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Abieuan · Posted: Sat Dec 24, 2005 9:23 pm Post subject: Register4independence

Who are these people?

Nithsdale Nat · Posted: Sun Dec 25, 2005 1:11 am Post subject:

I'm sorry but how on Earth do you argue the nationalist cause from a Unionist body (given that 4IM covers the Welsh, the English and the Scots!)

We have to get real, the SNP are the only show in town - nationalist vote splitting cost us my seat in 2003 and now it is going to be almost impossible to win it back.

We have to stop messing about with multi-party party organisations and get back to reality - and that reality is the SNP.

Rinty · Posted: Sun Dec 25, 2005 9:20 pm Post subject: upper

If the SNP had won the Galloway and Nithsdale seat it would NOT have led to more seats in the parliament for the SNP. The tories got more regional votes than the SNP but only got 2 list members as they had already one an FPTP seat (your one). If the SNP had won the FPTP seat then they would have lost one of their list members, whoever was third on the list (Alisdair Morgan I believe).

Alisdair was the candidate who lost your constituency seat and as a result of that loss he ended up elected from the list meaning that you have one SNP member in your immediate area. The result in your constituency made no difference to the SNPs representaion in parliament or in Nithsdale so I dont get your point at all.

But, in the spirit of debate, lets look at your claim that the result was due to a split in the nationalist vote:

1999 - SNP 13,873 Tories 10,672, Labour 7209 Lib Dems 3502

2003 - Tories 11,332 SNP 11,223 Labour 4299 Libdems 1800 SSP 709.

The SNP vote fell by over two and a half thousand votes. The only other party who advocate independence only polled 700. Wasn't it the fact that the SNP lost voters across the board in 2003 that lost the seat rather than the other parties or a split between nationalist parties? The SSP are not even a nationalist party so therefore there was no split. In any SSP vote their are voters who are not necessarily nationalist and who are voting for an independnet socialist scotland. It would be wrong to assume that all of these people would vote for the SNPs vision of a low-business tax EU/privatised economy.

Given that Labour and Lib Dems fell by nearly five thousand we can assume that a significant amount of the SSPs vote came from anti-war Labour voters, especially in the ex mining nithsdale part of the constituency. Some (as I know from campaigning in the neighbouring constituency) SSP votes come from people who gave up voting years before or who never bothered before.

Would the leadership of Swinney had anything to do with the poor turn out of SNP voters. Was it the candidate?

Are you saying that 700 SNP voters changed to the SSP and that the other 1800 who voted SNP in 1999 and didnt in 2003 did so because of a split in nationalism? Are you saying that a fall in your vote after representing the constituency for 4 years is not indicative of how the lectorate view Alisdair Morgan?

In my constituency which borders yours the SNP vote fell from 10,864 in 1999 to 5822 in 2003, even though the SSP only polled 1700 votes. In Cumnock the tory vote went up to 9,000 from 8,000, a similar rise to your own constituency.

In the constituency to the south of you, Dumfries, the SNP vote was under 4,000 in 2003 down from 7,600 in 1999 yet the SSP only had 1200 votes in Dumfries! The tories again went up by more than a thousand.

If the SNP is the only show in town why is their vote going down while the independence vote stays the same? They perhaps were the only show a wee while ago but not any more and if they really are motivated by the desire for independence rather than the desire for power for their party, they will adjust accordingly.

BTW, I totally agree about 4IM, what a waste of time. Who are these guys?

sandmountainslim · Posted: Thu Dec 29, 2005 4:17 am Post subject:

And on top of that they support the Saxe-Coburg-Gotha-Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg-Battenberg gang or a member thereof to be your "Head of State", Scotland needs nothing of the sort! Sounds like a Unionist front group to me.
Deo Vindice
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Aventinian · Posted: Fri Dec 30, 2005 9:04 pm Post subject:

I do find it rather ironic: a unified separatist group...

I wonder what their criteria for membership is... after all, membership by the Kingdom of Fife Independence Party would rather contradict membership by the SNP supporters. In fact, doesn't supporting both English and Cornish nationalism contradict? I'd love to see how they'd handle the Ulster situation...

Abieuan · Posted: Sat Dec 31, 2005 2:01 am Post subject:

Aventinian wrote: