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Well i think the SNP have become resigned to losing a Referendum on Independence. And that their main goal in the next 4 years will be to get more powers from Westminster for the Assembly. I think the people of Scotland see this and although Labour are suffering for their years in power, and their handling of the Economy. I think a lot of voters in Scotland see Scottish Labour just bowing to Westminster. And that's something you certainly can't say of Salmond!

Perhaps if the Referendum takes place and comes back a No. Those down South who are unhappy of the powers the Assembly gets or that we get our hands on a share of the UK Financial pot, could campaign for a Referendum or start a party to campaign to get us removed from the 'Union' i'm sure Kelvin Mackenzie would like nothing better!

I don't doubt it, but isn't that his job after all?

That's some electoral victory that Salmond got. First the Scottish Labour party leader resigned, then the Scottish Lib Dem leader. Now the Tory leader has thrown in the towel.

One party state for King Alex?

Cheers
D

It certainly is his job, but like I said, some MPs would have found his gripes trivial and done fuckall.
BTW how many of your Scottish friends have actually met him ?

Well apparantly Anabel Goldie, the Scottish Conservative Party leader wanted to stay on as leader. But the parties main backer said he would withdraw all funding and campaign money if she stayed on!!! So obviously she had to go.

I think it is a fantastic win for Alex. He will be able to get a lot of what he wants to do, done now. With very little hassle and with all the parties infighting & looking after their own parties, their eye will be taken of the SNP!

The main problem the parties have i think is that a) The Lib Dems are a dead duck party up here. I don't think they had that much support to begin with & voters were put of by the Con-Dem coalition in Westminster!

b) The Conservative party does not have strong support in Scotland at all. And it will never recover from Thatcherite policies, especially in relation to Scotland. There is actually a deep 'hatred' for Margaret Thatcher up here. And i use the word 'hatred' at its strongest. A lot of people up here, make that the majority will never forgive her. And the Conservative Party bears the full brunt of that. There will never be a strong Conservative vote in Scotland

c) Labour don't seem to have a Charismatic person to take over the party! And at least compete with Salmond on a national level. True Politics shouldn't be a personality contest. But in many ways it is. And the party is as dull as dishwater! They also need a total rethink of how they go about rebuilding themselves. I also think this is true for the Labour Party throughout the UK. A lot of work has to be done to mend fences & make the party popular again with the electorate.

Though the biggest problem for the SNP remains translating votes for the Scottish Assembly to votes in the UK Election for seats in Westminster. In this regard Labour is still stronger. And Salmond will have to think about how to go about changing this. I can't speak for the whole of Scotland, but where i'm from the mindset of people seems to be when asked - "Why did you vote Labour?" seems to be "Well my Father voted Labour, My Grandfather voted Labour" But "You, why did you vote them this election? What policies of there's did you like? What in their manifesto did you agree with?" "Well i don't really know, but i trust Labour, my Father voted them, we've just always voted for them!" A lot of people just vote for them because that seems like the natural thing. Salmond has to reach out to these voters and underline to them, just what it is the SNP stand for & why they need their vote!

I agree with most of this.

In many ways the North of England is similar to Scotland in that:

1. We wouldnt piss on Clegg if he was on fire.

2. When Thatcher's death is announced there could well be an outbreak of dancing in the streets. We remember as Scots do the decimation of heavy industry under the Tories.

With regard to the Labour party I think it has always been viewed as "go south young man, if you want to get on". Miliiband is having an extensive policy review which he needs to get a wriggle on with. He should differentiate himself from New labour. There has been some encouraging noises that I have heard from him about a living wage, rowing back on some of the workers' flexibility bit, Tescoisation of the land etc etc. He needs to turn this stuff into practical policies sharpish.

Cheers
D