|
|
Topic Originator: LochgellyAlbert
Date: Mon 13 May 10:45
Any poll taken by the Scotsman must be taken with a pinch of salt, Labour picking their candidates from 500 miles down South is a sure vote winner!
|
|
|
|
|
|
Topic Originator: jake89
Date: Mon 13 May 12:28
I can explain it very easily.
Scotland traditionally voted Labour (from the late 50s onwards anyway). The SNP were voted for by many to deliver independence. They haven`t. So whilst the desire for independence remains pretty much 50/50, the question is "Labour or the SNP"?
I`m in a predicament about who to vote for. At the last election I think I voted Green but I`m not happy seeing so much focus on trans issues. This isn`t anything against the trans community, but I feel there are more pressing issues in Scotland currently (I appreciate that`s a bit selfish as the experiences of trans people in Scotland are often quite harrowing). The SNP could be good but then I`m not sure where they`re going. Labour are a party I`ve supported in the past but there`s an odd disconnect between the more socialist Scottish Labour and the perhaps more centre-right UK Labour. I don`t see how the two operate together.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Topic Originator: Parboiled
Date: Mon 13 May 12:34
The polls commissioned by The National and STV are the most reliable. According to them we should have been independent ten times over.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Topic Originator: LochgellyAlbert
Date: Mon 13 May 14:08
Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath labour candidate from London!🤔🤭🙈
|
|
|
|
|
|
Topic Originator: Tad Allagash
Date: Mon 13 May 15:26
LochgellyAlbert wrote:
> Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath labour candidate from
> London!🤔🤭🙈
Helensburgh I believe. Not exactly within the sound of bow bells!
|
|
|
|
|
|
Topic Originator: LochgellyAlbert
Date: Mon 13 May 15:43
Quote:
Tad Allagash, Mon 13 May 15:26
LochgellyAlbert wrote:
> Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath labour candidate from
> London!🤔🤭🙈
Helensburgh I believe. Not exactly within the sound of bow bells!
Not according to the press release, "based in London " is the quote!
|
|
|
|
|
|
Topic Originator: jake89
Date: Mon 13 May 16:09
Round the doors in the Lang Toun reading from a card that reads "Oh ya hoor sur, have ye sin the state eh the roads up in Temple-haw? If you gie me a vote ah will get them fixed eh. Ah ken a boy in the cooncil who will get it sort-it"
|
|
|
|
|
|
Topic Originator: wee eck
Date: Mon 13 May 16:43
It`s nothing new. Anti-royalist Willie Hamilton was the MP for Dunfermline and West Fife for years. He was from NE England.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Topic Originator: jake89
Date: Mon 13 May 16:55
Should all remember the infamous Jacob Rees-Mogg being chauffeur driven round Glenrothes and East Fife by his nanny..the story was he almost got decked in somewhere like Kennoway before Henry McCleish stepped in. McCleish got a letter of thanks from JRM`s daddy 😂
|
|
|
|
|
|
Topic Originator: Tad Allagash
Date: Mon 13 May 17:32
Have you guys not got Google?
Definitely not from London judging by her Scottish accent. Maybe living in London at this precise moment, but she’ll be living there if she wins anyway because that’s where the big Parliament is.
Yeah, I do remember answering the door to a young Jacob Rees-Mogg in ‘97. A tad over-dressed for Glenrothes was my first impression.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Topic Originator: jake89
Date: Mon 13 May 19:29
She sounds west coast to me. Used to be CEO for a Palestinian charity. That`ll be an interesting one.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Topic Originator: Tenruh
Date: Tue 14 May 08:55
Nobody knows who she is but she`ll get elected no problem.
Back to the days when it was said, put a red rosette on a monkey and it`ll get elected in Scotland.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Topic Originator: LochgellyAlbert
Date: Tue 14 May 11:14
I hear she was supposed to be the candidate for Beckenham, but lost out to Sue Grey`s son, ah well 2nd best!
The constituency Labour Party aren`t happy.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Topic Originator: jake89
Date: Tue 14 May 18:36
He IS aware these people will be expected to drop everything and relocate to near their seats if elected? They literally quit their day jobs with little to no notice and start as MPs or MSPs. Big upheaval but imagine having to uproot your family at a moments notice?
|
|
|
|
|
|
Topic Originator: Tad Allagash
Date: Tue 14 May 19:16
Why would they need to relocate to their seat if they’re elected and therefore spending the week in Westminster?
|
|
|
|
|
|
Topic Originator: McCaig`s Tower
Date: Tue 14 May 19:24
Don`t all parties operate more or less the same method of choosing candidates?
There is some sort of approved list; local parties get to select their candidate (there may be constraints on the short-list) and the central party occasionally interferes because the chosen candidate turns out to be unsuitable (particularly if the seat is thought to be winnable or if it is a by-election).
Then it`s down to the electorate to choose (and they tend not to be too bothered about residency, given the history of electing candidates from far afield). Some candidates will promise to locate if successful although this may only be partial, with the family remaining where they are.
