Scottish Elections all over

Well, how about that? Seems like the new fangled multi-voting system was a bit too ambitious after all. And my clever tactical voting ensured that Edinburgh South escaped the clutches of New Labour, and the Greens are still represented in the Lothians (just). I'm pleased about the SNP victory in the polls, but I don't think they'll be able to force through an independence referendum unless they make some very crafty coalition negotiations.

Anyway, chances are I'll not be here whenever in the distant future such a vote takes place, so I won't spend too much time considering how an english person in scotland should approach the question.

Scottish election countdown (part deux)

Wow, that was good - 3 different ballot papers, each using a different electoral system. If the result is close, I expect some lengthy court battles will ensue over the confusion. As a committed tactical voter, I was delighted!

First-past-the post vote: This was the easy choice. As my constituency is a Lib-dem/Labour marginal, I was still in the mood for 'giving Blair a kicking' (particularly as I reluctantly voted Labour in 2005 to try and keep the Tories out of Lancaster)

Regional pseudo-proportional representation vote: So many parties to choose from! There were at least 15 or so, including such attractive propositions as the BNP (their usual Union flag replaced by a lovely stylised scottish thistle) and the Scottish Christian Party (with their leaflet rabbiting on about the promotion of 'abominations' in schools and what not). I was tempted to vote for the SNP merely to spite all the tabloid front pages that were urging me not to, but decided to prop up the Green Party which according to all the projections is likely to lose most of their seven MSPs. I don't agree with half of their policies, but I like to think that there is someone being paid to make the hardline arguments.

Local Council Single-Transferable-Vote: The most difficult part of all. The green candidate is a scientific researcher at the King's Buildings, so he went top of the list. But then I put the Tory candidate second on the sole basis that he proudly boasts in his mailout of being a member of SPOKES, the local cyclist's pressure group. But I still had 8 candidates to rank, and no sensible rationale for doing this. The BNP and the Scottish Christians hadn't bothered to enter a representative, so I had no need to vote just to put those guys last. So I just vaguely voted on national policies, but it was a bit random, and I can see that most voters will have a similar problem. How do you really decide if the Scottish Socialists are better or worse then Solidarity? Plus, I'd like to see how long it takes them to count all of these numbered ballots, and what computer routine they've written to help them.

So there it is. I think I've derived all the pleasure I can now from merely canvassing and voting in elections, so am definitely considering forming my own party for next time. Amongst so many, another weirdo in the mix can't hurt...