Would Snp Mps Elected On Thursday Be Less Legitimate Than An Others?

[sandyRoe]

There's talk that a Labour government supported by them wouldn't be acceptable to the Tories or their press baron supporters.

[jno]

it would be unusual to have such a big bloc of MPs from one region, but hardly unconstitutional or illegitimate. The voters' choice is the voters' choice.

[naomi24]

Do other parties have to accept it?

[Psybbo]

Oh Sandy, I wish it was all over, I'm so fed up with it now and our votes here don't really make a difference

[askyourgran]

That is something I cannot comprehend. Never before has so much interest been taken to the election from north of the border. Ok it is a UK Parliament and those elected take their seats. The sooner we have an English Parliament the better. I cannot conceive a more dreadful scenario of Miliband, wee Burney Sturgeon aided and abetted by Salmond-with-an-open-sporran standing by hoping to get even more money to take back to Scotland.

[ladybirder]

I'm in a marginal so quite excited and may stay up on Thursday/night/Friday.

[sandyRoe]

Psybbo, I'm voting for the Green candidate and in doing so saying 'A pox on both your houses', to the other greens and orange.

[Psybbo]

I'm with you there, Sandy

[jim360]

We should perhaps view the SNP surge, if it lasts unto the election proper, as something to welcome. If not in itself, then at least it's bound to force some serious changes one way or another.

[anneasquith]

the possible scenarios re the outcome of this election are fascinating.

[Ellipsis]

We should perhaps view the SNP surge, if it lasts unto the election proper, as something to welcome.

Let's consider why people vote SNP.

In 45% of the cases it's because the SNP stands for independence and that's what the voter believes in. On top of that, the SNP stands for getting the best for Scotland, which almost by definition means that the rest of the UK comes off worse - unless, somehow, providing the best for Scotland means that others in the rest of the UK get more too. Unlikely.

[Ellipsis]

Oops, submitted that early.

The last Labour government, which was only the Government before this one, had a Scottish PM and a Scottish Chancellor. The current PM's father, Ian Donald Cameron, was also Scottish. But somehow the SNP would have you believe that the Scottish voice is never listened to!

As to the SNP's legitimacy - 90% of the UK population do not even have the SNP on their ballot paper. For that 90%, having the SNP wield any kind of power over their Government would lack legitimacy.

[jim360]

Cut off my quote too early as well I think. I don't see the SNP as good for the UK, almost by definition. But if they do well in the election then people will have to consider the causes of their success, chief among which is the failure of labour and the tories to appeal to the Scottish voter -- and quite a few English voters for that matter. If this doesn't serve as a kick up the backside nothing will.

There's also the small matter of First Past the Post favouring the SNP massively because their votes are concentrated geographically compared with, say, UKIP or the Green party. Another wake-up call there. And plenty of people appear to have noticed.

All of which means that the success of the SNP may be good for our long-term future by forcing a change in political parties and political systems. In the short term it's not so good for them to have influence, but it is probably too late to stop that now.

[baza]

Time we had an English parliament, if only to stop the fishy duo, Sturgeon and Salmond.

[Gromit]

This is a UK election not an English one. In the past Scotland, Wales and NI have had to put up with a Conservative Government when very few (if any) MPs were elected there. The boot is on the other foot if the SNP do indeed get a lot of seats and that makes them Kingmakers.

Not sure why people are offended by a bloc of SNP MPs. In the past, Scottish Labour have had the majority of seats in Scotland and participated in Government. There seems to be an element of racism in the whole SNP cannot Govern legitimately position.

[Gromit]

Should read: *Conservative* MPs were elected there.

[Quizmonster]

Absolutely, Gromit! A voice of sanity at last. There is one Tory representing a Scottish Westminster constituency...ie, as often claimed, they're rarer than pandas north of the border! However, the Scots have often had to tolerate Conservative governments.
The minute it looks as if the shoe might be on the other foot, the question of "legitimacy" is exercising the English. There is no basis whatsoever for complaining about what looks to be one likely result of tomorrow's vote.
If a government is formed according to the voting and the laws of the land, then no one in England has any grounds for complaint, any more than the Scots had in 2010.

[Kromovaracun]

Scotland has had to put up with Tory governments? Not like the rest of the country, it hasn't. It has enjoyed extensive subsidy from London at a time when ideologically-driven and extremely destructive cuts are causing devastation in the rest of the country.

And even aside from that, Scotland represents about 4 million electors (if all of them vote). This is less than the number of eligible voters who are simply not registered (about 6 million).

So, yeah, forgive me if I am not crying a river for Scotland's suffering.

[mikey4444]

No Sandy...any candidate that wins a Westminster seat is just as legitimate as any other. End of story.

[Deskdiary]

"There seems to be an element of racism in the whole SNP cannot Govern legitimately position."

Racism?

There are three things wrong with that comment - the first, and most obvious, is that the vast vast majority of Scots are not of a different race.

The second is that you are confusing racism with a concern that less than 10% of the population could determine what happens in the UK.

The third is that the concern centres around the SNP - nothing to do with race.

[Deskdiary]

Where I've said UK - read England.