Tag: SNP
Scottish Parliament election preview: From four party politics to further consolidation in the South of Scotland?
The Scottish Parliament elections are upon us, with the SNP expected to consolidate their current dominance over Labour and the Conservatives. Here, Alistair Clark looks at the contest in the South Scotland region, an area which has had a recent history of four party politics but may be seeing its political profile shift. Similar PostsEuropean […]
Scottish Parliament election preview: Continued SNP dominance in the North East, but who will pick up the scraps?
The North East of Scotland contains Scotland’s third and fourth largest cities in Aberdeen and Dundee, with these cities representing ‘No’ and ‘Yes’ strongholds during 2014’s independence referendum. In the 2011 election, the SNP swept the board in this region, even managing to win a list MSP – something which the voting system in use […]
Learning the lessons: What other referendums can teach us about the EU vote
While we’re nowhere near Switzerland or California in constantly using referendums, the UK is becoming accustomed to big constitutional votes. Katie Ghose discusses what the AV and Scottish referendums tell us about the likely shape of the EU debate. Similar PostsHow the major parties will face the EU referendumWe need a root and branch review of […]
Scottish devolution will now have a bigger fiscal dimension
A deal has finally been struck on the fiscal framework for the Scotland Bill. Holyrood will now be supported by a mixture of shared UK resources and its own tax revenue, levied in Scotland, but supplemented by UK resources as well. Here, Jim Gallagher reviews the compromise and the negotiations leading up to it. Similar PostsThe […]
How democratic are the UK’s political parties and party system?
As part of the 2017 Audit of UK Democracy, Sean Kippin, Patrick Dunleavy and the DA team examine how democratic the UK’s party system and political parties are. Parties often attract criticism from those outside their ranks, but they have multiple, complex roles to play in any liberal democratic society. The UK’s system has many […]
The 2015 election has been described as the most disproportional ever – but it wasn’t disproportional everywhere
Disproportionality is the degree of mismatch between parties’ shares of votes and their shares of seats, with measures of disproportionality usually calculated for national elections. This year’s general election was criticised by many as the least proportional ever. Chris Hanretty acknowledges that on some measures, this is a valid claim, but demonstrates that calculating a measure […]
The ‘RISE’ of the Scottish left is challenging the SNP’s hegemony in Scotland
The SNP under Nicola Sturgeon’s leadership are sweeping all before her, and are on course to win comfortably at the Scottish Parliament elections, held next May. Jenny Morrison looks at the post-referendum increase in left-wing activity, placing it in the context of the independence movement and the election of Jeremy Corbyn as Labour leader. This […]
Has the tide turned for women’s representation in Scotland?
Scotland has a female First Minister, who competes in Holyrood with a female Leader of the Scottish Labour Party, as well as a female leader of the Scottish Conservatives. While this should be welcomed, we should not assume that the problem of women’s under representation is solved for good, and instead look at what statutory […]
Westminster will benefit from greater Scottish influence more than it expects
The SNP swept the board at the 2015 General Election, with the party winning all but two parliamentary seats (al beit in an unrepresentative First Past the Post election). One of their number Stephen Gethins argues that Westminster has much to learn from the way Holyrood has worked in recent years, and that his party […]
As a democratic representative for young women, Mhairi Black is exactly what parliament needs
On election night, 20-year old Mhairi Black made national headlines for defeating Labour’s Shadow Foreign Secretary Douglas Alexander in his Paisley constituency. She has since been the subject of much media attention owing largely to her youth. Her well-received maiden speech has received attention for being passionate and coherent, and as Benjamin Bowman argues here, […]
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