Scottish Parliament election 2016; results (constituency and regional) in Highland Region

Well, all 129 seats in the Scottish Parliament have now declared their results and as expected the Scottish National Party [SNP] have 'won', but crucially have lost their overall majority, with the principal gainers being the Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party [SCUP], who succeeded even above their own expectations by pushing the Scottish Labour Party [SLP] decisively into third place.

In the 3 constituencies in the area, where the vote is 'first past the post', the results were as follows; the first shown below is the constituency in which I can vote and the other two are shown here for information:

Inverness and Nairn
- CADDICK, Carolyn Ann (SLD) - 4th (5,445 votes, 14.2%, +2.7%)
- EWING, Fergus Stewart (SNP) - 1st (18,505 votes, 48.3%, −3.2%)
- MOUNTAIN, Edward (SCUP) - 2nd (7,648 votes, 20.0%, +8.4%)
- STEWART, David (SLP) - 3rd (6,719 votes, 17.5%, −4.2%)

Caithness, Sutherland and Ross
- FRANCHETTI, Leah Esther (SLP) - 4th (3,334 votes, 10.4%, −8.7%)
- MACKIE, Struan (SCUP) - 3rd (4,912 votes, 15.3%, +5.0%)
- ROSS, Gail Elizabeth (SNP) - 1st (13,937 votes, 43.3%, −5.1%)
- STONE, Jamie (SLD) - 2nd (10,024 votes, 31.1%, +8.8%)

Skye, Lochaber and Badenoch
- CAMPBELL, Ronnie (IND) - 5th (1,116 votes, 3.1%, +1.5%)
- FORBES, Kate (SNP) - 1st (17,362 votes, 47.6%, +1.4%)
- MACLEAN, Angela Margaret (SLD) - 2nd (8,319 votes, 22.8%, −7.7%)
- MUNRO, Robbie (SCUP) - 3rd (5,887 votes, 16.1%, +7.2%)
- STEWART, Linda (SLP) - 4th (3,821 votes, 10.5%, −2.4%)

Voting also took place in a regional 'List' system under a form of proportional representation, with the regional results where I live being:

Highlands and Islands Region (showing names only of those elected as 'List' MSPs - using the d'Hondt method of voting, the Additional Member System)
listed in alphabetic order by political party or individual name
Details of registered parties and party list candidates
Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
"Ruth Davidson for a Strong Opposition"
(Douglas Ross, Edward Mountain, Donald Cameron)
- 3 seats, 44,693 votes, 21.8%, +10.1%
Scottish Green Party
"Re-elect John Finnie"
(John Finnie)
- 1 seat, 14,781 votes, 7.2%, +2.1%
Scottish Labour Party
"Choose kids, not cuts"
(Rhoda Grant, David Stewart)
- 2 seats, 22,894 votes, 11.2%, -3.3%
Scottish National Party (SNP)
"Nicola Sturgeon for First Minister"
(Maree Todd)
- 1 seat, 81,600 votes, 39.7%, −7.8%
RISE – Respect, Independence, Socialism and Environmentalism
"Scotland’s Left Alliance"
- 0 seats, 889 votes, 0.4%, +0.4%
Scottish Christian Party “Proclaiming Christ’s Lordship”
"Christians Together"
- 0 seats, 3,407 votes, 1.7%, −0.3%
Scottish Liberal Democrats
- 0 seats, 27,223 votes, 13.3%, +1.1
Solidarity - Scotland's Socialist Movement
"Tommy Sheridan - IndyRef2"
- 0 seats, 793 votes, 0.4%, +0.3%
UK Independence Party (UKIP)
"UKIP"
- 0 seats, 5,344 votes, 2.6%, +0.7%
Details of individual regional candidates
STOCKAN, James Wilson
Independent
- 0 seats, 3,689 votes, 1.8%, +1.8%

Turnout was 55.6%.
- full results for the Scottish Parliament election 2016 are in the BBC website here.

At a personal level, I am pleased that there are now 3 'List' MSPs representing the Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party in the Highlands and Islands Region, out of 7, namely Douglas Ross, Edward Mountain and Donald Cameron - congratulations! This is an increase of 1. Other changes are that the Scottish National Party have reduced their 'List' representation from 3 to 1, with the Scottish Green Party gaining 1 seat (nb/ John Finnie was a 'List' MSP in the last parliament 2011-2016, but sat for the Scottish National Party for the period 2011-2012, then as an Indpendent for the period 2012-2016).

The only other comment I wish to make here is that whilst I am not a 'vindictive' person (I do not think), I am personally pleased and relieved that one particular person standing for the SNP as fourth on their 'List' for this area, namely Nairn councillor Liz MacDonald, was not elected; my blog article written during August 2014 (see here) explains why. In my view she has no place in public life; harsh I know, but there are certain kinds of behaviour which are completely unacceptable in a civilised society for an elected official.

Scottish Parliament election 2016 - more election literature received

Further to my article last Saturday (click here to view) I received this morning some additional election literature from three of those standing in the forthcoming Scottish Parliament election. As I had not already received anything from the 'Independent' Regional candidate I am linking to it in the image below.

Click on the image to see a larger version plus an additional image James Wilson STOCKAN (Independent) Click on the image to see a larger version plus an additional image

The other two leaflets were from candidates from whom I had already received literature, but you can see the most-recently received material from them at the top of the linked pages below:
- Scottish Conservative and Unionist
- Scottish Liberal Democrats

For the sake of equity, I am also including links below for election literature already received from the other candidates too:
- Scottish Green Party
- Scottish Labour Party
- Scottish National Party
- Solidarity ("Solidarity Scotland's Socialist Movement")
- UKIP

If additional 'election messages' arrive in coming days I'll endeavour to put them online too.

A final message - If you have a vote, please use it, however you plan to vote.

