The Lackluster Election, Holyrood 2021 sees the SNP win but miss out on a majority, the election system in Scotland is unfit for purpose, the Union of the United Kingdom has been saved, but reality for pro UK voters in Scotland is that the UK Government needs to act, and seen to be more proactive in Scotland, up the stakes, make Douglas Ross, a UK Government Minister attached to the Scotland Office

Dear All 

Sorry, I have been rather quiet, felt really under the weather, the Holyrood election is over, the outcome was mostly not unexpected. Everyone knew the SNP was going to win, mostly everyone knew the Scottish Conservatives were going to still be the official opposition. Everyone knew that Scottish Labour, now dubbed Anas Sarwar's Labour was going to do badly, and they did. Unexpectedly the Scottish Greens did exceptional well, but the truth is, if you watch politics, they shouldn't have. A few people have expressed the view what is the matter with the people of Scotland, the answer is simple, they were 'bought off' with better election bribes. The outcome of the election is a tale of pro UK parties fighting an election on an old political landscape that no longer exists. This was an election fought on nationalism vs unionism, consequently, the parties of the union in order to win should have fielded a single candidate in every constituency. The mentality of 'its ma baw' however showed that they were unwilling to recognise the new situation and adapt. Although Alex Salmond's party didn't do well, you might be tempted to write them off. That would be a mistake, their hope in this election was to get people into Holyrood, but the reality of a 6 week old party making a breakthrough was a long shot, even with Salmond leading. You see what Salmond and Alba needs is time, they will contest the council elections next year, and since they learned campaigning in the SNP, they probably will know they will be running a long campaign to plant the seed in the voters' minds. 

The 2021 election was a bad election for Scottish Labour, they benefited from tactical voting by Conservative voters who allowed Jackie Baillie and Daniel Johnson to hold onto their seats. Elsewhere the Labour results were dire, extremely bad. I would suggest yet again, this proves my argument that a new campaigning model is needed for each CLP in Scottish Labour. There also has to be a review of the party, and personnel at Scottish Labour HQ in Bath Street. One thing which did work well was digital content in terms of productions values, not however in terms of messaging. In this election, Scottish Labour had mixed messages sometimes even said in the same sentence. There will be no Labour national recovery plan, and time will tell if the new intake are in fact a better opposition. Unlike many Labour activists, I actually got someone elected, Paul Sweeney, the only difference to that was I fought that campaign through-out January. A surprise in the election was how well James Kelly in Rutherglen in terms of votes, 15k plus. His result was impressive, especially when you viewed the results of the rest of the Labour candidates in the Greater Glasgow area. A result which did shock me was Maryhill & Springburn, the Labour candidate Keiran O'Neill seemly ran a good professional campaign, and unlike others, he had the advantage of having done some long campaigning prior to lockdown. His result was a genuine disappointment. The result next door in Provan for Scottish Labour however wasn't although both areas returned a similar vote for Scottish Labour. 

One of the urban myths which ran around the internet was that Anas Sarwar was going to get the Muslim vote in Glasgow Southside, he didn't judging by the result. His major mistake was picking an area to stand in which the SNP had completely sown up. Party leaders don't generally tend to stand in the same area because there is usually a hard thump for one of them when they lose. A party leader doesn't stand in the seat of another incumbent party leader, why didn't he grasp that concept, and pick another maybe Glasgow Cathcart. For a guy who claims to have all the answers, Anas Sarwar couldn't understand the questions, which is why Scottish Labour remains the 3rd party of Holyrood. In Glasgow Pollok, the Scottish Labour Candidate Zubir Ahmed was doing his first outing as a candidate. He polled in the region of 11k votes, in terms of others who had campaigned in recent elections for Pollok, he did much the same as previous candidates. I had a very frank discussion with him regards expectations, and even gave him numerous ideas to use, basically he never used any of them from what I could see. In terms of content in leaflets, another area I gave advice, he didn't use that either, his leaflets were vague, and he didn't sell himself well. The pitch has to be, what you are going to do, and what services you will provide to ensure people's problems are solved. One of his themes was repeating that Humza Yousaf lived in Broughty Ferry, Dundee, in many ways his leaflet content was too vague as to be meaningful to voters. At present Dr. Ahmed is making a great deal of his result as being the best result since 1999, however if you look at the Westminster campaign of 2019, Matt Kerr, the Labour candidate polled 12,743 in roughly the same catchment area. Kerr like Ahmed have something in common, 2019 & 2021 elections, the SNP increased their votes by thousands. Of course, he will have to experience a learning curve because he is new to campaigning. 

