Election fever builds
The title is, of course, ironic, as this is probably one of the least exciting elections ever.
The credit for this must got to the two main parties who have done their best to avoid doing anything to engage the public in any meaningful way.
I was speaking to both Labour and SNP activists over the weekend, and both were bemoaning the campaign nationally and localy, and looking forward to it all being over.
Labour remain hopeful that they can claw back the electoral deficit - slightly - whilst the SNP are not so much complacent as organised for polling day.
The choice for voters locally has been dull: one candidate is a self-important grey member of the Free Church. And so is the other.
If I am ignoring the LibDems and the Tories, it is because they have no chance of making any impact on the result. Even though the LibDems seem to have the candidate who is actually prepared to speak out, rather than repeat platitudes from the official script.
The implosion of the Labour Campaign nationally has been spectacular, unexpected, and terminally fatal; and betrays a total lack of understanding of the issues of interest. They missed open goals left, right and centre and the revised strategy was inept, badly delivered and too little too late. The Party will need to purge itself, and Iain Gray is the unwitting emetic.
Undecided voters are still a mystery, and I suspect that the final outcome might be slightly tighter than polls suggest; but it'll be the difference between the a vast gap and a slightly less vast gap.
The winner will have to deal with the cuts agenda, so it will be very interesting to see just how that is delivered and what priorities are lost along the way.
It should make for a more interesting next election; if only because it can't get any worse than this. Can it?
The credit for this must got to the two main parties who have done their best to avoid doing anything to engage the public in any meaningful way.
I was speaking to both Labour and SNP activists over the weekend, and both were bemoaning the campaign nationally and localy, and looking forward to it all being over.
Labour remain hopeful that they can claw back the electoral deficit - slightly - whilst the SNP are not so much complacent as organised for polling day.
The choice for voters locally has been dull: one candidate is a self-important grey member of the Free Church. And so is the other.
If I am ignoring the LibDems and the Tories, it is because they have no chance of making any impact on the result. Even though the LibDems seem to have the candidate who is actually prepared to speak out, rather than repeat platitudes from the official script.
The implosion of the Labour Campaign nationally has been spectacular, unexpected, and terminally fatal; and betrays a total lack of understanding of the issues of interest. They missed open goals left, right and centre and the revised strategy was inept, badly delivered and too little too late. The Party will need to purge itself, and Iain Gray is the unwitting emetic.
Undecided voters are still a mystery, and I suspect that the final outcome might be slightly tighter than polls suggest; but it'll be the difference between the a vast gap and a slightly less vast gap.
The winner will have to deal with the cuts agenda, so it will be very interesting to see just how that is delivered and what priorities are lost along the way.
It should make for a more interesting next election; if only because it can't get any worse than this. Can it?
9 comments:
Labour are in tatters and the SNP matters.
The campaign seems to have gone almost as bad locally as nationally for Miliband's minions.
And what hope is there for a candidate whose Scottish leader - contending for the First Minister's job, mind - demonstrates his steel by diving into a Subway sandwich bar to avoid a few students?
1.01 pm That's nothing the local Labour candidate doesn't campaign in the rain, in case it spoils his hair.
watched the STV debate the other night and tried to listen to Iain Gray - but try as I might his totally expressionless/emotionless face just kept on distracting me. Whereas, Alex Salmond,with his recently aquired whisper (attempting to display I assume a reasoned and considered response) along with the Daily Record's attempts to portray him photographically as Shrek (just how many votes have they cost labour with their extreme biase?)did extract from me a degree of agreement - but I was greatly taken with dear old Annabel - the Scottish Tories do seem to at least be displaying a trait noticeably absent in the other three main parties - that of honesty - not that I would dream of voting for them.
local election campaign? Not on Barra.
Alasdair Allan appears to be the only candidate to have bothered to have come here at all. He and his supporters have done all the usual stuff, posters in windows, cars, on signposts etc. The island is like a wasp factory. He has visited, gone around doors, dropped into the shops for a blether.
There is NOTHING from any of the other candidates, not a thing. If they have been here nobody told us. The only labour notice I have seen is the Westminster election one from last year, hanging sorrily on the sign post at Northbay.
These other "Candidates" have done nothing to deserve our consideration. If they will not represent themselves why should we trust them to represent us?
Is this what it has been like throughout the Western Isles? Perhaps the Barrachs should get paranoid that noone other than AA bothers with us.
I feel I should ask one more question, just in case someone other than AA gets in. Do the other candidates look anything like the pictures on their junk mail? You see we've never seen them before, they could be peddling any old s**ty pictures in those leaflets.
OK so it looks like AA has probably won it on the basis that they bothered to knock a few doors. Does he deserve another 4 years x £65k - NO but then do any of them deserve that - NO. The thing is, the campaign was a no starter. Neither of them bothered to knock the doors and really work out what matters so we are left with the not so spiky haired yes man.
The local Labour party really has to sort out it's internal quabbles before it stands a chance of ever getting into the local seat again and start thinking about a realistic, good, local candidate now that can justify the position when it next comes on board, but they have to work on getting some local respect not just shot out of the gun on the back foot.
The SNP and Alistair Allen are just bloody lucky that the Labour party just don't seem to be able to get their act together.
All the more reason to have voted for AV.
Looking at the result there's no two ways about it. That's just plain humiliating for Labour. The size of the majority, the massive swing away from Labour and to the SNP.
No idea how Labour can excuse their way out of that. The SNP didn't even really try that hard in the Western Isles, either.
8:37,
Um yeah, the SNP hold the Isles by an amazing increased majority of over 4,000 votes (over 65% of the votes cast) because they knocked on a few doors that Labour didn't?! The story in the Western Isles is a microcosm of Scotland itself today: NuLabour are finished and unwanted, especially in the Isles, judging by the result!
It's not that the Labour party doesn't seem able to get its act together as you say (though that's true), but simply that the electorate don't want them any more, because something much, much better has arrived. Many of us remember what Labour did (and didn't do) in the Isles not so long ago and they will pay the price for a long time to come.
Now, I'm off to Subway's for a sandwich - och, I forgot, they don't have one in Lewis...
Lovely to see the map of Scotland turning a sunshine yellow :-))
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