Scottish Parliament election 2016 - election literature received

(Please see UPDATE at end)

As in some of the previous elections when I have had the time, I have found it fascinating this time to compare the different messages and ideas that the various political parties try to persuade electors to vote for. I'm also interested in their different presentational styles; some of the messages are not to my taste at all, of course, but even where this is the case some of the messages seem to me to be well presented given the limited resources they probably have available. Isn't there some saying about the Devil having all the best tunes?

The images below are of election literature which I have received through my letterbox, listed in alphabetic order. I have not received literature from all the political parties or groups standing at the election on 5th May, but if I do receive any of these in the next few days I will endeavour to include them in this, or a later, posting before the election. However I will only include literature which I receive through my own letterbox. Please note that I have 'edited' some of the images so that multi-fold leaflets show all sections the right way up. None of these modifications alters the basic message in any way I hope.

Click on any image to see a larger version plus additional images Scottish Conservative and Unionist Scottish Green Party Scottish Labour Party Scottish Liberal Democrats Scottish National Party Solidarity ("Solidarity Scotland's Socialist Movement") UKIP Material from 'Independent' Regional candidate James Wilson STOCKAN (Independent) Click on any image to see a larger version plus additional images

For full details of all candidates and parties standing in Highland Region or its three constituencies, please read my earlier article published in early April by clicking here.

PS/ I have already cast my 'FPTP' and 'List' votes postally; those who know me would have little difficulty in divining how these have been cast, but so far as I am concerned it is not a secret either, so I am quite content to acknowledge that both votes were for the Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party or in the case of the 'FPTP' vote, its candidate. Little surprise there, then.

UPDATE (Monday 25APR2016 20.15 BST) I received three additional items of election literature this morning, so have published an article about that here. As one of the items received was from a candidate from whom no literature had previously been received, I have updated the table above to include it, as well as including it in the later article. The other two items were from candidates that I had already received other material from and this too has been updated into the pages linked to in the table above. The later linked article gives complete details.

Scottish Parliament election 2016 - constituency and regional candidates in Highland Region

The next Scottish Parliament election will take place on Thursday 5th May 2016.

All of the information about the individuals and political parties standing for election in the Scottish Parliament election has been taken from the official lists of nominations published in the Highland Council website, with pertinent data available in its website here. See also the 'News' page here.

There are 3 constituencies in the area, where the vote is 'first past the post'; the first shown below is the constituency in which I can vote and the other two are shown here for information:

Inverness and Nairn
- CADDICK, Carolyn Ann (Scottish Liberal Democrats)
- EWING, Fergus Stewart (Scottish National Party [SNP])
- MOUNTAIN, Edward (Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party)
- STEWART, David (Scottish Labour Party)

Caithness, Sutherland and Ross
- FRANCHETTI, Leah Esther (Scottish Labour Party)
- MACKIE, Struan (Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party)
- ROSS, Gail Elizabeth (Scottish National Party [SNP])
- STONE, Jamie (Scottish Liberal Democrats)

Skye, Lochaber and Badenoch
- CAMPBELL, Ronnie (Independent)
- FORBES, Kate (Scottish National Party [SNP])
- MACLEAN, Angela Margaret (Scottish Liberal Democrats)
- MUNRO, Robbie (Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party)
- STEWART, Linda (Scottish Labour Party)

Voting also takes place in a regional 'List' system under a form of proportional representation, for me this region is:

Highlands and Islands Region ('List' candidates - using the d'Hondt method of voting, the Additional Member System)
listed in alphabetic order by political party or individual name
Details of registered parties and party list candidates
RISE – Respect, Independence, Socialism and Environmentalism
"Scotland’s Left Alliance"
(Jean Urquhart / Conor Cheyne / Suzanne Nicola Wright / Louis McIntosh)
Scottish Christian Party “Proclaiming Christ’s Lordship”
"Christians Together"
(Donald MacLeod Boyd / Andrew Henderson Shearer / Isobel Ann MacLeod / John Cranston Lister)
Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
"Ruth Davidson for a Strong Opposition"
(Douglas Ross / Edward Mountain / Donald Cameron / Jamie Halcro Johnston / Struan Mackie / Cameron Smith /
 Robbie Munro)
Scottish Green Party
"Re-elect John Finnie"
(John Finnie / Isla O’Reilly / Fabio Villani / Ariane Burgess / Steve Sankey / Anne Katherine Thomas / Donnie Macleod /
Michèle Rhodius / Topher Dawson)
Scottish Labour Party
"Choose kids, not cuts"
(Rhoda Grant / David Stewart / Leah Franchetti / Sean Morton / Sarah Atkin / John Erskine / Robina Barton / Gerard McGarvey)
Scottish Liberal Democrats
(Jamie Stone / Carolyn Caddick / James Patterson / David Green / Alan Reid / Angela MacLean / Jean Davis / Ken MacLeod)
Scottish National Party (SNP)
"Nicola Sturgeon for First Minister"
(Maree Todd / Laura Mitchell / Mike Mackenzie / Liz MacDonald / Richard Laird / Danus Skene / Angus MacLeod /
 Hugh Moodie / Ken Gowans / Donna Heddle / Antony Harrison / Muriel Cockburn)
Solidarity - Scotland's Socialist Movement
"Tommy Sheridan - IndyRef2"
(Liz Walker / Ryan Malcolm McGuinness / William Robertson Henderson / Findlay Robert Walker)
UK Independence Party (UKIP)
"UKIP"
(David Adam Coburn / Arthur Leslie Durance / George King / Philip Andrew Anderson)
Details of individual regional candidates
STOCKAN, James Wilson
Independent

I will refrain from making any partisan political comment in this article, although most who have read my blog over the years will know well where my own political leanings tend to lie. I will however permit myself one observation about the ways that most of the registered political parties describe themselves by using a "slogan", described in the Highland Council official list as "Description of party (if any)"; I find these descriptions are mostly meaningless and all are fatuous and add nothing at all of value - only one political party has had the good sense and intellectual integrity to eschew this particular 'grandstanding' technique and even although that party is not one I have ever supported I wanted to record this observation.

The only other thing I wish to say here is that I hope that everyone eligible to vote will use that right so that the result reflects as closely as possible the wishes of the whole electorate. If you couldn't be bothered to vote, but could have done so had you bothered, please don't carp. Whilst it is entirely possible, if not absolutely certain, that I will be very unhappy with the result, I certainly plan to use my own right to vote - and so should you if you possibly can.

PS/ You can see the election literature I have received in a later article dated 23APR2016 here.

Couple to fight adjacent constituencies in Highlands

A husband and wife couple, David and Linda Stewart, have been chosen to fight for two adjacent constituencies in the elections for the Scottish Parliament in May 2011 as Labour Party prospeective candidates. He will be standing in the new Inverness and Nairn constituency and she will be standing in the similarly new Skye, Lochaber and Badenoch constituency - both constituencies have apparently been re-drawn to take account of population changes and provide a more even balance.

David Stewart was formerly the MP for the Westminster constituency of Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber between 1997 and 2005, when he was defeated by the current LibDem MP Danny Alexander. Since 2007 he has been a List [i.e. effectively unelected - *] MSP for the Highlands and Islands regional constituency. Linda Stewart was a Scottish Parliament candidate in 2007 for Labour for the Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber constituency.

I think the chances of either being elected next year are pretty negligible (notwithsanding the potential collapse in the LibDem vote if their popularity continues to suffer because of their presence in the current Coalition government). However, I really do wonder if it is sound, from a democratic perspective, to have a husband and wife 'team' potentially in place for two constituncies and even more so when it is two adjacent seats. The other political party that seems to specialise in this kind of incestuous politics is of course the SNP. Both Labour and the SNP have local and national government representatives amongst close family members in various parts of the country. I consider it deeply worrying. This may have been common in the Conservative Party in the past, but in recent years this phenomenon has lessened for them - a very helathy development in my view.

The "People's Party" and the political party aiming for separation of Scotland from the UK seem to be stuck in a political time-warp; they are both left-wing of course - one only has to look at countries such as Cuba or North Korea to see that this phenomenon is pretty common amnongst left-wing politicians worldwide (and of course in the US), but is it healthy and likely to increase democratic accountability? I doubt it.

Salmond 'frit'

First Minister of Scotland and 'all round good egg' [not] Alex Salmond thinks so little of the voters of Scotland that be believes they will be confused if they are asked to vote on two matters at the same time. The UK government proposes to hold a referendum on whether the voting system for Westminster elections should be changed from the traditional 'first past the post' (FPTP) to the 'alternative vote' (AV) system on the same date, 5 May 2011, that the next elections will he held for the Scottish Parliament . A subtext to this fear on Salmond's part is that his party, the SNP, did pretty poorly in the recent Westminster elections, managing only to maintain its number of MPs at 6 (out of 59), when it had hope to raise its Westminister representation to 20. Mr Salmond has therefore written a rather laughable letter to David Cameron, the new Prime Minister, pleading his partisan case:

"I believe that your proposals to hold a referendum on the same day undermines the integrity of the elections in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. "These elections are of profound importance to our citizens and I believe they have the right to make their electoral choices for the respective devolved chambers without the distraction of a parallel referendum campaign on the UK voting system. "When you visited Edinburgh shortly after your election, you placed great emphasis on what you called 'the respect agenda' between the UK government and devolved administrations. "It is not clear how the decision to hold the AV referendum on the same date as our elections, and to do so without any prior consultation, fits into the spirit of that framework."

The Coalition Government's (Lib Dem) Scottish Secretary Michael Moore has rightly dismissed Mr Salmonds's 'mewlings' thus:

"To say that this will confuse voters is to underestimate the intelligence of the Scottish people. "Many countries routinely hold elections and referendums on the same day. I am confident that Scotland can do the same. "There will be ample time in the election campaign to debate all the issues facing Scotland, and for Scots to make their judgment about who is best placed to deal with them."

Of course Mr Salmond knows that relatively few people, whatever they may say in opinion polls, are actually prepared to go into the voting booth and vote for the 'fantasy politics' that the SNP specialises in. At the May 2010 Westminster election the SNP managed only 19.9 per cent of the vote in Scotland (up from 17.6 in the previous election) although it edged past the LibDems into second-place in number of votes. Bizarrely the SNP suffers from the same problem as the Scottish Conservatives in that their support is too thinly-spread around the country to gain very many seats under an FPTP voting system, so it is possible that an AV system would be to its advantage, just as the d'Hondt voting system for the Scottish Parliament has unquestionably benefitted the SNP, even though it has allowed it to operate only as a minority Scottish Executive (aka 'Scottish Government') since the last Scottish parliament elections in 2007.

Salmond knows that his only hope in the forthcoming Scottish Parliament elections in 2011 is to stir-up discontent with Westminster in the hope (probably vain) that he can increase SNP support. The reality, Mr Salmond, is that the vast majority of Scottish people are far to savvy to fall for your brand of 'snake-oil' politics. The referendum on the UK voting system and the 2011 Scottish Parliament election should go ahead on the same date next year; the Scottish people are plenty intelligent enough to decide and quite importantly it will save quite a lot of money to do so. Why does Salmond believe the Scottish people cannot be trusted?

PS/ This is my 3,000th blog-post since I began this blog in April 2002. How long will it take me to get to 6,000 I wonder ...

FMQs in the "wee pretendie Parliament"

I rarely watch Thursday's First Minister's Questions from Holyrood (shown on BBC2 in Scotland), but there isn't an episode of 'Poirot' on ITV3 rights now (a joke, or perhaps a revealing glimpse of how exciting my life is!), I thought I'd give it a whirl. What strikes me though it that I am not alone in paying this make-believe 'tribune of the people' little heed - for the chamber seems to be pretty empty of MSPs, you know those folks we pay to be there! There seem to be as many (or more) spectators in the public gallery as in the chamber! Mind you, flicking across to the BBC Parliament Channel to see what's happening in the House of Commons shows a similar almost deserted chamber - but usually the folks at Westminster can be bothered to turn up for PMQs on a Wednesday.

