Not really. About 45% of Scots voted for the SNP at Holyrood in 2011; it was a matter of time until this translated to Westminster with the Labour parties awful performances up here.
UK General Election 2015 | Conservatives win with an overall majority
- Thread starter langster
- Start date
Not really. About 45% of Scots voted for the SNP at Holyrood in 2011; it was a matter of time until this translated to Westminster with the Labour parties awful performances up here.
SNP believe in it too. Hopefully they'll keep their word and try to push for it at Westminster.
When I say DUP, I don't mean DUP sorry.
They will take their seats, but Cameron can hope they dont vote against him consistently.
I was saying earlier that parties like DUP/Sinn Fein/Ulster not consistently taking their seats changes the number of votes needed, but have just been saying DUP for short.
Excellent point, and that does my head in. Benefit fraud, while obviously wrong, is not even fractionally as big an issue as it's made out to be. Dwarfed by other shite that never gets mentioned. I see a few Special Brew swigging louts slipping through the system as a small price to pay if it means the vast majority of legitimate claimants aren't getting rammed
Conservatives hit 326 - they have their majority. 7 seats left.
Amazing
You've got to look at the number of seats though. The SNP only contested the 59 Scottish seats and won 56 of them with well over 50% of the vote in those areas.
UKIP contested 624 seats and only won 1, polling around 13%
There's some fair arguments for bringing in some form of proportional representation but I'd certainly not be for handing UKIP 84 seats because they got a 13% share of the overall vote.
I feel a bit sorry for Clegg. From euphoric ascension to the party saboteur. Wonder how he and the Lib Dems would have fared now had they retrospectively stuck to their guns and told the Tories to feck off back in 2010.
But an MP represents a specific constituency so the national vote count is irrelevant.
We do need reform but the above isn't the reason
Dup do vote... But sinn fein don't take their seats (4)
Which does give a little breathing space
'Congratulations Tories' thread?
Definitely the lesser of two evils.
Meanwhile the ones getting the lion's share of the benefits - the old - have been completely protected.
Just unbelievable. People predicting that at 9:45pm last night would've been laughed out the building.
Pensioner places £30,000 bet on Conservative majority at general election
Biggest majority bet of the election would see the mystery Glasgow pensioner scoop up £210,000 if he is correct
Bets are on for a Conservative majority for David Cameron Photo: Reuters
By Auslan Cramb, Scottish Correspondent
4:51PM BST 29 Apr 2015
A “well groomed” pensioner has placed a £30,000 bet on the Conservatives winning a majority in the general election after walking into a betting shop with the money in his jacket pocket.
The anonymous gambler, who is believed to be a former accountant, asked what the odds were in a Ladbrokes branch in Hope Street, Glasgow, and after being told they were 7/1 he produced the money in crisp £50 notes.
According to one cashier, he "looked like he knew what he was doing", was confident and calm and “just thought it was a great bet”. A customer who witnessed the bet said the man looked “well-groomed, wealthy and well-informed”.
• Political betting: four things you should know
• Want to know who will win the general election? Ask a gambler
Following the punt, which is the biggest bet to date on a party emerging with a majority next Thursday, the bookies cut the odds of the Tories to 6/1, while the odds of no party forming a majority were reduced from 10/1 to 8/1.
Alex Donohue of Ladbrokes said a bookies in Glasgow was “the last place you'd expect to find a punter prepared to have a record-breaking bet on the Tories".
He added: "It's fair to say Cameron & co have been handed a vote of confidence from one of the unlikeliest locations and should they defy the odds, our customer will land a significant windfall."
The bookmaker also has odds of 25/1 on Labour winning more than half the seats, compared with 1/8 for the election resulting in no party having an overall majority at Westminster.
I do wonder who this fella is?
With the Tories given a mandate forget electoral reform for at least 8 years and ignore minorities because they will be sidelined. This is now a battle between Scotland and England fought out in Westminster.
Ill tell you one thing that wouldnt have happened. We wouldnt have gone the way of Greece. Another line trotted out time and time again over the last few months that is complete bollocks.
Yeah but they came second in a lot of seats. They (probably) would have got 30+ candidates under most even semi-proportaional systems
Looks like Katie Hopkins is staying, sadly.
According to some analysts, there was a huge amount of tactical voting as people were influenced by the fear of a Lab-SNP in government scare.
If that's true, the topic of Scottish independence will only become more pressing. Surely a union can't survive when one part elects overwhelmingly (I know FPTP skews things but the system is what it is) a party that has separation as it's main goal and the other tactically votes to keep out the democratically elected MPs of the other while electing a government whose policies are hated by the other part of the union.
Besides if the UK does vote to leave the EU (the polls seem to be 50-50 on it but they were wrong on the election) and Scotland votes to stay in it, I doubt the SNP will take it quietly and it may push some Scots towards supporting independence. Not to mention how the Tory government's policies and Labour's failure will go down in Scotland.
If that's true, the topic of Scottish independence will only become more pressing. Surely a union can't survive when one part elects overwhelmingly (I know FPTP skews things but the system is what it is) a party that has separation as it's main goal and the other tactically votes to keep out the democratically elected MPs of the other while electing a government whose policies are hated by the other part of the union.
Besides if the UK does vote to leave the EU (the polls seem to be 50-50 on it but they were wrong on the election) and Scotland votes to stay in it, I doubt the SNP will take it quietly and it may push some Scots towards supporting independence. Not to mention how the Tory government's policies and Labour's failure will go down in Scotland.
Farage gone ? I suppose Van Rompuy is having a good laugh somewhere....
Well it won't be that much of a battle... Secretly don't most conservatives admit off the record that an independent Scotland would significantly enhance the conservatives English / remaining UK position.
I expect the SNP to smash the Scottish election and try to tie a second referendum into the eu referendum
Yeah I was gonna make an addendum to that. Not so much the old being unaffected - the wankers who have been genuinely cheating the system for years, who can work and don't want to probably won't be too affected either. I'm not basing that on anything other than anecdotal evidence and intuition, I just don't see the subjects of the typical DM stories, 6 kids, plasma screen TV and all that, being forced to find work now.
The vote in Scotland cost Labour votes in England is my point. Unless you think hammering away at the SNP propping up labour had no effect. It isn't bizarre to think it did, given the tactic worked.
That is one piece of good news. You'd wonder how this will affect UKIP going forward and the EU referendum. They certainly seem to rely on their leader more than any other party but the EU referendum will put them right in the spotlight.
I'm not sure I can take a United loss tomorrow after this 
Why did Labour not forcefully tell everyone what a load of shite that was? It did my head in.
We were never going to be like Greece as you said, but the Tories were just allowed to lie about it over and over. Infuriating.
I meant the real Herman.
But when the uk votes to stay in it effectively finishes UKIP
If we vote to come out it may be different but I feel it's likely we will stay... Though by no means certain
Twice as much benefits is lost on administrative error than on fruad.
Sturgeon flying into London by Flybe 
Apparently Farage might stand for UKIP leader again in September. Wouldn't be surprised if he's back soon.
I'm not sure I can take a United loss tomorrow after this
Christ, just imagine. Tories win. Carrick out for the run-in. United lose. Liverpool win.
Food banks, 0 hour contracts, and the Europa League.
Especially when he'll be competing against the likes of Susan Wellmeaningbigot and John Angrywhite
His words have never been the problem. It's his shitty actions that have pissed everyone off.
I always assumed that in general in the UK opinions were leaning more and more to the left progressively. After the UKIP & Conservative votes I'm wondering if it was the complete opposite?
I'm trying to comfort myself in this being more about tactical voting and a few isolated topics (immigration, economy) where Labour seemed to lack real conviction and couldn't convince.
I'm expecting to see a lot move back towards the left at the next election, but maybe I'm just wrong on where the public generally stand.
I'm trying to comfort myself in this being more about tactical voting and a few isolated topics (immigration, economy) where Labour seemed to lack real conviction and couldn't convince.
I'm expecting to see a lot move back towards the left at the next election, but maybe I'm just wrong on where the public generally stand.
Who believes in PR:
Lib Dems (7.8% vote, 1.23% seats)
UKIP (12.6% vote, 0.15% seats)
SNP (4.8% vote, 8.6% seats)
Greens (3.8% vote, 0.15% seats)
Plydd Cymru (0.6% vote, 0.46% seats)
Lib Dems (7.8% vote, 1.23% seats)
UKIP (12.6% vote, 0.15% seats)
SNP (4.8% vote, 8.6% seats)
Greens (3.8% vote, 0.15% seats)
Plydd Cymru (0.6% vote, 0.46% seats)
Still a voting majority who think 'I'm alright Jack' and get away with it due to the non-voting bloc (who take most of the crap).
I don't see countries stopping trading with the UK if it's not in the EU, it may increase the cost of doing business with us slightly, and be a bit more costly for us to manage. The real debate is whether we get value from the EU as massive net contributors, and the cost of complying with EU law, when it comes to trade.