372 Responses to “Edinburgh South West”

1. A Cairns

   The tories managed to lose their Fountainbridge/Craiglockhart seat here to the greens which was astonishing (even though poster in windows evidence suggested the greens were doing well).

   They did offset it with a gain in Liberton/Gilmerton however.

   May 4th, 2012 at 5:05 pm
2. Joe James B

   I agree with Alistair Darling that the SNP has stalled in Scotland, and lost their stupendous momentum.

   Too much having their cake and eating it.

   May 25th, 2012 at 3:06 pm
3. A Cairns

   Apologies for the rant but I dislike Scottish Nationalism and Richard’s parochial english nationalism equally strongly and I am more of an internationalist in the mould of Hemmelig.

   (although thankfully the tories do have some sensible MPs such as Ben Wallace who I do have time for).

   I personally expect the referendum to lose by 61-39.

   September 10th, 2012 at 3:20 pm
4. H.Hemmelig

   I respect and agree with many of Richard’s views on the debt problems we face, but I do not see how a reactionary, protectionist English nationalism is going to solve them.

   I fear an independent Scotland would be a disaster for the Scots and would cause a lot of unnecessary problems in the rest of the UK as well. I hope you’re right about the referendum. We can at least be happy that Cameron hasn’t chosen to jump into bed with the SNP for his own electoral advantage, which he easily could have done.

   I think Labour are wasting the talents of Alistair Darling. Personally I think he was a better chancellor than either Brown or Osborne and he would have been a good choice as Labour leader. The public would have taken him seriously in a way they don’t with Miliband or Balls.

   September 10th, 2012 at 3:56 pm
5. Barnaby Marder

   I think that Darling’s profile will rise, and at still under 60 years of age a comeback to the front bench is perfectly possible. He was a supporter of David rather than Ed Miliband but I don’t think he’s on bad terms with the leader, and his calmness & knowledgeability could still make him an asset. Without the beard he looks a little like Father Ted; which of his parliamentary colleagues would equate to Jack & Dougal I’ll leave others to work out.
   I too would like to pay tribute to the way in which Richard, almost always from a diametrically opposed position to those I hold, argues his point; I feel that he adds a great deal to the discussions we have here. I say that without wishing to put someone else down.

   September 10th, 2012 at 4:54 pm
6. A Cairns

   ‘I fear an independent Scotland would be a disaster for the Scots and would cause a lot of unnecessary problems in the rest of the UK as well. I hope you’re right about the referendum. We can at least be happy that Cameron hasn’t chosen to jump into bed with the SNP for his own electoral advantage, which he easily could have done.’

   Sensible points Hemmelig.

   unfortunately I suspect the referendum will not be as clear cut as people (including me )would like as I can see a tacked on extra powers vote winning 55-45.

   I’m also concerned that Salmond will find a way to either get the referendum blocked by legal challenges or try and hold his own illegal referendum.

   October 2nd, 2012 at 8:41 pm
7. Andy JS

   Scottish census reveals a population of 5.295 million in March 2011, meaning the UK population was 63.2 million at that time:

   ht tp://www.scotlandscensus.gov.uk/en/

   December 18th, 2012 at 4:01 am
8. Tim Jones

   ‘We can at least be happy that Cameron hasn’t chosen to jump into bed with the SNP for his own electoral advantage, which he easily could have done.’

   I agree although I suspect in a decade or so we’ll have a more Right-wing Tory leader who will support kicking Scotland out of the Union – for the obvious political advantages it gives the Tories and for the simple fact that most English Tories don’t like the Scottish

   I think Camerpon has handled the Scottish independence issue as well as one could hope a Tory leader one – and I respect for him for that

   December 18th, 2012 at 10:35 am
9. H.Hemmelig

   “I agree although I suspect in a decade or so we’ll have a more Right-wing Tory leader who will support kicking Scotland out of the Union”

   Whether to leave the union is a matter for the Scots, and barring an unforseen political earthquake they are going to vote very heavily to remain part of the UK in 2014.

   As with British EU membership, it will be another 30 or 40 years before the Scots get another referendum on independence if the 2014 result is a fairly convincing No.

   December 18th, 2012 at 11:40 am
10. Tim Jones

    ‘Without the beard he looks a little like Father Ted; which of his parliamentary colleagues would equate to Jack & Dougal I’ll leave others to work out.’

    There’s a few characters in the Labour Party you could compare to Dougal.

    Eric Joyce must be the closest comparison to Father Jack

    December 18th, 2012 at 3:35 pm
11. A Cairns

    ‘I agree although I suspect in a decade or so we’ll have a more Right-wing Tory leader who will support kicking Scotland out of the Union – for the obvious political advantages it gives the Tories and for the simple fact that most English Tories don’t like the Scottish ‘

    I don’t like any tory MPs apart from a few but I wouldn’t go as far as thinking they are as evil and twisted as Lbernard and richard.