MSP expenses - and 'right and proper claims'

So far in the expenses 'crisis'/'witch-hunt', MPs have been in the firing line, whereas MEPs (subject to an election next week, curiously enough) and MSPs have been curiously immune from criticism.

As far as our MSPs are concerned, it's not because they are any 'better' or even that they are less 'venal' than MPs. No, it's nothing like that at all. Really it's because their own grubby expense-claim habits were brought under some kind of control a few years back, after some unsavoury episodes became public and were subsequently subjected to the disinfectant qualities of having sunlight shone upon their expenses by having them published in detail in the Scottish Parliament website.

So far, so good, but as teachers sometimes said to certain fellow-pupils in my youth - "don't take your books to the top of the class, because you'll soon be heading back to the bottom soon enough"! For there remains room, ample room it seems, for 'grubby' claims by MSPs whenever they think it will pass unnoticed. Such is the case for 15 MSPs who thought it was appropriate to claim as expenses the cost of wreaths they purchased to lay on behalf of the Scottish Parliament at Remembrance Day. Apparently these claims were 'within the rules' so legally they have done nothing wrong.

Why do I find their claims noisome though, and why, now that their claims have become public knowledge, have the 15 so readily 'caved' and agreed to pay back the money? For the latter it's no doubt at least partly because in the current 'witch-hunt' climate over expenses at Westminster a spotlight is being shone upon many who have done nothing, or very little, wrong. It's not the money in these cases that bothers me - for I assume the amounts involved are pretty minor. No, it's the very idea that these quite well-paid folks should consider it worth their while to claim back such minor sums, rather than simply consider it a privilege to be able to lay a wreath on such a solemn occasion. The MSPs claiming seem to think that their every move can be chargeable back to the tax-payer. They seem to have the jobsworth mentality that the State (i.e. the tax-payer) should pay for everything they do when, to be brutally frank about it, it is they as partisan politicians who gain the public 'kudos' of appearing on a solemn occasion. It is significant that it is MSPs from political parties which tend to believe that the State should play a greater, rather than a lesser, role in public life who are implicated in this particular 'grubbiness'.

Now I would consider it quite normal that certain wreaths laid genuinely on behalf of the public, or corporate bodies (public or private) should be paid for out of public or corporate funds. For example the wreath which our Head of State, Her Majesty the Queen, lays on behalf of the whole nation should certainly come out of public funds. So should those laid by the Prime Minister, the Leader of the Opposition and the Leaders of other political parties represented in Parliament. So far as Scotland is concerned I would consider it perfectly normal that the wreaths laid by the First Minister and the Leaders of the other political parties represented in the Scottish Parliament should similarly come out of public funds. Similar considerations should also apply to wreaths laid by the heads of local government around the country - Mayors, Provosts, Conveners and the like. But I see no reason why individual MPs, MSPs, Councillors and the like should consider it their right to claim back for such expenses - if they don't want to pay for their wreaths, and don't consider it a privilege and an honour enough to be permitted to lay them and again to be brutally frank that the 'political kudos' they gain as individuals is reward enough, then they really shouldn't bother laying them in the first place.

Scottish Parliament rejects Salmond's SNP budget

The Scottish Parliament (SP) today rejected the Scottish Executive's (aka 'Scottish Government's') budget proposals. The vote was 64 on both sides and the Presiding Officer (aka 'Speaker') cast his vote to defeat it, citing precedent that casting votes should not change the status quo, which accepting the budget proposals would have done. Apparently the Green Party withdrew its support shortly before the vote and the the support of the Conservatives was not quite enough to swing it Alex's way.

It seems First Minister Salmond wants MSPs to forego the first week of their February holiday (why a February holiday, by the by?) so he can bring the budget before the SP again. I heard him speak on the radio at 8pm during the news bulletin implying that if he couldn't get his budget through it might necessitate 'going to the people'. No doubt a lot of hard political bargaining will be happening in the next few days amongst all the Parties. Which amongst the two principal Parties might lose/gain most from an early election? Whilst the SNP looks and is feeble, and its hold on power is precarious, the Labour lot are hardly more popular, with the toxicity of Brown's 'leadership' down in London unlikely to help their cause, even in their Scottish heartlands.

And we are only pretty near the beginning of this downturn/recession/depression, call it what you will. I haven't seen a great deal of discussion in blogs (those in the UK at any rate) so far about the unrest and violence which has occurred in recent weeks in a number of countries across Europe (Greece, Iceland, Lithuania, Latvia, Bulgaria - can Estonia and Hungary be far behind?) with a general strike planned in France tomorrow. How quickly is it likely, if at all, that this unrest will spread to our little island? Who knows, but I suspect that before this thing is through we're going to see much more of this kind of thing and perhaps much worse - today's little difficulty in the SP might then come to seem merely a quaint reminder of what may then seem like better times.

OK, OK Cassandra will shut up ...

'Halls of Residence' for MSPs?

When I first read this article I did a double-take, but on reflection I don't think it can be dismissed as a completely ridiculous idea. No doubt they would have to be somewhat more spacious than the average room destined for occupancy by a university student. However, a sort of 'apartotel' with each unit having a bedroom, living-room, small kitchen and bathroom would I am certain work out a lot less expensive in the long run; they would probably be furnished in the same way that a mid-price hotel chain might furnish a suite and have a maid service, just like an hotel. MSPs, or at least those whose constituencies are not in Edinburgh itself or within easy commuting distance of the city would be guaranteed a unit; the numbers of constituencies to be provided for could easily be decided by a committee set up to look at travelling times and costs of getting from a constituency to Holyrood; those not on the provided-for list would be expected to meet their own accommodation requirements in and around Edinburgh, just as they did before becoming MSPs. Probably travel allowances would have to remain more or less as they are to allow MSP's to get back to their constituencies most weeks to handle constituency matters. There would therefore be no need for any kind of mortgage/housing allowance, simply allowances to cover accommodation in the 'MSP Hall of Residence', but not elsewhere. It could be made quite attractive to live in, I'm sure, and no doubt there would be a concierge service and common areas for meetings (a cafe and/or breakfast room and a few lounges/meeting-rooms of varying sizes, possibly bookable, for meetings). I am not a supporter of the Green Party, but it seems at the very least an idea that is worth looking at a little more closely. Quite apart from anything else it would stop all the bickering about the personal advantage some MSPs are said to have taken of the current system. It would also relieve MSPs from outwith Edinburgh of the hassle and anxiety of finding accommodation near Holyrood in the days and weeks after being elected. If people wanted to purchase accommodation in Edinburgh then it would be a purely private matter for them and not financed in any way by taxpayers.

