That is the worst possible result for the Nats. A deeply uncharismatic new leader with an off putting demeanour, winning by a disputable and controversially narrow margin over a lovely young Christian lady, in an election envenomed with accusations of fixing, and fraud
I didn't do a backstage analysis of the SNP leadership election because there wasn't enough info and I couldn't think of an informed pro-Hamza debater on PB ...
I felt a little out of touch because I couldn't remember the candidates' names, but at least I could remember it wasn't Hamza.
Last week I was dealing with a customer called Hunza, and it was not easy to spell it right...
I can only sympathise, if you found that task difficult.
That is the worst possible result for the Nats. A deeply uncharismatic new leader with an off putting demeanour, winning by a disputable and controversially narrow margin over a lovely young Christian lady, in an election envenomed with accusations of fixing, and fraud
Forbes was, definitely, the greater long term threat to the Union. Yousaf will lose seats and support
What a stupid choice. Sturgeon is gonna be like Merkel, in retrospect she will appear much less capable than she appeared when in office. She has bequeathed a total mess
That is the worst possible result for the Nats. A deeply uncharismatic new leader with an off putting demeanour, winning by a disputable and controversially narrow margin over a lovely young Christian lady, in an election envenomed with accusations of fixing, and fraud
SUPERB
And now we will see how effectively they can close ranks. Truss detonated an atom bomb in fissures of her party before there was a chance to close them, so what will Humza do to restore things - that he had a big lead amongst MSPs presumably helps as that is where the action will be, whereas Truss had a disadvantage there.
You could have prepared that statement earlier for either candidate.
No, a convincing Forbes win would have retooled the SNP for a further push on indy, in a few years. She would have been divisive but she might well have been an excellent First Minister, governing Scotland a lot better than Sturgeon
That is the worst possible result for the Nats. A deeply uncharismatic new leader with an off putting demeanour, winning by a disputable and controversially narrow margin over a lovely young Christian lady, in an election envenomed with accusations of fixing, and fraud
SUPERB
Good result for Lab, Con and anoraks. SNP fall into a bear trap they have dug themselves. Narrowly averting the chance to appoint a change making star of very high quality. But she got enough votes that it will soon be very obvious that they have made a mistake.
Bounced around a bit just before 1pm but now settled at:
Yousaf 1.34 Forbes 3.45
An extremely reliable source has told me the result of SNP leadership contest and the winner is
I was waiting until the leader was announced before congratulating Sir Keir Starmer on winning the SNP Leadership Election. I'm going to have to find a new joke... Oh wait, I found one, it's the new leader of the SNP!
Edit: That felt really harsh, actually. If I'd had a vote it would have gone to Humza (he can't be that bad!), though some of Forbes' ideas do intrigue me and I think she'd be a safe pair of hands - can't get past the gay (and other) stuff though.
Wait a goddam minute, I thought Forbes was the favoured candidate of New New Labour? I guess the great PB tradition of X or Y are both bad for the EssEnnPee is alive and well (won't bother with the laughable concept of Z Regan).
Speaking for Labour, and setting aside the independence question (on which I'm neutral), I don't think we care who wins. The key thing is that Sturgeon has gone. She was a formidable opponent, and her departure improves Labour's chances of making progress in Scotland, I think.
Although according to Hyufd Kate Forbes is a Scottish Ann Widdecombe in which case that has to help Labour.
Sickening to think the GOP still has it defenders.
A jail in Washington has become the latest focal point of the US culture wars after a congressional delegation led by the Republican extremist Marjorie Taylor Greene visited defendants charged in 2021’s deadly January 6 insurrection at the US Capitol and championed them as “political prisoners”
Greene high-fived the detainees and shook their hands, according to the Associated Press. As the tour group was leaving, the defendants chanted “Let’s go Brandon!”, an offensive phrase denigrating Democratic president Joe Biden.
Greene was joined by fellow far-right Republican members of the House oversight committee during a two-hour tour of the DC jail on Friday. The group included extremist Colorado congresswoman Lauren Boebert, who embraced Micki Witthoeft, the mother of Ashli Babbitt, the woman shot dead by police as she participated in the Capitol riot, NBC News reported.
So all the Conservatives, SNP and Scottish Labour all have a British Asian male leader now, Starmer the only white male leader of the 2 main parties in the UK, England and Scotland
I didn't do a backstage analysis of the SNP leadership election because there wasn't enough info and I couldn't think of an informed pro-Hamza debater on PB ...
I felt a little out of touch because I couldn't remember the candidates' names, but at least I could remember it wasn't Hamza.
Last week I was dealing with a customer called Hunza, and it was not easy to spell it right...
I can only sympathise, if you found that task difficult.
