Analysis
The Lothians is one of the regions where the SNP failed to gain a single list seat in 2016
Result in 2016:
SNP 6 seats (6 constituency, 0 list), Conservatives 4 seats (1 constituency, 3 list), Labour 3 seats (1 constituency, 2 list), Greens 2 seats (0 constituency, 2 list), Liberal Democrats 1 seat (1 constituency, 0 list) NOT only is Lothian one of the regions in which the SNP failed to take a list seat in 2016, it’s also the only one of the eight regions in Scotland in which they failed to take a list seat when they won an overall majority in 2011. It’s therefore often cited as the region in which the case for “both votes SNP” is most dubious.
IAIN Gray delivered his final speech in the Scottish Parliament as East Lothian’s MSP on Thursday. He was speaking at Holyrood during the stage three debate on the Redress for Survivors (Historical Child Abuse in Care) (Scotland) Bill. Mr Gray, who is retiring as an MSP in May, expressed his support for the bill, adding that he was glad his last speech was “righting a wrong of the past”. He went on to reflect on some of the main achievements of Parliament during his 14 years as East Lothian’s MSP and the four years he previously served in an Edinburgh constituency as one of the original intake of MSPs in 1999.
According to that organisation, 540,000 pro-union Scots would consider tactical voting. But Dr Alistair Clark of Newcastle University, a specialist in voting behaviour and electoral systems, says such initiatives are seldom successful at the ballot box. “I can see what they’re trying to do with this, but it’s going to be a very hard thing for them to pull off,” he told the Sunday National. “Tactical voting is a very difficult thing to pull off because you have to assume that voters are paying attention to the instructions you are giving out. People who are interested in politics like to think voters are pouring over every detail of what’s going on in their campaign. The reality is very far from that.
Updated: January 30, 2021, 10:06 am
Iain Gray.
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The 2014 independence referendum has left the parliament in a “more fractious place”, according to former Scottish Labour leader Iain Gray.
Ahead of this year’s Holyrood election, a dozen MSPs elected to the Scottish Parliament in 1999 have announced they will stand down, marking the end of an era for some high-profile parliamentarians.
Iain Gray, who served as leader of Scottish Labour between 2008 and 2011, and is a member of the so-called 1999 club, believes the “tone” of the parliament has changed over the last two decades.