The Lib Dems had a bad campaign, 4 seats, this means they apparently lose the right to ask official questions at FMQs, they also lose money and privileges as well. Willie Rennie as Lib Dem leader is a man who is kidding himself on. This result, a bad result was a watershed moment for his party. One thing which caught my eye was the Derek Jackson incident at the Glasgow Count, Jackson stood for the Liberal Party, they're not connected to the Lib Dems. Usually at the count, you get to meet people from other parties, and in general the unwritten rule is that people are civil. Of course you do get the odd idiot who doesn't grasp that, but it is rare. 

https://jewishnews.timesofisrael.com/scottish-candidate-condemned-for-wearing-yellow-star-doing-nazi-salute-at-count/ 

I will put up the video to watch as well at the top, you should watch it, it is ridiculous, offensive and crass, Jackson, the candidate got kicked out of the Glasgow count. Since then he has been suspended from the Liberal Party, and will never be a candidate for them again. Acting like an arse is nothing new in politics, plenty tread that road, but to do it at the count? Also, in the video, you see Jackson and his crew wearing black sunglasses, dark clothing, and having a heart painted on their right hand. They also wore a multi-coloured armband with "love" written on it. Like I say, watch the video, I defy anyone to not come to the same conclusion that these people should be kicked out, obviously they enjoyed themselves while it lasted. But, the returning officer was right to send them packing, who knows maybe they will reappear for the council elections in 2022. I think if I remember anything of this election which effectively changed nothing but a few faces, it will be Jackson and his crew. 

Sometimes, stupidity of others leaves a lasting impression!   

Now that it's all over, time for a quiz, 30 -1 = ? 

The answer is 29, is a number which you will be hearing a lot about in the future, especially if  Prime Minister Boris Johnson says No to indyref 2, and he already has. With no Section 30 order, Nicola Sturgeon cannot hold a legal referendum, so in the event, she tries for an illegal referendum, Section 29 of the Scotland Act will kick in. So, what is Section 29, what does it means in the big picture of the Scottish political landscape?   While Holyrood might pass any old legislation on anything it likes, if that legislation is outwith its legislative competence it is not law. If it is not law, the SNP Ministers cannot force others to act on it. In terms of an illegal referendum, it means that Councils can refuse point blank to run an illegal referendum. In fact to do so may also open up a can of worms if resources, financial or otherwise are involved. This is the type of stuff that cause people to get into serious trouble over use or to be more precise, misuse of public funds. A full blow by blow of Section 29 can be found by reading Labour blogger, Ian Smart, he has covered all the bases in a short, concise and straightforward manner. 

https://ianssmart.blogspot.com/2021/05/section-29.html     

Although Nicola Sturgeon is making a huge song and dance about she will take the UK Government to the Supreme Court, (shopping in London is great and its lovely day out) it seems the UK Government simply has to invoke current law to beat her. Nicola Sturgeon has held off the dogs of the Alba pack this time round, but she has to deliver indyref 2. If she doesn't, and the opposition get their act together, the Walls of Jericho could come crashing down. Whether Nicola Sturgeon likes it or not, and I assume she doesn't  democracy is the rule of law made real, it is the tank barrier she cannot get over. Imagine she is trapped in a city full of zombies, she has to keep moving to find a way to escape the city, the bridge she wants to cross is called Section 30, that is closed, the secondary bridge, the illegal dodgy route can't be built by her without the help of others. In her case, once she stops running the zombies will over run her, that would be Nationalist zombies, they are the ones chasing her. She can retreat to the Bute House Bunker, but she is forced to venture out for 'food' called votes to survive in the city. The food source will eventually dry up, and others will chase after it as well. 

Finally, other than a few new faces, this election changed nothing. It was a pretty poor election, and other than two days, I was watching from the sidelines. The SNP Government are a party who have destroyed Scotland, they will continue on that vain. There will be a tipping point, for pro UK parties, being hostages on the list system isn't a viable option except for the leadership, so at some point there will have to be a change. I think that there is a vacuum because people want good governance, they want change, but in the meantime with no viable option, they are stuck. What Scotland needs is either better pro UK leaders, or the realisation that new political parties are needed. Some people are putting a brave face on defeat, and praising others who got defeated by saying their party has a new 'energy', well to quote Anas Sarwar, 'grow up', constitutional politics is killing Scotland, and it is destroying the fabric of social cohesion. It might be okay for those in the Holyrood bubble, but for the rest of the country, is a ticking timebomb. Scotland is a failed State, run as a failed State by people who don't care for its people, nor do they care for its history or future. Time to make Douglas Ross, a UK Government Minister, and up the stakes, make Sturgeon answerable to him.

Yours sincerely 

George Laird                                                                                                                                The Campaign for Human Rights at Glasgow University