Scottish Parliament Election - Sociology - Lecture Slides, Slides of Sociology

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2011 Scottish Parliament

Election

Election Result

• SNP wins 53 out of 73

constituencies and 16

regional seats…

• A majority of constituencies

in every region, except

south of Scotland

• Clean sweep of North East

and still won a regional seat

• By far the highest share of

the vote & seats of any

winning party in a devolved

election

Why?

• First class SNP campaign

• presentation, issues, leadership, organisation, new media

• Collapse of Liberal Democrats vote

• Wholesale shift to SNP?
• Second-order effects
• Weak party identification

• Labour overall vote share down by only 0.5% on

constituency vote and 2.9% on regional vote

• But this masks significant variation & failure to capitalise on Lib Dem

weakness

• Leadership problem in Scotland and change in nature of UK party
• Poor campaign, wrong overall strategy and no 2 nd

vote strategy

No ‘second order’ bounce for Labour

What might we expect in parliament?

• Early introduction of minimum pricing for alcohol, but few other legislative pledges
• Reform of structure of public services, but no significant change to universal provision
• New localism agenda? Community empowerment discourse
• Reform of higher education
• Continuity in business/economic policy – Small Business Bonus; Scottish Futures Trust; drive toward renewables
• Independence referendum

Implications for Relations with UK Govt

• No debate now about who speaks for Scotland
• More use of JMC?
• Continuity in nature of IGR, but possible shift in power balance
• Strengthening the Scotland Bill is a priority:
  • Control over Crown Estates
  • Enhanced borrowing powers
  • Control over corporation tax
• Independence referendum a means of winning concessions