Well Willie Bain has been elected as MP, which is a fantastic result, especially the size of his victory. Reassured as well that the BNP were pushed back to 4th, albeit it only just. Still, a worrying situation and the parties must not be complacent.
Planning to be back to blogging now, so will put up my thoughts about the results when I'm less tired.
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The morning read for Friday, Dec. 20
1 day ago
4 comments:
Voter turnout, at 33.2%, was a record low for a Scottish by-election.
A truly shocking statistic made even worse by the state of this particular constituency and the poverty of ambition that resides there. the lack of aspiration, an acceptance of their lot and the willingness to continue to vote for a party that has failed the area so miserably is an affront to those that have fought & died to give us these freedoms.
The inability to imagine change, to envision real improvement and that this area can really improve has been shown to be completely missing from Glasgow North East and must surely be a matter of concern for all political parties and in particular the Labour Party who have represented these people for so long.
Will anything change, I doubt it.
It will take big ideas to change Springburn and no party offered that change during this campaign, no-one other than Tommy Sheridan offered an alternative vision to the failure of the last twenty five years and yet the voters flatly rejected that vision in favour for a campaing run negatively with no real policy content.
NB It would be interesting to see the demographic of those that voted, Glasgow City Council reported over 6000 registered postal votes, which accounts for 30% of votes cast, surely some kind of record in there too.
Equally chilling is the revelation that over 4000 extra voters have been added to the electoral register in the last month, accounting for 25% of those that voted.
Oh Wardog, I have missed the optimism that you bring to the table.
It is a shame that because the people of Glasgow NE don't jump onto the good ship Nationalism we must be suffering from poverty of ambition. It's another example of the mindset SNP voters=clever, other voters=stupid which is starting to become a bit wearing.
Glasgow NE suffers some terrible social problems, its true, but there are also massive changes taking place which local people are able to appreciate. Maybe, just maybe, the ringing endorsement of the Labour candidate wasn't "an affront to those that have fought and died" but a conscious choice on their behalf.
You talk about the turnout which was low, and is a worry for all parties. To put it in context however, the turn out for the 07Scottish Parliamentary elections in Springburn constituency (which covers much of the same area) was 37.5% - sadly this is an area where the disconnect from the voting process is deep rooted.
Candidate choice makes a huge difference to any campaign and William Bain was key to this. For all the sneering comments from the SNP he is a local person who lives in the constituency and who genuinely believes in the people here. That stands in strong contrast to the attitude peddled in the media, and regurgitated by you in your comments, that everyone in this area is a hopeless case. The SNP candidate seems a nice enough guy but lacked any sort of vision or empathy - is it a coincidence that the two lowest turnouts in Scottish by-election history have him present as a candidate both times? (I should clarify that of course it is just a coincidence, but I'm sure it's not a stat he likes having on his CV!).
The election was a huge success for Labour but to be honest the significance probably stops there. It doesn't signify the end of the SNP - you guys were never popular here anyway. It doesn't signify the resurgence of the Labour Party, although it certainly doesn't help.
But to dismiss the electorate of the area because they dared to not vote for your party merely reinforces the arrogance which the SNP leadership have worked so hard to try and eliminate.
[On a side note, good to be back blogging! Will head over to the Voices website, my apologies for my absence.]
Good to have you back NaVW
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