Well, difficult in the sense of every time I had to type the word I had to remind myself to use the n not the m, because auto-pilot.
But it's not the most chaotic result possible - the winner has the majority support of the elected representatives after all, rather than a close win for someone who was (seemingly) disliked by most of them.
That is the worst possible result for the Nats. A deeply uncharismatic new leader with an off putting demeanour, winning by a disputable and controversially narrow margin over a lovely young Christian lady, in an election envenomed with accusations of fixing, and fraud
SUPERB
And now we will see how effectively they can close ranks. Truss detonated an atom bomb in fissures of her party before there was a chance to close them, so what will Humza do to restore things - that he had a big lead amongst MSPs presumably helps as that is where the action will be, whereas Truss had a disadvantage there.
Yes, I can’t see him having any immediate problems because he has more of a base among MSPs…
Scotland, overwhelmingly white, now has a First Minister (bar accidents) and what is essentially an Opposition Leader, who are both from Pakistani Muslim backgrounds.
That is the worst possible result for the Nats. A deeply uncharismatic new leader with an off putting demeanour, winning by a disputable and controversially narrow margin over a lovely young Christian lady, in an election envenomed with accusations of fixing, and fraud
SUPERB
Good result for Lab, Con and anoraks. SNP fall into a bear trap they have dug themselves. Narrowly averting the chance to appoint a change making star of very high quality. But she got enough votes that it will soon be very obvious that they have made a mistake.
Forbes with 48% of SNP members also got a higher share than the 43% Sunak got of Conservative members last year
That is the worst possible result for the Nats. A deeply uncharismatic new leader with an off putting demeanour, winning by a disputable and controversially narrow margin over a lovely young Christian lady, in an election envenomed with accusations of fixing, and fraud
SUPERB
Good result for Lab, Con and anoraks. SNP fall into a bear trap they have dug themselves. Narrowly averting the chance to appoint a change making star of very high quality. But she got enough votes that it will soon be very obvious that they have made a mistake.
But she might have blown her one big chance. Will she even want to stay in a party when so many MPs and MSPs consider her heartfelt religious views to be "simply unacceptable"
The Nats will now sink into a brutal internal war, with a dickhead as a leader. HAHAHAHAHAH
Forbes was, definitely, the greater long term threat to the Union. Yousaf will lose seats and support
What a stupid choice. Sturgeon is gonna be like Merkel, in retrospect she will appear much less capable than she appeared when in office. She has bequeathed a total mess
That’s a great comparison. Her whole legacy is about to unravel itself.
That is the worst possible result for the Nats. A deeply uncharismatic new leader with an off putting demeanour, winning by a disputable and controversially narrow margin over a lovely young Christian lady, in an election envenomed with accusations of fixing, and fraud
SUPERB
I think a 52-48 win by Forbes on second preferences, where she was behind on first preferences, would have been worse for the SNP.
A lot of the younger SNP members and supporters would have found it very hard to rally behind Forbes, and she didn't have strong support amongst MSPs either.
Yousaf is definitely the, "don't rock the boat," candidate, so a dramatic Truss-style implosion is least likely.
What was the transfer situation? I assume he must have gotten some from Regan supporters, but how many could be fun.
Yousaf got 1,696 transfers; Forbes 3,321. That leaves about 500 who presumably didn't use second pref.
That's not a bad second pref rate for Yousaf. I'm always very sceptical about claims that X will be the overwhelming recipient of second prefs. Normally, even when the second pref seems obvious, more people than expected don't do the obvious.
I'm reminded of the quote on war about you should do what your opponent least wants you to do. It seems the SNP have not heeded this. They have done exactly what their opponents wanted them to do. Just as the Tories did with Truss last Autumn. The Tories took less than 2 months to correct it. Let's see what happens now.
That is the worst possible result for the Nats. A deeply uncharismatic new leader with an off putting demeanour, winning by a disputable and controversially narrow margin over a lovely young Christian lady, in an election envenomed with accusations of fixing, and fraud
SUPERB
Hmm - "deeply uncharismatic" versus "lovely young Christian lady". Why don't you say what you mean?
"Putin and Xi’s plot to control the internet will leave the West in the dust Britain’s creaking framework risks being left behind by the leaders’ technology pact Andrew Orlowski" (£)
Can I just thank all the right wing Unionists, almost all of whom don't have a vote in Scotland let alone in the leadership election, for their slobbering over Kate and hating on Humza. It was all most persuasive.
I didn't do a backstage analysis of the SNP leadership election because there wasn't enough info and I couldn't think of an informed pro-Hamza debater on PB ...
I felt a little out of touch because I couldn't remember the candidates' names, but at least I could remember it wasn't Hamza.