Crazy?

Kennedy speaks in language that is only distantly related to plain English

Charles Kennedy, former LibDem leader, spoke today at something called the "Scottish Parliament's Festival of Politics" on Friday, undoutbedly some new-fangled part of our 'devolution settlement' of which I have previously been unaware. What is a 'festival of politics', though? Am I paying for it?

Anyway, to get back to Charles Kennedy. In response to a question ("Are you going to be the comeback kid?") he responded:

"When you have been the leader of a national political party obviously you know what is involved, you are still of an age where you have got something to contribute, but you don't have the relentless and remorseless demands upon you in quite the same way."

Please let me know what that is supposed to mean. It doesn't seem like a straightforward response to a pretty simple question, to me.

When asked about his health, he responded:

"I'm happy and fulfilled in what I'm doing and it's up to me to keep it that way."

Delphic, or what? I suppose a translation into Englush might be that it is up to him, and no-one else, to ensure he stays off the booze; I can certainly sympathise with him and I hope that he succeeds, whatever his future is in political life.

On his decision to admit that he had a problem with alcohol:

"I think individuals have got a right to a degree of privacy, even if you are in the public eye, where medical situations are concerned. "But if you find that degree of privacy is going to be eroded then you may just as well tell people about it. "The issue for me wasn't so much that, it was obviously the political implications, which became clear fairly soon thereafter. But that's water under the bridge."

Can you make head or tail of this? Honestly?

Look, I don't 'dislike' Charles Kennedy, indeed I think he is basically a pretty decent fellow (for a politician). But I really don't see why anyone should have to put up with this complete nonsense. Surely even the LibDems, whatever their views on the competence and value as an asset/liability of their current Leader (Sir Menzies Campbell), can't be so foolish as to buy this snake-oil? Or is it only just another ephemeral part of the Edinburgh 'fringe'? Let's hope so! Not that it matters much, because who really cares what the LibDems do?

Alex Salmond's 'Conversation'

I downloaded my copy of the SNP's propaganda document (aka 'White Paper') today off the web (thanks to the link here). It's a lovely-looking document; I'm trying to say something positive about it. So far I haven't read it in detail, but it seems to be, at first glance, a profoundly self-serving document, rather like the speech the good man gave when introducing it.

Anyway, yesterday I had one of the regular YouGov survey emails I get , inviting me to take part in a survey about 'various matters' - what it was about was in fact the 'National Conversation' proposal, presumably directed only at people in Scotland as the whole survey was only relevant to us. It was in fact one of the more interesting surveys I've seen from YouGov in a while and was obviously designed to gather information about initial reactions to the new 'White Paper'; whether the survey is being conducted for a specific sponsor or purely as an information-gathering exercise by YouGov I have no idea. One of the questions offered various 'ways forward', from the ones that Mr Salmond proposed (status quo, increase in devolved powers, independence) with one crucial addition not offered by 'wee Eck' - that the Scottish Parliament should be abolished and that our constitutional arrangements should revert to the status quo ante (i.e. prior to the enactment of the Scotland Act). That's the option I chose - I know it is highly unlikely ever to happen and is even more highly-unlikely to be an option that we are offered in any referendum, certainly not by the crowd currently in power in Edinburgh, but it's what I would wish, ideally, to see happen. The Scottish Conservatives have been bought and paid for, unfortunately, with their acquiescence in the 'List MSP' charade which gives them a presence in the Scottish Parliament which they would be unlikely to have (and certainly not at its current level) under a purely FPTP system. A few questions in the survey focussed on views of Salmond, Brown and McConnell - I assume the content of the questionnaire was finalised before it was known that McConnel was resigning; my ratings for Brown and Salmond were almost the same for every question, those for McConnell were somewhat different; although I don't like his politics one little bit I think that of the three I rate McConnell as the best human being; I couldn't ever imagine 'liking' the man, but in my view he inspires a certain level of 'trust' that I could never imagine feeling in relation to the other two gentlemen; he doesn't give me the 'heebie-jeebies' the way the other two do. Having said this, I can't say I'm particularly sorry to see him go - he would never have been leader of Scottish Labour or First Minister in consequence, but for the unfortunate political demise of his immediate predecessor.

I make no apology for my seeming (and actual) curmudgeonly attitude toward the very notion and principle of the Scottish Parliament. I do not support it; I simply have to live with it and to that extent I accept it as a fact of life and one that I must deal with in as positive a way as I can manage. However my own personal attitude is that I am 'British' first and 'Scottish' second, immensely happy to be both of course. I'm constantly hearing that this is now very much a minority viewpoint, but so what?

