I have a Zoom quiz in a couple of hours and no questions for my round as yet. Any charitable PBers who wish to lob me any interesting questions, they would (as ever) be most welcome. I'm going to do pot luck, so they don't have to be on a theme.
What happened in London on the 10th of September 1752?
Scottish Labour voters are starting to vote tactically for the Tories to beat the SNP as last week's local by election in Clackmannanshire showed, if Labour are going to regain Glasgow and central belt seats from the SNP they in turn will need Tory tactical votes
Do you happen to know whether the leaving councillor got the first place in the original slate at the previous election, or whether s/he was lower down (in which case we are not comparing like with like)? It's a crucial piece of data for any Scottish local gmt election which cannot be meaningfully discussed until this is established.
Do my eyes deceive me or does that imply that the Unionist vote is down 3.8% pts and the Indy vote up 3.8% pts? Pleasingly symmetrical.
Irrelevant as most Holyrood seats are constituencies elected under FPTP not preferential voting, so as long as the lead Unionist party's vote is up it does not matter if the combined Unionist total is down in terms of beating the SNP (though obviously the other Unionist parties would also gain seats on the PR list).
So that is why Labour voters last time voting Tory as their first preference this time in that by election could be so crucial if it becomes a trend for Holyrood 2021
I though the polling showed that Labour voters break more for the SNP than the Tories as second choice.
Second choice is irrelevant as Holyrood is FPTP and list not preferential voting and last week 12% of the Scottish Labour vote switched to make the Tories their first choice to beat the SNP, that Unionist tactical voting will be crucial to getting that Unionist majority next year
Yes, but a higher number of SLAB tactical votes will go to the SNP. Dislike of the Tories clearly outweighs Unionism for many of them, according to polling.
Why would Labour's first preference vote have fallen here? Surely under the electoral system used a Labour voter inclined to vote tactically could achieve that by giving a second preference to the Tory or SNP.
I wonder how many votes both would lose if it came out as a formal alliance before the election? Witth the SNP, BXP and Mr Gallowa's lot salivating for any lost votes.
I think the only realstic option conceivably is an Aberdeen style after-election alliance - but (a) that assumes that the Greens and LDs and Trots (if any) would play ball, if needed, and (b) what happens at the next election thereafter?
The other option would be a Tory minority administration, and that assumes they have more MSPs than the SNP or at least can stop the SNP from being installed. Which latter would require Labour cooperation, or Green'LD/Trot - the klatter inherently unlikely.
As you say, bye bye SLAB given most of its pols are pro-EU and anti-Trident.
Of course, the Tories are happy for other parties to sacrifice themselves for the Union in Scotland, as 2014 showed very clearly.
There is more chance of me being the next Pope than the Tories leading Holyrood , with or without the pygmies to support them.
A majority, no, but would even a minority administration be workable without Labour setting it up and consistently voting with the Tories? Else it'd be like the Edinburgh trams week in week out with government defeats regularly.
The aim is not a Tory or Labour government at Holyrood, the aim is to get a Unionist majority to stop indyre2, that is all, as long as that happens a neutered Sturgeon can stay First Minister indefinitely as far as I am concerned and just focus on Scottish domestic policy (though Salmond might have a few other ideas)
Why do they need a Unionist majority to stop indyref2, when as we know indyref2 can't happen because Johnson will block it under all circumstances?
After his withering comments yesterday about the adminstation and its legal case in Pennsylvannia do not be suprised if the federal "Conservative Republican" Judge is next on Trumps list for internment after Biden, Harris and Romney! I have always said Trump will not go, the Army will have to drag him out.
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I have always said Trump will not go, the Army will have to drag him out.