe and Lee Anderson—are millionaires.
ReplyDeleteIts policies are a mish-mash of pro-corporate proposals. Tax cuts for business, austerity measures totalling £50 billion a year, a massive programme of deregulation, tax relief for private healthcare, abolishing inheritance tax for property under £2 million and scrapping net zero climate targets.
It’s clear the party stands for putting more money in the pockets of the bosses and the rich.
And it uses climate denial to drive further division. Deputy leader Richard Tice is one of the worst for this. At one point he stated “there is no climate crisis” and claimed “CO2 isn’t a poison. It’s plant food”.
Reform UK are nothing more than Fascist, Racist,Human Shite wearing expensive suits.
And a growing share of 2019 / 2021 SNP voters are now backing them.
DeleteWhat is your evidence for that?
DeleteSNP down in polls, Reform up. This particular council election is a strong indicator that they're right.
DeleteIf you think nobody's defecting from the SNP but instead a perfect balance of them are going to Labour while only Labour's voters go to Farage, hiding the true movement in an arithmetic dance, then you're stretching to a fanciful conclusion.
Occam's razor is usually right. The simplest solution is the likeliest one: SNP voters are swinging to Reform along with unionists.
Is that you Thomas Kerr ?
DeleteAnon at 2:37 -
DeleteUtter bollox.
Care to explain your reasoning? Those Reform votes are coming from somewhere, and the SNP's down a bunch. These two things seem like one thing: a direct shift of voters.
DeleteAnother source of data would be the crosstabs in polls which include previous elections. Reform's voters should be broken down in there between their parties of origin. The Scottish sub-sample error margin still applies, but maybe James can have a go at the analysis.
Coming from somewhere ? Planet Farage, or a Witherspoons gathering ?
DeleteYou were the one asserting that SNP were losing substantial amounts of voters to Reform, but you have produced absolutely no evidence for that, apart from your own partial opinion.
DeleteGet back to me when you have some actual facts, instead.
Ta much.
David Francis
DeleteThe reform voters haven't come from nowhere have they? The snp had nearly half the vote, now at 30%..
Reform is a mishmash of malcontents and the snp down.
Some snps fan boys' desperation to believe all former snp voters think exactly in one block is very very weird.
DeleteEvery bit as likely that SNP ran a below par local campaign and a lot of their vote simply stayed at home - and Reform picked up the votes of those who don't normally bother to vote at all, as well as some ex-Tories.
DeleteRacists, Fascists and General Populist Dummies are ten-a-penny and Reform are a good bit of fly-paper for them to stick to .
At their peak the SNP were certainly pulling in a general anti establishment section of the electorate. Folk who are aggrieved about pretty much everything and vote for whoever is offering a fresh approach. That is no longer the SNP but Reform in their eyes.
DeleteWell said john mcbarry
DeleteDo Reform supporters believe that it is racist?
ReplyDeleteI think thats why they vote for it
DeleteNo idea.
DeleteIn Dundee, I meet SNP, Labour, Tory, Scots Greens, LibDem supporters all the time. Never, ever any Reform voters.
Where do all the Regorm voters hang out? Often cited, rarely or never sighted.
BTW I’m not in denial that they’re real. The evidence is clear that they do exist, in large numbers, amongst us somewhere.
Good question. I think you would find them in the Borders, Dumfries & Galloway, Argyll & Bute, Moray, Highlands and Aberdeenshire. Their chums in Orkney and Shetland probably wear heavy jumpers and fishermen's smocks, so they'll vote Liberal.
DeleteShy reform vote.
DeleteIt's a protest vote against the establishment parties.
Will come from all parts i suspect.
I don't think they do think it's racist.
DeleteThey just think immigration has gone too far in some cases. There is a nuanced debate around that.
Oh, they are just the cuddliest folk. Just don’t like anyone with French sounding names (exp Farage) or folk from worn torn countries that we have supplied the bombs to drop on them or Welsh, Irish, Scots. As for Greenlanders I’m not sure.
DeleteJust to say that the Reform bagged a handy 15% of the vote in Kirkintilloch. But going by the entire electorate there then that might be 3.86% of the voters you'd bump into. For comparison, 73.8% didn't vote.
DeleteNuanced and Reform in the same sentence. That's a first !
Deleteit's a feature, not a bug
DeleteNigel Farage was known as Stealth Farter at the bar in the EU Parliament in Brussels. He drank pink gins except when TV cameras were around, then he would have a beer placed in front of him and get an aide to tell him when to do a Ruth Davidson-style spontaneous guffaw. Anyone standing near him had to move because his booze farts were absolutely rancid.