As for increasing the powers the Scottish Parliament has already - I'm unconvinced of the need for this and even more unconvinced of the wisdom of the Parties which say they support continuance of the UK in accepting this as a potential outcome. One of the powers that exists already and which has not, so far, been used is the tax varying powers, which allow a variation of 3p in the pound either way. The political reality is that an increase of tax in Scotland would be massively unpopular amongst the Scottish electorate and a reduction of tax here would arouse even more anger in England than has already started to become apparent because of the 'West Lothian' question and other issues (drugs availability, free care for the elderly, student fees, etc). What additional powers does the SNP suggest, short of its ultimate desire for 'independence' and what additional powers are the other parties prepared to agree to in a (forlorn) effort to try and defuse the SNP's thunder? These are the real and awful questions, and strategies, that lie behind this SNP 'gambit' - and yes, it is just like chess. The SNP is maneouvring the other Parties, little by little, into a tacit acceptance that the status quo is not an option, according to Mr Salmond at least. I do not for one minute accept that any change (other than abolition of the Scottish Parliament!) is necessary for our constitutional arrangements. I will observe the developments over the coming weeks with great interest. I don't often agree with Lord Forsyth, but I share his view that an early referendum is not only desirable, but essential. Then the SNP's silly ideas could be buried for at least a[nother] generation; I believe that the Labour/Conservative/LibDem joint policy of absolute opposition to a referendum is profoundly misconceived.

New link - Tory councillor Jim Millar

I've added a few links recently for recently-elected SNP local councillors, so it seems only fair that I should add a link to someone from one of the other political parties, in this case the Conservatives.

Jim Millar writes that he is a recently-elected councillor on Angus council and also works for one of the (recently re-elected) MSPs at Holyrood, although the job in Edinburgh - where he has chosen to live - is obviously more imortant to him, even though he says he plans to attend local meetings regularly (indeed he seems to have stood for the council after encouragement from his 'boss' who advised "that a campaign would be good experience for me" (and the implications of this are perhaps only now becoming apparent to the MSP), presumably as the basis for his later political life).

He seems to have an easy and fluent writing style and I shall enjoy reading of his exploits and of the various pressures on him as he tries to juggle his various responsibilities (elected and party political).

Day 2 - visit to Scottish Parliament and a minor 'Blogger' meet

Amongst other things I visited the Scottish Parliament this afternoon and sat through part of the 'Transport' debate in the Public Gallery. Very interesting the hear the truth behind the normal sanitised versions one sees on television from the edited highlights; lots of foot-stamping and desk-banging, not to mention some sotto voce asides when some particuarly outrageous remark was taken objection to by a political opponent!

Earlier in the day I had spent several hours, several enjoyable but tiring hours, trudging around the National Museum of Scotland. This was only my second visit, but to do the place justice one really needs to spend at least a week, although not more than two or three hours a days as after that'overload' and fatigue sets in. Following the visit to the Scottish Parliament it was just a short step across the road to the Queen's Gallery at Holyroodhouse for the third 'visit' of the day. The exhibition currently on display included several ink drawings by Leonardo da Vinci, and paintings and drawings by a number of other artists of flora and fauna - in fact paintings and ink drawings of flora are particular favourites of mine and I have quite a few at home by a local artist and friend who employs exactly the same technique of almost phtographic exactitude in capturing the detail of plants, leaves and flowers - it was only a visit of an hour, but it was an hour packed with content!

About fifteen minutes ago I just got back from a 'Blogger' meet, where I had the pleasure of meeting David from the Freedom and Whisky blog. We had a very enjoyable two or so hours discussing a great many subject of interest; unfortunately no other bloggers turned up, but it was still a very worthwhile experience; indeed it is the first time that I have met a fellow-blogger 'in the flesh' (as Nairn is not exactly blogging central!).

Tomorrow amongst other things I shall be visiting the Museum of Flight and various other places in East Lothian.

Salmond announces new Scottish Executive cabinet

Our new First Minister, Alex Salmond, has just announced his first cabinet since taking over the Scottish Executive earlier today. As well as five 'cabinet secretaries', 10 junior ministers were named. The Scottish Executive website gives fuller details here; these will be submitted to the Scottish Parliament this Thursday for confirmation.

The artihmetic of the new Scottish Parliament will require the SNP to rule by consensus. Basically however it remains a 'socialist'-type Party, so unless the Labour Party, Lib Dems and Greens are being particularly obtuse expect the SNP to be able to prevail provided it does not present Parliament with anything so vulgar as a proposal to hold a referendum on 'independence'. I somehow don't think it is all going to go so smoothly as that last sentence might suggest.

New Scottish Parliament Presiding Officer - who he?

I confess to being completely unfamiliar with the name of the new Presiding Officer of the Scottish Parliament, Alex Fergusson MSP; apparently he is (or was, before his appointnemt) a member of the Scottish Conservatives. Although I have no interest in football I thought momentarily that somehow the manager of Manchester United football team had somehow been 'transmogrified' into an MSP and a Conservative one to boot, except I quickly realised that the other Mr Fergusson spells his name slightly differently! For those, like me, who have until now remained blissfully ignorant of the man who is to be the new Presiding Officer, Alex Fergusson's profile may be read here. I wish him the best of luck in trying to control the Scottish Parliament; he seems to be respected on all sides, luckily, but he will surely need luck as well as all his seeming skills as "an astute political operator".

First Minister Alex Salmond?

It seems clear that the Scottish National Party will try to form an administration over the coming days, most probably involving some kind of coalition, so that Alex Salmond MP MSP will become First Minister of the new Scottish Executive.

The composition of the new Scottish Parliament will be as follows:

- Scottish National Party - 47 (21 constituency, 26 regional)
- Scottish Labour Party - 46 (37 constituency, 9 regional)
- Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party - 17 (4 constituency, 13 regional)
- Scottish Liberal Democrats - 16 (11 constituency, 5 regional)
- Scottish Green Party - 2 (2 regional)
- Independent - 1 (1 regional)

Although the margin of success for the SNP is tiny it is nonetheless very significant - it is the first time Labour has been 'bested' in Scottish national politics in at least five decades and of course the result breaks their dominance of the ten year old Scottish Parliament. And who can be unhappy about that? The fact that breaking free of the stultifying hold over Scottish politics of the Labour Party has been bought at the price of SNP success is not, of course, something I am happy about and I suspect that the knife-edge result will itself result in considerable tensions over the coming four years, even if (one supposes) the SNP will, if it succeeds in forming a Scottish Executive, be determined to demonstrate to the Scottish electorate that it is capable of running a competent, honest government. This in order to gather support for its 'separatist' agenda should it put a referendum for 'independence' to a vote in a few years time.

