To show how much of a shock the SNP's Fife gains are, this is from my local paper's, The Courier, live coverage: [Fife didn't begin counting until 8am]

 

10.51 Just a quick update: it's all gone a bit quiet on the home front as we wait for news from the delayed Fife counts. We have people there and will bring you news when we get it. ETA early afternoon. Those results should also bring some small comfort to those of you fed up hearing of SNP wins. The SNP can't find as much success in Fife, can they? Can they? Can they...?

 

13.33 That "The SNP can't find as much success in Fife, can they?" thing we said? Forget it. They've just taken Fife North East from the Liberal Democrats. In a notional Lib Dem-to-SNP swing of over 15%, the Nationalists' Rod Campbell beats Iain Smith. The SNP came third here in the equivalent battle in 2007. File this under 'shock'.

 

14.02 And more from Dunfermline. It's another horror story for the Liberal Democrats, as they fall to third after winning the equivalent seat in 2007. A blow also for Labour, for whom this was a big target. The SNP's Bill Walker wins with a majority of 630 over Labour's Alex Rowley, with the Lib Dems' Jim Tolson third. There's a swing of over 13% from Lib Dem to SNP.

 

14.17 Kirkcaldy goes to the SNP! This is Gordon Brown's backyard. "One of the safest seats in Scotland, it would be a major shock if anyone but Labour won in Kirkcaldy." That's what we said ahead of voting day. Details soon.

Phil, you'd have been on the verge of suicide had this happened a few months ago!

Labour have missed a majority in Wales by one seat.

Several councils seem to have gone Tory as a result of Lib Dem voters switching to Labour thus handing Tories extra seats on a plate. How long before those same people start complaining about their Tory council?

Several councils seem to have gone Tory as a result of Lib Dem voters switching to Labour thus handing Tories extra seats on a plate. How long before those same people start complaining about their Tory council?

 

Labour voters no longer see any difference between the Tories and Lib Dems. And that's going to mean carnage for them in the south, given they've relied on Labour tactical voters to win seats there (not to mention they've been annihalated in the north).

I have a feeling the SNP's success may end up backfiring on them, assuming any independence referendum is unwinnable. Either Salmond will bottle out of holding a referendum atall, which would make him look foolish seeing as he now has the votes to make it happen; or they'll hold the referendum and independence will in all likelihood be rejected, meaning the party will lose their raison d'etre.

Phil, you'd have been on the verge of suicide had this happened a few months ago!

 

I'm still in a state of complete disbelief that the SNP took my seat. The SNP should get 2 list seats, hopefully Ian Smith will take a list seat for Mid-Scotland and Fife given that Fife NE is one of the closest places they came to getting a seat on the mainland.

 

I have a feeling the SNP's success may end up backfiring on them, assuming any independence referendum is unwinnable. Either Salmond will bottle out of holding a referendum atall, which would make him look foolish seeing as he now has the votes to make it happen; or they'll hold the referendum and independence will in all likelihood be rejected, meaning the party will lose their raison d'etre.

Another couple of years of budget cuts at Westminster, continued tory led government and continued hardship for the UK will feed into Salmonds hands.

 

Holding the Referendum in 2014 when Scottish national pride is at it's highest after the Commie games, Ryder cup amongst others could actually give them a victory.

 

If they get a No vote, they won't give up. The only way they lose their raison d'etre is if they win.

Labour voters no longer see any difference between the Tories and Lib Dems. And that's going to mean carnage for them in the south, given they've relied on Labour tactical voters to win seats there (not to mention they've been annihalated in the north).

They'll soon find out the difference to their cost.

I'm still in a state of complete disbelief that the SNP took my seat. The SNP should get 2 list seats, hopefully Ian Smith will take a list seat for Mid-Scotland and Fife given that Fife NE is one of the closest places they came to getting a seat on the mainland.

Another couple of years of budget cuts at Westminster, continued tory led government and continued hardship for the UK will feed into Salmonds hands.

 

Holding the Referendum in 2014 when Scottish national pride is at it's highest after the Commie games, Ryder cup amongst others could actually give them a victory.

 

If they get a No vote, they won't give up. The only way they lose their raison d'etre is if they win.

Any referendum held by the SNP can only be advisory. Only Westminster can instigate a binding referendum.

They'll soon find out the difference to their cost.

 

Even if Lib Dem councillors are different to Tory councillors (and there's little evidence of that in Birmingham, where the Lib Dems have stuck with the Tories for 7 years despite Labour usually having the most seats), they only have their Westminster MPs to blame, who have done a pathetic job of reining in the Tories - only ONE Lib Dem MP voted against the NHS reforms until the party's grassroots went nuts.

FRIGGING FUMING, Labour was so close to a majority in Wales. They are overwhelmingly supported throughout Wales, it's a shame :(

They'll soon find out the difference to their cost.

 

Yep, will enjoy saying "I told you so" later.

Any referendum held by the SNP can only be advisory. Only Westminster can instigate a binding referendum.

 

Yep, but I don't think the Tories would mind losing Scotland in an electoral sense at least - it'd do wonders for their standing in England as they'd be saying goodbye to a lot of Labour MPs.

Yep, but I don't think the Tories would mind losing Scotland in an electoral sense at least - it'd do wonders for their standing in England as they'd be saying goodbye to a lot of Labour MPs.

Yes! The only reason they didn't completely go to hell at Westminster was because they returned a large number of Scottish Seats. Scotland is home to like half of the LibDem seats as well. It's the worst performing region of the country for the Tories. PLUS if it returns a Yes vote there isn't much that can stop the SNP. Refusing to acknowledge the results of the referendum on Scottish Independence would be a national PR disaster for the Conservatives and would probably see close to 30 if not 40 SNP MPs at the next election

Yes! The only reason they didn't completely go to hell at Westminster was because they returned a large number of Scottish Seats. Scotland is home to like half of the LibDem seats as well. It's the worst performing region of the country for the Tories. PLUS if it returns a Yes vote there isn't much that can stop the SNP. Refusing to acknowledge the results of the referendum on Scottish Independence would be a national PR disaster for the Conservatives and would probably see close to 30 if not 40 SNP MPs at the next election

No it isn't. The Lib Dems have 11 MPs in Scotland out of a total of 57.

Scottish independence certainly would mean Conservative domination of what would remain of the UK. But I still just don't see it happening. I think the economic struggles of pretty much every small European economy atm will put most Scots off.

Labour vote in Scotland down 0.5%

 

No it isn't. The Lib Dems have 11 MPs in Scotland out of a total of 57.

I said like. It was a pure guess :lol: But they are in for a thrashing down south, I think they may cling onto a couple of Seats in Scotland.

 

 

Scottish independence certainly would mean Conservative domination of what would remain of the UK. But I still just don't see it happening. I think the economic struggles of pretty much every small European economy atm will put most Scots off.

I don't believe Scotland can survive financially without Westminster. That could change if Scotland seized it's oil assets and gets money from England for all of the oil money Thatcher and her successors stole.

In Northern Ireland, we haven't even had the first counts in any of the constituencies yet for the Assembly. They're very lackadaisical here, you should see the journalists in the studio trying to fill up time with nothing of interest coming in.

 

Our council ballots won't be counted until Monday, so we won't find out until then who gets the council seats.

Can I ask something potentially quite stupid? How is it that the SNP managed such a landslide but supposedly only about 40% of Scotland are actually for independence? I'm now familiar with their policies at all but the impression I got was always that it was their main priority.

Labour vote in Scotland down 0.5%

 

I said like. It was a pure guess :lol: But they are in for a thrashing down south, I think they may cling onto a couple of Seats in Scotland.

I don't believe Scotland can survive financially without Westminster. That could change if Scotland seized it's oil assets and gets money from England for all of the oil money Thatcher and her successors stole.

A lot of the results in Lib Dem seats in southern England are OK or even good. Results in northern England are largely bad. It mostly depends on whether they were originally gained from Labour or the Tories.

 

Even in the north the results are patchy for the Lib Dems. In the cities they are awful. In the more rural areas they are a lot better with seats gained in some places.