Election Geekery

[beccatoria]

I hate David Cameron.

I don't really like Tony Blair much better, neither did I vote for him.

But seriously, people are pissed because Labour's changing and stuff, because, I presume people voted for a left-wing government and didn't get one. So why, one asks, when they are thus disillusioned, do they decide to move their votes to a right-wing party?

I just...I don't trust the Conservatives. I don't. They gutted my country; they'll do it again, I know it.

Speaking of my country, interestingly, the Conservatives, despite winning four more Assembly seats than previously, didn't manage to increase the total number of seats they had because they lost four in that whole proportional representation thingy.

Plaid picked up three seats, Labour lost three meaning that they've not got a majority anymore so it'll have to be a coalition of some sort. I imagine Labour will team up with the Lib Dems again. Which means that Plaid would be the official opposition I guess. Though I look at the numbers and if the Libs won't play ball with Labour (not that I can see why they wouldn't), then Plaid and the Conservatives could form some kind of freaky unholy alliance of Right-Wing and Socialist-Left and rule the land! Wow...that would be weird.

In much more interesting news, the SNP takes Scotland!

So in like, four years you Scots dudes get to vote on independence, I guess. I'll be interested to see what happens. Especially if Gordon Brown is the Prime Minister at the time. How would THAT work? "Um, sorry, my nation has just decided to seceed...I no longer have any legal or political standing here...I'll get my coat."

Wales would never vote in Plaid yet alone ratify a referendum on independence. For starters it's too full of English people - and I don't mean that bitterly, it's just true. There's an awful lot of people living in Wales who don't really consider themselves Welsh. Plus ironcally, despite the fact our language is in waaaaay better shape than Scots Gaelic, it's a kind of divisive issue. A lot of defensiveness from Welsh people on both sides; a lot of perceptions and assumptions about Plaid Cymru and their role in that. Plus Scotland have way more of the infrastructure needed for independence.

But looking at the successes and/or failures of and SNP-led Parliament and/or eventual independence for Scotland will, I think, influence the Welsh votes, so...yeah. Especially now we're getting some actual legislative authority. Interesting. I'll have to call up my Da and ask him what he makes of this cos he's all smart about politics and stuff.

And thus ends my election geekery.

Comments

[spiralsheep.livejournal.com]

I'll be interested to see what happens. Especially if Gordon Brown is the Prime Minister at the time. How would THAT work? "Um, sorry, my nation has just decided to seceed...I no longer have any legal or political standing here...I'll get my coat."

Scots MPs vote on English & Welsh laws and issues now even though English and Welsh MPs have no equivalent vote in Scotland. The only difference devolution would make would be to remove that imbalance and stop London subsidising Scotland through our taxes. We can subsidise the poorer parts of Wales and England instead. :-)

A lot of defensiveness from Welsh people on both sides

And quite a lot of attackiveness too.... ;-)
Cornwall is the only nation in the U.K where the Northerners don't HATE the Southerners, heh.

[beccatoria.livejournal.com]

Well they're making moves to give the Welsh Assembly some legislative powers too...sort of. So Wales is moving more in that direction. Plus Scotland has always been ever-so-slightly more independent.

I think I'm mostly curious as to what would happen - literally - to the MPs if Scotland became independent. I mean...seriously - how would that affect Brown if were the PM? Cos. Yeah. Weird. "Hi, I'm the Prime Minister of your country even though I'm no longer a citizen!"

And quite a lot of attackiveness too.... ;-)

Well, yes. But I think that the attackyness comes from the defensiveness. You know, the most aggressive people are often those who feel defensive.

Cornwall is the only nation in the U.K where the Northerners don't HATE the Southerners, heh.

...true. If you can get them to agree that they're a separate nation. Have Mebyon Kernow ever actually succeeded in winning a seat? *ponders*

I live in Plymouth so I go over into Cornwall quite a lot. I have massive amounts of respect for the Wetherspoons pub chain for putting bilingual signs up in their pubs. Not that I (or nearly anyone else) can read them, but it makes finding my way to the bathroom infinitely more interesting.

[spiralsheep.livejournal.com]

Ignore me. I'm just bitter that 41% of the idiot English voted hdbiaa;eujwiue Tory.

::HEADDESK::

[beccatoria.livejournal.com]

Don't worry. Me too. ::HEADDESK::

[missedith01.livejournal.com]

That makes all of us ...

[zepooka.livejournal.com]

You know I'D vote Plaid. *hug!*

[beccatoria.livejournal.com]

So would I! If I were actually still, you know, living in Wales. So hooray for us! We proud, we few, we theoretical Plaid Cymru voters! *hug!*

[asta77.livejournal.com]

As much as I hate that my country is dominated by two parties, I think the alternatives may give me a headache. ;)

[beccatoria.livejournal.com]

Hey, they give me a headache and I spent most of my youth having my dad explain it to me and he - sort of working in politics - actually knows what he's talking about!

Honestly, our politics is dominated by two parties too, really. The Liberal Democrats, while a credible force in local politics in some areas are third in a three horse race by a loooong way when it comes to national issues.

And the nationalist parties of Scotland and Wales used to be very much pigeon-holed with less than half a dozen governmental seats each and again, not really any kind of national force. The introduction of more devolved governmental power with the Assembly and Parliament though, has really changed that and yes. It's a headfuck.

*takes advil*

Mind you, from what I've been told, it's nowhere near as confusing as it is in Germany, so I shouldn't complain...

Political science fiction

[hmpf.livejournal.com]

>So in like, four years you Scots dudes get to vote on independence, I guess. I'll be interested to see what happens. Especially if Gordon Brown is the Prime Minister at the time. How would THAT work? "Um, sorry, my nation has just decided to seceed...I no longer have any legal or political standing here...I'll get my coat."

Bwahaahaaa!

BTW... isn't it interesting how there's, on the one hand, this really pronounced tendency in European countries in recent years towards more and more independence for certain regions (e.g. Catalonia - or whatever the English word for that is - or Scotland, or the secession debates in Belgium; not to mention the falling apart of Yugoslavia) and, on the other hand, a tendency towards European unification? Are we eventually going to end up with a EU composed of loads of tiny states and 'independent regions'?

Mind you...

[hmpf.livejournal.com]

this may be just the way to go, really, since larger bureaucracies tend to become slow and corrupt...