Last week I was dealing with a customer called Hunza, and it was not easy to spell it right...
I can only sympathise, if you found that task difficult.
Well, difficult in the sense of every time I had to type the word I had to remind myself to use the n not the m, because auto-pilot.
What a tough time you must have had. As I said, I can only sympathise.
Rigged from the start, process shortened to make it difficult for the other candidates, full party apparatus supporting Uselss , skullduggery till the end and disaster for Scotland. Will also make it harder to get the evidence for court cases released for sure.
That is the worst possible result for the Nats. A deeply uncharismatic new leader with an off putting demeanour, winning by a disputable and controversially narrow margin over a lovely young Christian lady, in an election envenomed with accusations of fixing, and fraud
SUPERB
I think a 52-48 win by Forbes on second preferences, where she was behind on first preferences, would have been worse for the SNP.
A lot of the younger SNP members and supporters would have found it very hard to rally behind Forbes, and she didn't have strong support amongst MSPs either.
Yousaf is definitely the, "don't rock the boat," candidate, so a dramatic Truss-style implosion is least likely.
Unfortunately it is The Titanic so rocking was not the problem.
Scotland, overwhelmingly white, now has a First Minister (bar accidents) and what is essentially an Opposition Leader, who are both from Pakistani Muslim backgrounds.
Fascinating.
And the UK has a PM called Sunak. Farage et al must be doing his/their nut
Yousef is no Truss. PB Tories over reaching again.
No, Truss is in a league of her own, in terms of bad choices
But Yousaf is still a very poor choice. The love child of IDS and Ed Miliband
IDS?
Personally I would say Justin Trudeau and Andy Burnham (2015 grade).
Are you on drugs??
I don't particularly like Justin Trudeau, and loathe much of his Woke politics, but I can see he has charisma and charm, if you're in the mood. And he is a proven winner
I didn't do a backstage analysis of the SNP leadership election because there wasn't enough info and I couldn't think of an informed pro-Hamza debater on PB ...
I felt a little out of touch because I couldn't remember the candidates' names, but at least I could remember it wasn't Hamza.
Last week I was dealing with a customer called Hunza, and it was not easy to spell it right...
I can only sympathise, if you found that task difficult.
Well, difficult in the sense of every time I had to type the word I had to remind myself to use the n not the m, because auto-pilot.
What a tough time you must have had. As I said, I can only sympathise.
Useless faces a pretty existential question - what is the SNP for? He robustly defended the indefensible during the debates, where even catastrofucks like the ferry procurement was apparently something to be proud of.
You can't make the case for independence by being functionally shit as a government. OK, so they are *less* shit than the Westminster government but that is a pretty low bar.
The challenge for Dross, Anus and Alex English-Accent is to be relevant. Their opposition to independence has been their USP, and with Useless now in the FM chair it needs to be competence. Sturgeon looked and sounded competent even if it was just a veneer. He won't have that luxury...
Can I just thank all the right wing Unionists, almost all of whom don't have a vote in Scotland let alone in the leadership election, for their slobbering over Kate and hating on Humza. It was all most persuasive.
I wonder if it was deliberate move, by the horrible Spectator Mob - to praise Forbes to the skies, and KEEP mentioning her religious views, so the progressive SNP members would reluctantly turn down the most obviously talented candidate, in favour of this Woke knob Yousaf
You've been stitched up and kippered by the nasty rightwing English intellgentsia
Can you let me know in a couple of sentences what this result means pls.
TIA
Smartarse response: Humza is now leader of the SNP. He's also very strong odds on to be next FM.
Less smartarse, he will really have to grow on the job (which unlike that weirdo Truss I think he may be capable of doing) or there'll be another leadership election after a bad result, eg the next UK GE.
That is the worst possible result for the Nats. A deeply uncharismatic new leader with an off putting demeanour, winning by a disputable and controversially narrow margin over a lovely young Christian lady, in an election envenomed with accusations of fixing, and fraud
SUPERB
I think a 52-48 win by Forbes on second preferences, where she was behind on first preferences, would have been worse for the SNP.
A lot of the younger SNP members and supporters would have found it very hard to rally behind Forbes, and she didn't have strong support amongst MSPs either.
Yousaf is definitely the, "don't rock the boat," candidate, so a dramatic Truss-style implosion is least likely.
Agree. The two front runners are flawed in their different ways. The one they chose is less divisive and therefore less of a direct threat to the party, which presumably the members care about.
They didn't really have much of a choice. Reg Ashton was remotely operated by Salmond using an app and Forbes was Vanilla ISIS with antediluvian cultural values. So it had to be the other one. Good luck to him because he's going to need it.
Can you let me know in a couple of sentences what this result means pls.
