Mandate, no mandate

The Tories have won a thumping majority....in England. They have no mandate in Scotland.

Labour have won a thumping majority....in Scotland.  They have no mandate in England.

Are UKANIA's days numbered?

I wish it were so but I remember the 1980s. I sat in a radio studio last night with a young Tory insisting all those Labour Scottish votes were an endorsement of the Union. Sure they were...I predict Cameron will try for a minority government. Brown thinks he can fight on to the end...claiming prime ministerial conventin to keep going on and on. That will not wash with the electorate or the Conservative press in England. A Labour insider tells me he'll have to go, and let Cameron sort out the cuts - and get the flack for them. Who will tell him? I ask. "The Dark Lord". Of course.

What does the result tell us? That voters didn't really know what they were voting for because none of the parties were honest about cuts. Except the Scots, who chose Anyone But Tories. And The Greens, who are up front about the need for tax rises. Well done Caroline Lucas, Westminister's first Green MP. Her victory was a rare bright spot in a depressing evening.

Comments

[1264]

Bottom line the Tories got rejected by Scotland! so why should they run Scotland... because ALL of Scotland could vote Labour and if maybe just a bit more than half of England (only England not including Wales or Northern Ireland) voted Tories then the conservatives would run Scotland, its such a rubbish way, if Scotland rejected the Conservatives which they basically did, they still get to rule the smaller country.

very stupid!

[JohnMcDonaldish]

I hope Brown will spend the next few days trying to work up a deal with Clegg and hopefully he, or his successor, will succeed and that the deal will be predicated on electoral reform.

I have no love for Labour but, hopefully, this will mean the last post for first past the post.

It's just simply obscene that Labour can take 70% of seats in Scotland with 42% of the vote.

[Doug Daniel]

It was a depressing evening, all right. I can't believe I stayed up to watch it. Where have the Scottish electorate been for the past 5 years? If you'd been in a coma for a month, you would assume we'd just had the first ever English Westminster election, with the Scots deciding not to bother voting. That's just not right - surely no one could seriously suggest for a second that everyone is so happy with the past 5 years that it's fine that we've elected the exact same bunch?

What depresses me most is that Labour didn't even hang onto these seats by the skin of their teeth - they won them easily. The voters who had been staying at home last time round apparently heeded the call to arms and fell for the "if you don't vote for us, the Tories get in" message hook, line and sinker. It's just so utterly depressing that people can't see the light, and it just shows you what a massive uphill struggle the SNP still face in a certain area of Scotland.

[David Park]

I'm afraid Scottish voters have forfeited the right to be taken seriously.

We claim we were disgusted with the expenses debacle. Who did we vote for? The worst offenders.

We claim to have been appalled by the invasion of Iraq. Who did we vote for? The party that took us there.

We claim to be angry about the mess of our economy. Who did we vote for? The party that sold our gold and created the 'light touch' regulatory system for our banks.

We claim to abhor Trident. Who did we vote for? The party that wants to renew it at a cost of £100bn.

We claim to want change. We voted for more of the same.

Confident countries and confident people embrace change and look forward to challenges.We cower in the corner sucking on the corner of our comfort blanket.