The other major feature is the concentration of seats amongst the major political parties, with the 'fringe' parties having suffered significant reverses; Scottish politics is likely to be less colourful as a result, if not less controversial. My impression is that the old 'saw' (and curse) May you live in interesting times may, unfortunately, be more than a little appropriate.

Scottish Parliament representatives from my area

I wrote this morning about the local constituency 'First Past the Post' result here, but I am repeating the details together with the results for the Highlands and Island Region 'List' elections:

Inverness East Nairn & Lochaber
Ewing, Fergus Stewart (Scottish National Party - SNP)
- 16,443 votes (41.5 per cent, Turnout 55.3 per cent)
(full details here and here)

Highlands and Islands Region
- Scottish Labour Party - 3 (Peacock, Peter James / Grant, Rhoda / Stewart, David John)
- Scottish National Party ["Alex Salmond For First Minister"] - 2 (Gibson, Robert McKay / Thompson, David George)
- Scottish Conservative and Unionist - 2 (Scanlon, Mary Elizabeth / McGrigor, James Angus Roderick Neil)
(full details here and here)

Shambles of Scottish elections to get full independent review

I awake to the news that not a lot significant has happened since I finally turned out my bedroom light at around 4.45am. However the fall-out from the electoral shambles in the Scottish elections (Parliament and Local) is now beginning as it becomes ever more clear how big the problems are and the huge implications that having to disallow 100,000 or so votes will have in a small country like Scotland.

The Scotland Office is saying there will be a full independent review by the Electoral Commission to try and get to the root of why the whole procedure went wrong.

Here are a few clues to help them:
- holding the Local elections on the same day as the Scottish Parliament elections when coupled with a major change in the voting system for the Local elections to a form of proportional representation (STV - Single Transferrable Vote). I hope people will recall it was the Liberal Democrats who were particularly in favour of having a proportional system!
- the postal voting system seems to have been a shambles. Although I got my voting pack timeously I understand many did not. The postal voting system itself has changed in that no witness signature was required this time, simply a signature from the voter with dire threats about the consequences of voting fraud, although how effective these threats and the checks used to back them up are, is unclear.
- the introduction of automated vote counting suffered software glitches and several counts were halted until the morning while technicians were to work on to try and sort the mess out.

Althugh a lot of the Scottish results are not yet known, one pleasant result (in one way) is that Tommy Sheridan is out! His new Solidarity vehicle failed to win a list seat in Glasgow, with the SNP taking four seats. The Sheridan result is sad in another way, however, because his absence from the Scottish Parliament will certainly make it a duller place altogether; even if I agreed with not one iota of his political viewpoints he certainly added to the 'gaiety of the nation'.

As I write the BBC Scotland election website is showing that only 74 out of 129 seats are declared. The movements so far: Labour -7, SNP +12, LibDems -1, Conservative +1, Others -5.

For the Local elections only 12 of the 32 councils have declared. No results declared in the Local elections for Highland yet.

In my own constituency the SNP's Fergus Ewing has held Inverness East, Nairn & Lochaber, taking 41.5 per cent of the vote on a 55.3 per cent turnout and a majority of 5,471. Although the SNP increased its vote by 10.6 per cent, the LibDems were up by 11.5 per cent, resulting in an overall swing from the SNP to the LibDems of 0.5 per cent.

Bill blogs the election

Friday 03.56 - OK, no more procrastination, I'm off to bed. See you all sometime (much) later this morning.

Friday 03.45 - OK Bill is definitely off to bed now! However, before I go Nicola Sturgeon gains Glasgow Govan for the SNP from Labour! Majority 744. For those nighthawks amongst you may I suggest you give Mr Eugenides, doctorvee and inquisitor a visit - they and some others seem still to be blogging. Oh, before I go, the LibDems have taken Dunfermline West from Labour.

Friday 03.38 - Bill is off to bed. However, before I go I give the latest overall positions as shown at present on the BBC Election pages:
- Scotland: Labour -3, SNP +4, LibDem -1 (23 of 129 seats declared)
- England: (Council elections) Conservative +201, Labour -131, LibDem -43, Others -27
(110 of 312 councils declared)
- Wales: Labour -2, Plaid +1, Others +1 (21 of 60 seats declared)

Friday 03.35 - I hear they are going to stop the count at one count (Bishopbriggs) and start again tomorrow. It is being said there will be 100,000 spoiled votes across Scotland - this new local government voting system has simply been a shambles.

Friday 03.29 - Stirling - SNP gain from Labour. 9.4 per cent swing from Labour.

Friday 03.21 - Amusing comments at Tartan Hero about the reaction by the BNP person to what the Labour victor at Glasgow Anniesland was saying when he switched from criticising the heckling from SNP (or Solidarity?) supporters to voicing his view of the need to support asylum seekers. Priceless!

Friday 03.14 - Fergus Ewing (Inverness East, Nairn & Lochaber) being interviewed at the Inverness count about Alex Salmond's win in Gordon. Is criticising the postal vote shambles. Although I got my postal vote quite normally it seems that many others did not, right across Scotland. One wonders whether it will have a material effect on the result, if it turns out to be close.

Friday 03.04 - Gordon - Alex Salmond wins seat! He's now doing his 'statesman' speech - ugh! To be fair to him, though, he is being very gracious in his comments. Is criticising the STV voting in local elections; I agree with him! Also the completely inadequate postal voting mechanisms; again I agree! Turnout 54 per cent. Majority 2,062. Salmond has unquesitonably increased his profile with this result. Unionists like me must tremble; he is now more likely to be able to push through his separatist agenda.