You could design a system where the electorate could differentiate between candidates of the same party, for example by having multi-member seats.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Topic Originator: wee eck
Date: Tue 14 May 19:26
Won`t they need some kind of base in their constituencies, if only to conduct surgeries with the voters? It would be totally cynical if they spent all their time in London surely.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Topic Originator: Tad Allagash
Date: Tue 14 May 19:55
Summer holidays in KDY/Cowdenbeath is a big carrot to dangle!
Nominate the London pad as your second home and claim expenses on it. Quids in.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Topic Originator: McCaig`s Tower
Date: Wed 15 May 12:23
Perhaps I’m cynical too, but it wouldn’t surprise me if some MPs rarely held surgeries – if they did it would be easy enough to rent a meeting room and a hotel once a month. More likely is they would rent a small flat for constituency use.
I think Eric Joyce, erstwhile MP for Falkirk used to live on the south coast somewhere, which was one reason his expenses were so high. Mind you he spent so much time in prison cells it might have been more accurate to register “the nick” as his second home.
I think the late, lamented John Smith lived in Edinburgh, but presumably it wasn’t too hard to beetle through to Monklands for the odd constituency event.
I assume that some local parties are keen to have a “big name” represent them as they can bask in reflected glory, or believe an impressive party-backed candidate will give them more chance of winning.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Topic Originator: jake89
Date: Wed 15 May 22:24
But this is where it`s a bit disappointing. Maybe it`s a bit unreasonable, but I want someone representing Dunfermline who knows the place, knows what matters to residents and wants to make a difference. I`m sure it`s the same no matter where you live.
What does someone from the West of Scotland and living in England know about Kirkcaldy or Cowdenbeath? What pride do they have in a place they may never have even visited?
What this suggests is that classic line of "put a red rosette on a monkey/donkey/mannequin and it`ll get elected in Scotland".
|
|
|
|
|
|
Topic Originator: Tad Allagash
Date: Wed 15 May 23:25
The most famous non-local MP was Winston Churchill, who was the MP for Dundee for 14 years over a century ago. Were we less parochial then?
|
|
|
|
|
|
Topic Originator: Tenruh
Date: Thu 16 May 06:28
Quote:
Tad Allagash, Wed 15 May 23:25
The most famous non-local MP was Winston Churchill, who was the MP for Dundee for 14 years over a century ago. Were we less parochial then?
The days when Scotland was known as "NB"
|
|
|
|
|
|
Topic Originator: LochgellyAlbert
Date: Thu 16 May 14:04
Quote:
Tad Allagash, Wed 15 May 23:25
The most famous non-local MP was Winston Churchill, who was the MP for Dundee for 14 years over a century ago. Were we less parochial then?
And he seemingly did nothing for them!
|
|
|
|
|
|
Topic Originator: The One Who Knocks
Date: Thu 16 May 16:15
Keir Hardie, despite being Scottish, represented constituencies in Wales and London.
And although my eyes were open
They just might as well be closed
|
|
|
|
|
|
Topic Originator: Dave_1885
Date: Thu 16 May 17:53
Quote:
The One Who Knocks, Thu 16 May 16:15
Keir Hardie, despite being Scottish, represented constituencies in Wales and London.
Michael Gove was born and raised in Aberdeen and is the MP for Surrey Heath
|
|
|
|
|
|
Topic Originator: red-star-par
Date: Thu 16 May 17:54
Quote:
Dave_1885, Thu 16 May 17:53
Quote:
The One Who Knocks, Thu 16 May 16:15
Keir Hardie, despite being Scottish, represented constituencies in Wales and London.
Michael Gove was born and raised in Aberdeen and is the MP for Surrey Heath
And, I`d like to see him take a random workplace drug test
|
|
|
|
|
|
Topic Originator: wee eck
Date: Thu 16 May 18:10
There are quite a few Scots who represent English constituencies - Costa, Gove and Fox from the Tories, McFadden and Dodds from Labour come to mind. They probably reckoned they had more chance of being elected down there.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Topic Originator: LochgellyAlbert
Date: Thu 16 May 18:19
The question is where they live?
Whether they`re going to move to their selected constituency?
|
|
|
|
|
|
Topic Originator: DBP
Date: Thu 16 May 19:39
Exactly where they were born is one thing but where they have chosen to make their home is what’s important in this scenario
|
|
|
|
|
|
Topic Originator: McCaig`s Tower
Date: Wed 22 May 17:28
Jake – I would prefer a local candidate, and certainly a party with a local candidate will always try to capitalise on it, but I think in reality, it makes little difference (as does personality) as maybe 90% of people will vote for the party regardless of the quality of the candidate.
(And we’ll soon see how that plays out in practice)
I guess the arguments against are:
Many supposedly local issues are arguably national or universal;
Truly local issues are often best dealt with at council level;
For other issues, it’s often not a party political matter so MPs of any flavour will be equally as effective in arguing their case.
However, for some reason hospital closures seems to be the one local issue that focuses opinion – there are very few cases of independents or single issue candidates being elected in recent British Political history, but a couple of them seem to be related to hospital closures.
|
|
|
|
|
|