    The tories topping the Edinburgh popular vote at the local elections in 2017 is actually surprisingly possible as they are the main opposition to the Lab/SNP coalition in Edinburgh at a local level and are fighting hard against the bin changes.

    e.g.
    Con 26 (+5)
    Lab 25 (-3)
    SNP 21 (-5)
    Grn 12 (+1)
    LD 11 (+2)
    others 5

    December 18th, 2012 at 4:21 pm
12. Andrea

    The Sun reported runours of Darling standing down in 2015. The Scotsman had a follow up of the story quoting “people close to Darling” saying he hasn’t decided it yet. The implication is that he’s at least considering it-

    December 28th, 2012 at 4:15 pm
13. H.Hemmelig

    Sounds like a smear put about by Ed Balls.

    The same stories indicated that Ed Miliband would like to make Darling chancellor if he wins the next election, which would be doing both his own electoral prospects and the economy a favour. One consolation of Miliband’s improved popularity is that he can probably afford to lick Balls into shape now and prevent him insisting on the chancellorship.

    December 28th, 2012 at 7:17 pm
14. Barnaby Marder

    Licking Balls into shape conjures up a not altogether pleasant picture…..

    December 28th, 2012 at 9:47 pm
15. Joe James B

    My gut feel is if Balls is Shadow Chancellor, it is more likely than not that the Tories will manage to sit on the same side of the Commons as now when we actually get to a real election.

    All the time he’s there, we can keep hitting him as a very visible target of bloated debt and incompetence.

    If he’s dumped, and replaced by someone more reasonable,
    it’s much more uncertain and difficult.

    That isn’t to rule out either happening.
    The Tories can win without Balls, and Labour can
    win with him.

    December 28th, 2012 at 11:41 pm
16. Joe James B

    Possibly his signficance is exaggerated a bit in what I’ve just said,
    but he’s certainly convenient.

    The key issue will be how people think the Government has done.

    December 28th, 2012 at 11:50 pm
17. richard

    I wonder if Pete or someone could tell us how many ‘Conservative’ MPs in Scotland were elected under each variety of party name – Conservative, Unionist, Conservative & Unionist, Conservative & National Liberal, National Liberal, Liberal Unionist, whatever – during the elections in the 1950s.

    January 6th, 2013 at 11:46 pm
18. THE RESULTS

    31 out of 70 in 1950, 35 out of 72 in 1951, 36 out of 72 in 1955, and 31 out of 72 in 1959, Richard.

    January 6th, 2013 at 11:56 pm
19. THE RESULTS

    Then, according to Wikipedia-

    ”While the Liberal Party struggled to survive, the National Liberals managed to win 17 seats in the 1950 general election. In subsequent elections their numbers increased to 19 (1951), 21 (1955) and 19 (1959) making them the larger of the two Liberal groupings in Parliament.”

    January 6th, 2013 at 11:58 pm
20. richard

    “31 out of 70 in 1950, 35 out of 72 in 1951, 36 out of 72 in 1955, and 31 out of 72 in 1959″

    Yes, I know but what individual party name did each candidate stand under?

    January 7th, 2013 at 12:15 am
21. THE RESULTS

    ”Yes, I know but what individual party name did each candidate stand under?”

    God, Richard that’s some question for a psephologist to find the answer to at nearly twenty past midnight.

    All I know for certain RE National Liberals I have already told you, but AFAIK right now the Unionists and Liberal Unionists counted as Conservatives per se, but that’s obviously not right.

    January 7th, 2013 at 12:19 am
22. THE RESULTS

    Hope this helps Richard-
    (UK Politics and Resources is the source)
    1950 MPs-

    JAL Duncan (Angus South, Conservative & Nat Lib)
    D McCallum (Argyll, Conservative)
    Lady Tweedsmuir (Aberdeen South, Conservative)
    RJG Boothby (Aberdeenshire East, Conservative)
    HR Spence (Aberdeenshire West, Conservative)
    C MacAndrew (Ayrshire North and Bute, Conservative)
    T Moore (Ayr, Conservative)
    CN Thornton-Kemsley (Angus North and Mearns, Conservative & Nat Lib)
    WS Duthie (Banff, Conservative)
    D Robertson (Caithness and Sutherland, Conservative)
    N Macpherson (Dumfries, Nat Lib & Conservative)
    JL Clyde (Edinburgh North, Conservative)
    WY Darling (Edinburgh South, Conservative)
    GIC Hutchison (Edinburgh West, Conservative)
    J Henderson Stewart (Fife North East, Nat Lib & Conservative)

    Sorry Richard I had to stop there, mate- Tiredness kills I’m afraid.

    January 7th, 2013 at 12:30 am