Best Of

The odds are slowly moving in a Conservative direction in Aberdeen South.

SNP 1.46
Con 2.68

https://www.betfair.com/exchange/plus/politics/market/1.258320914

Don't see it myself. The Murrell scandal would have killed almost any other party. The SNP remain bullet proof as the recent election showed. I expect a fairly comfortable SNP win.

I heard a Scottish journalist on the radio the other day, not an SNP nor Murrell supporter.

He said something very interesting


Firstly he doubted that any 12 person Jury would ever find Sturgeon guilty had she have been charged with any linked offence

Secondly he doubted if the scandal would have any material impact on SNP v Reform or Tory battles as Farage was viewed as US and, Russian sponsored crook and The Tories would never be forgiven for Boris, Truss corruption and incompetence.

I can guarantee that no 12 person jury would find her guilty. We have 15 on a jury up here. If that was the extent of his knowledge of Scottish affairs I would be cautious.

It’s about the average standard for Scottish journalists. In fact, the words Scottish and journalist shouldn’t be used in the same sentence.

What about Scotch and journalist?

O/T with apologies for diverting a thread right away but the Guardian have now published their readers' list of 100 greatest novels and it looks a lot better to me than the authors' and critics' list from a few weeks ago:

https://www.theguardian.com/books/ng-interactive/2026/jun/06/readers-top-100-novels-of-all-time

In general it looks like a list where it is safer to choose a book from it and you won't end up hating the experience of reading the book.

But fecking Middlemarch is still second. And To Kill A Mockingbird at number five?

I also think the list still lacks breadth. Three Austen novels, Two by Orwell. Multiple Dickens. The list would be a lot more interesting if it was limited to one book per author.

While it wouldn't be my number 1, or even number 2, Middlemarch is undoubtedly a great novel. But LOTR at number 1? Jeez.

At a quick glance two stand out missing people are Trollope and Greene.

Yes, interesting how out of fashion GG has very quickly become. I recently reread Brighton Rock: it's a really chilling mediation on the nature of evil - and still very relevant.

Glad to see the readers are sensible enough to put Camus on the list. Not on the original top 100 iirc.

I have read 17 of the books,

And while Lord of the Rings would probably make my top 100, it certainly wouldn't be in the top 10.

It's also utterly shocking that not a single Christopher Brookmyre novel made the list. A Big Boy Did and Ran Away and The Sacred Art of Stealing are -without a doubt- two of the finest books ever written. (And the first of these is even set partially in Aberdeen, and is therefore pertinent to this thead.)

On topic. Aberdeen South is interesting. A Tory win (don't personally think it'll happen) would be a considerable fillip for Badenoch.

I don't think it going happen. Too much of the headbanger Tory/unionist vote in Aberdeen is in love with Farage.

Even places that didn't have massive Reform votes in 2024 will have half it's Tory vote doing so now.

A quarter to a third of its 2024 Tory vote at most actually

I'll take your word for it, that's still fatal for theit chances here.

It isn't given the Tories were still second to the SNP in the Aberdeen South area last month and it only needs a few Reform voters to tactically vote Tory to beat the SNP for a Tory win

There are many examples where a party previously came third and yet came through to win. In Scotland as it happens.

I would prefer the Tories to come above Reform, but whilst there are clearly examples of Tories voting tactically for Reform at the moment, is the reverse likely when the Reform leadership seem to despise the Tories?

Tactical polls show if anything Reform voters are more likely to vote Tory than Tory voters Reform if they can't win, just most seats at the moment see Reform ahead of the Tories so no need for Reform tactical votes but Aberdeen South is a seat the Tories are still ahead of Reform

https://yougov.com/en-gb/articles/54117-what-is-the-tactical-voting-landscape-in-february-2026

Gosh, that's a heck of a sentence.
On eighth reading, I think I've got it.