TIA
Smart arse response: Humza is now leader of the SNP. He's also very strong odds on to be next FM.
Less smartarse, he will really have to grow on the job (which unlike that weirdo Truss I think he may be capable of doing) or there'll be another leadership election after a bad result, eg the next UK GE.
Thanks but what does it mean for the independence aspirations of the SNP and the balance of Scottish politics?
Some comments on Wings over Scotland after this result
'What a crock!
Bye-bye SNP, bye-bye…
Don’t let the door hit your ar$e on the way out of Scotland’s political scene.
Humbug Yousless… Ha-ha-ha! Good luck! You’ll fricking need it!'
'LIke I said today is the day the SNP died.'
'Today we witness the SNP demise as a party and Scotland independence movement dead and buried for good.' ' …And so the longest suicide note in history is signed off by the SNP.'
'Well fuck me. What an absolute disaster. PLEASE ALBA, stand candidates in every constituency. Otherwise I’m going to have to spoil my ballot.' https://wingsoverscotland.com/the-hollow-crown/
So, Forbes needed around 90% of the transfers but got 66%. Good, but it always seemed a little unrealistic for her to get almost all the transfers in this situation.
At least the 500 or so non transfers didn't prove decisive, imagine the rage.
Comments
Turnout was only 70%.
But Useless it is.
SUPERB
Forbes was on -8%
https://www.ipsos.com/en-uk/tight-race-between-yousaf-and-forbes-among-snp-voters-while-sturgeons-ratings-are-up
He didn't fuck up, ergo..
What a stupid choice. Sturgeon is gonna be like Merkel, in retrospect she will appear much less capable than she appeared when in office. She has bequeathed a total mess
He really isn't great, is he?
That's pretty much par for the course in Scotland, though.
But they went for The Useless
CHORTLE
You deserve better, much better
Without rewinding - what can you remember of what he said (other than thanking family)?
However if polls start looking bad…
Fascinating.
PB Tories over reaching again.
The Nats will now sink into a brutal internal war, with a dickhead as a leader. HAHAHAHAHAH
Around 500 didn't transfer
https://twitter.com/conor_matchett/status/1640341241291239425?s=46
A lot of the younger SNP members and supporters would have found it very hard to rally behind Forbes, and she didn't have strong support amongst MSPs either.
Yousaf is definitely the, "don't rock the boat," candidate, so a dramatic Truss-style implosion is least likely.
That's not a bad second pref rate for Yousaf. I'm always very sceptical about claims that X will be the overwhelming recipient of second prefs. Normally, even when the second pref seems obvious, more people than expected don't do the obvious.
Britain’s creaking framework risks being left behind by the leaders’ technology pact
Andrew Orlowski" (£)
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2023/03/27/britains-creaking-internet-framework-risks-left-behind-china/
But Yousaf is still a very poor choice. The love child of IDS and Ed Miliband
Can you let me know in a couple of sentences what this result means pls.
TIA
Personally I would say Justin Trudeau and Andy Burnham (2015 grade).
Splendid
I don't particularly like Justin Trudeau, and loathe much of his Woke politics, but I can see he has charisma and charm, if you're in the mood. And he is a proven winner
I don't see any of this in Yousaf, at all
A truly daft comparison
You can't make the case for independence by being functionally shit as a government. OK, so they are *less* shit than the Westminster government but that is a pretty low bar.
The challenge for Dross, Anus and Alex English-Accent is to be relevant. Their opposition to independence has been their USP, and with Useless now in the FM chair it needs to be competence. Sturgeon looked and sounded competent even if it was just a veneer. He won't have that luxury...
You've been stitched up and kippered by the nasty rightwing English intellgentsia
Less smartarse, he will really have to grow on the job (which unlike that weirdo Truss I think he may be capable of doing) or there'll be another leadership election after a bad result, eg the next UK GE.
What about a header, while we're at it?!
https://www.cnbc.com/2023/03/01/why-american-men-die-younger-than-women-on-average-and-how-to-fix-it.html
'What a crock!
Bye-bye SNP, bye-bye…
Don’t let the door hit your ar$e on the way out of Scotland’s political scene.
Humbug Yousless… Ha-ha-ha! Good luck! You’ll fricking need it!'
'LIke I said today is the day the SNP died.'
'Today we witness the SNP demise as a party and Scotland independence movement dead and buried for good.'
'
…And so the longest suicide note in history is signed off by the SNP.'
'Well fuck me. What an absolute disaster.
PLEASE ALBA, stand candidates in every constituency. Otherwise I’m going to have to spoil my ballot.'
https://wingsoverscotland.com/the-hollow-crown/
Or will they keep quiet until negotiations are over?
At least the 500 or so non transfers didn't prove decisive, imagine the rage.