ReplyDeletenigel will be farting in Scotland's face forevermore if there is no indy
DeleteNicola Sturgeon’s leadership and commitment to Scottish independence remain unmatched. Though she has stepped back, a return isn’t out of the question. When the time is right, she could be the one to finally deliver independence.
ReplyDeleteScotland’s future may still have her at the helm!
Nicola won't be going near any helms. That was in the past. She is determined to be brave and true to herself now.
DeleteFFM Sturgeon is confirmed as standing again at the next election, She''ll win that by a country mile following the success of her book that will never have been off the telly proving beyond doubt she is the truthful person most people always thought she was, and the Alba's heads will burst as she's touted for a return as FM for a second time and leading Scotland to independence
DeleteNo she isn't, she passed vetting. But it's up to the Branches in the Constituency who they select as their candidate, don't you know anything about the SNP?
Deleteyou need to lower your dose
Deletedecent bantz though - did you bite through your cheek writing it
she drove the indy bus over the cliff, and her only purpose to return to it would be to torch it
7.05pm - next thing you will be telling us is that the moon is made of blue cheese and you know because you have tasted it.
Delete8.44pm - you must be Nicola’s close friend and fiction writer Val McDiarmid.
DeleteProbably Jimbo.
DeleteGiv us all a break.
ReplyDeleteEcho Beach! I had to whatsapp the kids - voice record "On Something Beach, da da da da da da".
ReplyDeleteI used to work in that ward and still have connections there. The cancellation of the Canal Festival will have put some against voting SNP. However the SNP are also leading the council there in conjunction with an unofficial arrangement with Liebour.It will be the SNP though that will be blamed for people having to pay extra to get garden bins emptied and cutbacks in services Someone I know who lives there has never voted in any election and she is age late 50s. From what I know campaign was decent . Voters often just don't see the point in voting in council by elections
ReplyDeleteI think for the council, many people vote for people rather than party. if the SNP candidate wasn't known, he or she could lose out.
DeleteHi my lovelies.. judging by your responses some of you are starting to recognise that Reform may become a serious threat to the SNP.
ReplyDeleteBy all means revert to you standard response, I know it makes you feel better. But deep down a few of you know that Reform are coming for the SNP vote!
As a concellation I wonder if Patrick Harvey is worried about his job? Ross Greer would happily trample right over him given the chance. Swinney is Ross's work Daddy (Greers own admission) so he may be gaining in confidence that he could be the last standing "aspiring adult" in the greens. The worm will chuck anyone under the bus to keep his grifting salary.
For me I hope that most NATS keep up their abuse and stay in their bubble.
James is looking at the maths. What if he starts to report that Reform are going to start hoovering up the SNP vote? The SNP have binned the idea of Indy anytime soon so will get judged on their record.. suck that up!
Don't worry.. Swinney will save the day! I'm just yanking your chain and having a laugh while making some observations.
I think Mrs Glaikit, Marie, Gilruth, Sommerville (what a team of talent eh, the rest will be at the footy or on the ipad) Swinney et al are going to go for it just after the summer when all the mums and dads come back from the scoooool holidays and say a vote for the SNP in 2026 is a vote for Independance.
Mind.. when they complained last time about some other vote being during the school holidays. Swinney is a master of strategy as Scots are so skint the holidays are cancelled, these holes in the road. The car is always at Quick Fit getting fixed.
Love Y'all.
The lower class protest vote has moved.
ReplyDeleteWelcome to the dictatorship of the proletariat.
ReplyDeleteIt was nice to hear that James felt welcome at his first SNP branch meeting.
ReplyDeleteA lot of ordinary members of the SNP will wheest for indy, they can maybe over look the ipads, the caravans, men going into womens lavvies and the deep rooted indy grift, Prestwick and onwards say... but raid the branch funds and they maybe are thinking enough is enough. Ordinary members may well feel they have been personally robbed/ scammed.
James pitches up. He got bullied by a few "high heid yuns" in ALBA, they messed with the wrong guy! FAFO.
Now I bet there are a few ordinary members who hope James brings his cleansing light to the SNP. The man from Bath has tried but James may be the one to finish the job properly?. but the "higher ups " in the SNP.. "your betters" will maybe take a different view?
Once James is finished with ALBA and tries to sort out the mess in the SNP then expect to see a pile of BTL comments with a different slant as the SNP payrole try and defend their non grifting jobs.