Next permanent Scotland manager

[Lurkst]

24 minutes ago, itzdrk said:

I don't think there's really a need for every hustings to be a public event, it's for those daft enough to still be party members to decide anyway, but there should also be some form of TV 'debate' as well given that one of these hopeless idiots will be attempting to ruin the country until they lose the next election.  

Google is your friend...

https://news.stv.tv/politics/stv-to-host-live-debate-between-snp-candidates-to-become-scotlands-next-first-minister

 

 

 

[Lyle Lanley]

32 minutes ago, GTee said:

Do you think the SNP will losithe next election?

Would be surprised if they're still in charge. 

[CarrbridgeSaintee]

Woke up early this morning, so thought I'd watch this.

I must admit that I was impressed, and liked what she was saying

Instead of just saying what she thinks the public wants to hear and hitting out with soundbites, she was realistic and went into proposed policy in detail.  She comes across as authentic, honest, confident and articulate.. as well as being a genuinely nice person.

Plenty confirmation bias at my end though

I much prefer watching this type of interview than the nonsense on the telly, with their shouty, interrupty interviewers trying to trip the person up.  When does a politician get the chance to explain something properly on Question Time?  It's all about soundbites and appearing strong for the cameras and to get the claps from the audience.

Edited March 1, 2023 by CarrbridgeSaintee

[sophia]

^^^^ "Dingwall wins every time" at thirty six minutes

Forbes must go

 

[Leith Green]

6 hours ago, itzdrk said:

I don't think there's really a need for every hustings to be a public event, it's for those daft enough to still be party members to decide anyway, but there should also be some form of TV 'debate' as well given that one of these hopeless idiots will be attempting to ruin the country until they lose the next election.  

The SNP got (almost) the same number of votes as all the other parties combined at the last Holyrood election !

It would be the biggest collapse in electoral history* if they were to lose control, and it would require several hundred thousands of SNP voters to flip votes to the Conservatives or Labour. 

I just dont see it.

I

 

*I  havent googled this, but cant be far off...........

Edited March 1, 2023 by Leith Green

[Trogdor]

6 hours ago, GTee said:

The Scottish government must be scrutinized to the nth degree. When they turn out to be poor in a number of areas. We will stick with Westminster who are 10 times worse. Pathetic. We coould however vote the rubbish Scottish government out, but unfortunately can't vote the really rubbish Westminster government out. Deary me.

We really need to lose the deflection and whataboutery about Westminster. Westminster is a binfire and being critical of the SG doesn't mean you support the WG.

We as a country should aspire to be better not just go "well its less shit than Westminster". We won't move the needle on independence that way (as its proved).

My point about the hustings is fairly clear though. Obviously all 100k SNP members won't be able to attend either. How can they engage in the hustings without tickets? If they aren't being livestreamed and the press aren't there? Being able to engage is a fairly fundamental tenant of democracy. To defend it, is rather bizarre to be honest.

[CarrbridgeSaintee]

18 minutes ago, sophia said:

^^^^ "Dingwall wins every time" at thirty six minutes

Forbes must go

 

Noticed that!

[Lex]

8 hours ago, GTee said:

Do you think the SNP will losithe next election?

No chance. Decent chance there won't be a pro indy majority in the parliament though, but the SNP will comfortably win the most seats. There's far too many 'SNP cause independence' voters for them to be in any danger of not getting the most seats. 

[AyrExile]

9 hours ago, Trogdor said:

Banning the press to create a "safe space" for candidates is a bit of a minter regardless of how you spin it.

There needs to be scrutiny, after all whoever wins is inevitably going to be First Minster of Scotland and only 100k of our 5m population will have been eligible to vote.

There is a wee bit of irony in this as well. Had the SNP thought a bit more about safe spaces then NS might not be resigning. 

The leadership have already highlighted the chosen candidate for the members to select. For those who missed it the media have reviewed the candidate who shouldn't be winning. Colin McKay has further endorsed this message to the masses whilst they eat their tea on a daily basis. 

Holding hustings is just going to create extra work and mean unnecessary car journeys that will irk the greens. It would have been better to have had the vote asap and install Humza. Everyone can then get back to the day job and being the only show in town 

 

[ICTChris]

In the 2017 General Election, the SNP lost 35% of their seats, their vote share dropped by 13%.  A number of seats that they had huge majorities in in 2015  saw their margins shaved down to a few hundred.  

There were a number of issues that contributed to that result that don't apply today - a Tory revival in rural seats in Scotland, particularly in the \north East and a Corbyn Labour party pushing late in the campaign.  However, the SNP lost these seats immediately post-Brexit, without any real splits in the party and from a position of total dominance where you'd have thought they would have been in a position to dominate.  So the SNP losing a lot of seats is possible - I think that if Labour are miles ahead in England in the next election that will have a knock-on affect in Scotland, with some SNP voters going over to Labour and probably more not bothering to vote.  I can see Labour in Scotland taking some of the non-rural Tory vote - I would bet heavily that the Tory vote in Edinburgh constituencies will reduce pretty significantly in the next GE and go to Labour.

