As stated in the previous post, there’s a complete contradiction between today’s new Scottish Parliament polls, with one showing the pro-indy camp surging to a huge majority and the SNP also winning a single-party majority, and with the other showing the SNP falling short of a majority and the pro-indy majority looking a bit too tight for comfort. I have no idea which of the two is more accurate, but in this sort of situation it’s always wise to assume the worst and act accordingly. That means no mucking around on the constituency ballot. Voting for Green constituency candidates, or for Bonnie Prince Bob in Edinburgh Central, or even abstaining as a protest against GRA reform or the Hate Crime Bill, is a luxury we simply cannot afford at the moment. If the wheels truly come off and we lose the pro-indy majority, it’ll be on the constituency ballot that the real damage is done. We must ensure that doesn’t happen, and that means voting for SNP constituency candidates across the board.
There are quite a few independence supporters on social media who seem to actively want Angus Robertson to lose in Edinburgh Central, even though that probably means losing to the Tories. I was half-tempted to run a Twitter poll asking people whether they would prefer to have Robertson losing or an independent Scotland. That would have lacked subtlety but it may turn out to be the nature of the choice.
As for the special case of Glasgow Kelvin where the Greens start from second place: even there, it’s not impossible to imagine the pro-indy vote splitting in a way that allows a unionist candidate (ie. Labour) to come through the middle and win. It’s just not worth the risk. Even in Glasgow Kelvin, the SNP are the safe option.
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You can catch-up with Episode 6 of the Scot Goes Popcast, in which I speak to Alba Party leader Alex Salmond, HERE (with video) or HERE (audio only). And if you find Scot Goes Pop’s coverage of polls helpful and would like it to continue, I’m currently running a fundraiser HERE.
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