Friday 02.56 - Fife Central - Idiot (*) BBC anchor insisted on speaking over the results announcement with some stupid, pointless, discussion about Gordon and Salmond! Idiot!! I don't swear in this blog, but I'd have used a different word otherwise. SNP gain from Labour. Turnout 46.3. SNP +14 per cent, Labour -2 per cent. (*) - Actually this anchor is usually quite good, but he has obviously got carried away with getting to anchor a major programme, probably for the first time

Friday 02.45 - Reactionary Snob highlights the rowdy behaviour amongst the Glasgow 'neds' of Baillieston; I watched the good lady giving her acceptance speech for Labour; I would imagine she could wield a broken bottle handily (is this libellous?) so I wouldn't like to meet her in a dark alley - lol.

Friday 02.38 - Dumfries - Labour hold. Conservative Murray Tosh fails in his bid for an FPTP seat (and it is unlikely he will get a List seat either as he is 4th on their list) - their share has actually gone down! SNP up 7 per cent.

Friday 02.36 - My view since I returned home from Spain a couple of weeks ago is that the 'hype' for the SNP was much exaggerated; this seems to be being borne out. I don't think they are going to have a landslide tonight; Labour are probably safe(-ish).

Friday 02.33 - Cumbernauld, Kilsyth and Kirkintilloch - Labour hold. Turnout 53.6 per cent. Labour have done well to hold on to this one.

Friday 02.30 - Glasgow Baillieston - Turnout 43.1 per cent. Labour hold.

Friday 02.26 - Talking heads on the Beeb say Alex Salmond is believed to have won Gordon; no official declaration yet; this seems to be confounding other parties' soundings, so perhaps it is quite a close-run thing. It will certainly increase Salmond's personal prestige and credibility if the SNP does do similarly well overall tonight.

Friday 02.12 - Wales - first results declared - Labour hold Islwyn with a reduced majority, swing to an Independent. In Blaenau Gwent Labour lose to an Independent with a swing of 46.5 per cent!!

Friday 02.07 - SNP hold Dundee East. Turnout 49.9 per cent. Majority 4,524. SNP +10 per cent, Labour -7 per cent.

Friday 02.06 - SNP hold Moray easily.

Friday 02.03 - English locals - BBC is reporting 72 Councils (out of 312) declared.
So far Conservatives +86, Labour -37, LibDems -28, Others -21.

Friday 01.52 - Airdrie and Shotts - Labour hold. Turnout 49.77 per cent. Majority 1,446 - Labour down 13 per cent, SNP up 17 per cent! Still no upsets, but perhaps this may start to have an effect when the List results come through.

Friday 01.46 - East Kilbride - votes having to be rescanned. Same nonsense in Fife, where the screens have gone blank - I had that problem tonight myself, or at least one of the external hosting systems on which my blog depends (blogrolling.com) was down for a while, but thankfuly has come back to life.

Friday 01.42 - Glasgow Anniesland - Labour hold. Turnout 45.8 per cent. Majority 4,306. Labour up 2 per cent; SNP up 10 per cent!

Friday 01.27 - no results yet from Wales. Perhaps our Welsh friends are more pre-occupied with their sheep than counting the votes? (Will this earn me a slap on the wrists for impugning the good name of the leek-eaters?)

Friday 01.24 - On a much more important topic than the election I must report that the bottle of Chapel Down English 'sparkling wine' (aka 'champagne') which I opened about an hour ago, to follow on from the bottle of Prosecco I polished off throughout the evening, is drinking very well; it has a really nice dry biscuity, toasty flavour with quite a long finish.

Friday 01.13 - Dundee West - SNP gain from Labour. They're now discussing on the Beeb the risk that Alex Salmond may suffer in the List if there are too many SNP constituency MSPs in his region - sweet irony - Gordon requires a swing of 7+ per cent from the LibDems for him to win it.

Friday 01.02 - Glasgow Kelvin - results in - very low turnout 42.7 per cent. Labour hold (majority 1,207) against SNP. Labour down 2.2 per cent, SNP up 7.6 per cent. Absence of SSP may have helped Labour, or at least slightly disadvantaged the SNP - the Greens did pretty well there, too.

Friday 00.59 - I've just popped the nifty code about who is 'blogging tonite' (a bit like 'chicken tonite' I suppose) kindly supplied by doctorvee.

Friday 00.41 - Mr Eugenides keeps up a lively and pithy running commentary, only slightly laced with profanity.

Friday 00.38 - Motherwell & Wishaw - SNP votes up 7 per cent, Labour down 6.6 per cent. Could be significant later in the night in other areas, specially as this is such a strong Labour area.

Friday 00.31 - Motherwell & Wishaw declared - Jack McConnell 12,574 - re-elected - healthy majority (5,938). No surprise there really. 48.5 per cent turnout - pretty low.

Friday 00.28 - First Scottish declaration - Wishaw - Jack McConnell seems to be happy - baited breath...

Friday 00.24 - English locals - I'm not going to post further info. about these until at least 2am - the best updates seem to be on Sky News bottom-of-screen results tables - BBC News24 seems much less timely. Hopefully by then we will also have had at least SOME of the Scottish declaration!

Friday 00.16 - Edinburgh - torn ballots - being stuck - together with sellotape!! How did this happen? Sabotage? Just an 'accident'? (Some 'hunky' looking counting staff - gotta introduce a more important aspect to this whole boring phase of the evening - lol!)

Friday 00.14 - English locals - LD hold West Lindsey - Conservstives hold Broxbourne.

Friday 00.06 - English locals - Conservatives hold Tamworth and Brentwood.

Friday 00.04 - three arrested in Peterborough near a polling station for electoral offences, thought to relate to the theft of polling cards.

11.59pm English locals - Kingston upon Hull - LD 30 - Labour 20 - Conservatives 2 - Others 7.

11.52pm I've just seem Jack McConnell walking into his count - presumably the result there will be out soon.

What a jerk Tommy Sheridan is - and why is he wearing a bizarrely defaced sunflower? I've had to soften the screen to prevent sunburn from the orange glow.