Edited to add - the SNP will probably win a few seats from the Tories though.  I wouldn't be surprised if the Tories only hold onto a couple of their Border seats and lost the Aberdeenshire/North East seats as well as Dumfries.

Edited March 1, 2023 by ICTChris

[Elixir]

10 hours ago, carpetmonster said:

The First Minister is voted on by Holyrood. The Prime Minister becomes PM simply by becoming the leader of the majority party. Are you wearing a mask and denying yourself oxygen again? 

 

10 hours ago, Melanius Mullarkay said:

Fucking hell

 

I wonder at what point it will dawn on clowns like this that independence is further away than ever precisely because of such tragic, fingers-in-ears nonsense?

[carpetmonster]

3 minutes ago, Elixir said:

 

 

I wonder at what point it will dawn on clowns like this that independence is further away than ever precisely because of such tragic, fingers-in-ears nonsense?

I wonder at what point you’ll develop enough self awareness to realise that if you called Ronald McDonald a clown he’d laugh in your face and then the rest of the room would join in? 

[D Angelo Barksdale]

FWIW I'm not against having the hustings live streamed or recorded, seems fair enough.

Anyone mewling about it should be forced to watch every minute of every hustings though.

[Goomba]

32 minutes ago, carpetmonster said:

I wonder at what point you’ll develop enough self awareness to realise that if you called Ronald McDonald a clown he’d laugh in your face and then the rest of the room would join in? 

Before implying someone else doesn't have self awareness, it's a good idea to make sure you have some yourself.

Just a tip.

[DeeTillEhDeh]

Some sanctimonious pish from several "journalists" and the usual suspects this morning regards press access to the hustings.

They aren't interested in scrutiny but are looking for the slightest hint of a faux pas from any of the candidates.

That's why I think it was stupid to ban them in the first place - it just gives these wankers another grievance -  they'll be even more  likely to misreport the husting events now.

Edited March 1, 2023 by DeeTillEhDeh

[Melanius Mullarkey]

56 minutes ago, Elixir said:

 

 

I wonder at what point it will dawn on clowns like this that independence is further away than ever precisely because of such tragic, fingers-in-ears nonsense?

Im laughing at your "naztee torees" comment.

Clearly not the phrase a clown would use.

[Eddie Hitler]

On the subject of media at hustings, televised debates etc etc.

We seem to have come a long way from 2014, where a lot of people were proud (justifiably, IMHO) of the level of political engagement in the country, which has been going into reverse again in recent years.

I think there should be as much coverage as possible of these things. Even if it turns out readership/viewership etc is pretty low, we should be giving people every chance to understand who's in charge and what their views and policy preferences are. People are forever moaning that voters are ill-informed and then in the next breath essentially saying "hide the politicians from them, so they can't reach an informed view".

I don't think saying, 'what's the point in showing it to people who can't choose and anyway Holyrood elects the FM' is useful or helpful.

In particular, 'Holyrood elects the FM' might technically be correct but no-one seriously thinks that whoever the SNP elect is NOT going to be FM (unless the Greens have a hissy fit and refuse to vote for whoever the SNP membership has chosen).

As far as possible, everyone should have a chance to see what's coming because engagement is more or less always a good thing.

While not everyone has a vote, of course, the SNP should be viewing this as a chance to introduce these candidates properly to the wider public with some time to go till elections and, if they are afraid of doing so, they should be asking themselves why that is. 

[welshbairn]

I'm supposed on a "waitlist" for the Inverness hustings on Saturday, haven't heard anything and the venue only holds 250. No idea how they decide who gets a ticket but as I haven't exactly been active in the party I'll probably be low down the pecking order. If it's the same around the country only a small proportion of members will get to see what the candidates are about, unmitigated and filtered by journalists. They should definitely be streamed, at the very least to members only if that's possible.

Edited March 1, 2023 by welshbairn

[Anonapersona]

13 hours ago, Elixir said:

Yeah: who needs transparency in a democratic society.

Remember the SNP calls for an election because the public never voted for either Truss or Sunak? Will they be making the same calls for Sturgeon's replacement?

Black and white cases like this can't be argued with. It is pathetic, rank hypocrisy.

Somehow I don't think the Telegraph and their ilk would make a massive outrage if the tories had a media blackout.

[Inanimate Carbon Rod]

33 minutes ago, welshbairn said:

I'm supposed on a "waitlist" for the Inverness hustings on Saturday, haven't heard anything and the venue only holds 250. No idea how they decide who gets a ticket but as I haven't exactly been active in the party I'll probably be low down the pecking order. If it's the same around the country only a small proportion of members will get to see what the candidates are about, unmitigated and filtered by journalists. They should definitely be streamed, at the very least to members only if that's possible.

If you get to go, could you please ask the panel why they are massive massive diddies?