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I don't think that's really fair — that makes it look like Scotland almost unanimously voted SNP, which they didn't. While yes, the SNP got 50% of the vote, tha
by gsnedders 11y ago
I don't think that's really fair — that makes it look like Scotland almost unanimously voted SNP, which they didn't. While yes, the SNP got 50% of the vote, that's far from the 94% of constituencies they won. Similarly, it also overstates the Tories' success in England — actually only 41% of the vote. (And it doesn't look like Labour has anywhere near the same number of seats that the Tories do, even though they're only a hundred off, out of 650.)
Being disenfranchised with Westminster is far from a Scottish phenomenon: the SNP's success one can easily argue comes in significant part from the fact they've managed to position themselves as a viable winner in a large number of constituencies, not least through leading the Scottish Government since 2007, as a large proportion of voters end up voting for one of the two largest parties in their constituency given a single-winner system. Convincing the electorate a vote for your minor party isn't a wasted vote is a major part of the challenge of making a small party a real challenge in a large number of constituencies.