May 2016 elections
To what extent was there split voting in the Scottish Parliament election – and did it matter?
The Scottish Parliament election saw the SNP emerge victorious, with the Scottish Conservatives overtaking Labour to finish in second. The voting system in use is designed to ensure that a majority is very difficult to achieve, which worked against the SNP in terms of their final share of MSPs. Here, Sean Swan asks whether voters ‘split’ […]
Local authorities continue to keep citizens in the dark about council elections and their results and outcomes
Local elections in England took place in May, but the outcome of those elections is in many cases difficult to ascertain, particularly with regard to the make-up of the administration governing ‘No Overall Control’ authorities. Here, Chris Game laments this, and argues that is unacceptable for local authorities to continue keeping citizens in the dark when […]
The biggest lesson from the Scottish Parliament election: if you are determined to make and act on the argument about identity politics you should do it well
Scotland recently re-elected the SNP to run the Scottish government, albeit with a reduced majority. A new development was the rise of the Scottish Conservatives, who claimed second place after an increased vote share. Here, Paul Cairney discusses the implications the vote has for a potential future second independence referendum. Similar PostsBeyond anecdotes on lowering […]
Bland, predictable, and unrealistically positive: the Twitter use of candidates during the Scottish Parliament election
Graeme Baxter, Flora Barton and Caroline Hood give their initial impressions of how the parties and candidates used social media during the 2016 Scottish Parliament election campaign. Similar PostsJust how much do voters trust Scottish parties’ social media posts?Faced with an ‘infodemic’ of fake news about Covid-19, most people are checking their facts – but […]
Nationalist parties face new challenges after the ‘Super Thursday’ elections
The various nationalist parties experienced mixed fortunes in the UK elections on 5 May, and all are now operating in a different political climate. Dr Kenneth Bunker assesses what challenges lie ahead for the different parties. Similar PostsEuropean elections 2019: what will happen in Scotland?European Parliament elections 2019: what will happen in Wales?How the major […]
‘Super Thursday’ showed us that British politics has changed for good
Last Thursday’s elections highlighted the persistence of multi-party politics, the growing distinctiveness of the devolved nations and the diversity of electoral systems. Katie Ghose argues these longer term trends deserve greater attention given the implications they have for the future shape of the UK. Similar PostsFirst-past-the-post – normal (disproportionate) service has resumedCanada’s 2019 federal election: […]
The New Blues? Explaining the success of the Scottish Conservative Party at the 2016 Scottish Parliament elections
Last week, the Conservatives have overtook Labour to become the main opposition party in Scottish politics. Alia Middleton considers the factors that worked in their favour, including new leadership and a distinctive campaign, but also writes there is a possibility that their success does not reflect a major shift in Scottish politics at all. Similar PostsEuropean elections 2019: what will […]
Improvements in turnout and more partisan voting: The consequences of embedding PCC elections in the electoral cycle
The first Police and Crime Commissioner elections in 2012 are infamous for their abysmally low turnout and the second batch last week thankfully saw some improvement. In this post, Andrew Defty looks at the variation in turnout across the 40 PCC elections to consider the impact of embedding the elections in the electoral cycle, and […]
‘Super Thursday’ tells us a lot about voter participation in the UK
Thursday 5 May saw a host of elections happening around the UK, on an unprecedented scale outside of a General Election. Democratic Dashboard’s Carl Cullinane looks at what the election campaign tells us about the state of voter participation in the UK. Similar PostsRecovery in the polls: Predicting the London Mayor election resultImprovements in turnout […]
The SNP’s radical constitutionalism vs its need to appear as a ‘safe pair of hands’ remains its key strategic dilemma
The SNP won an unprecedented third term in Holyrood, but despite securing more constituency votes than ever before, lost its overall majority. Here, James Mitchell digests the results, and argues that the SNP’s strategic dilemma – simultaneously needing to appear as a safe pair of hands while at the same time proposing a radical new […]
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