Tommy Sheridan doesn't swing

[The Bishop]

Well, what immediately springs to mind is that the SNP might have then fallen a seat or two short in 2007.

[Deleted]

Tommy would probably have held his seat in Glasgow, but the others would have fallen short. And he could well have held his seat at the expense of Patrick Harvie, which would not have altered the SNP/Labour dynamics. And even if he'd held his seat at the expense of the SNP, the SNP would still have got more votes the Labour, and might still have managed to form a minority administration with confidence and supply.

[thirdchill]

They would have continued to have a reasonable performance up until 2014, then the referendum would have probably have had a huge impact on their vote in most places, with only a strong showing from Tommy Sheridan personally in Glasgow preventing the SNP from wiping them out.

Of course, they could have fallen apart anyway, as trident has alluded to above.

[john07]

The SSP were elected on Labour's coat tails. Most knew that the list vote for Labour was effectively wasted as Labour were likely to pick up their full quota or beyond in the main urban areas prior to 2007. Some used their list vote for the Greens (including me) while others opted for the SSP.

That was less likely to happen with Labour under severe pressure in 2007.

[Deleted]

I don't think it's accurate to say that the SSP were elected on Labour's coat tails in 2003, actually. The SSP stood in most constituencies in 2003 and polled a 6.2% in the constituencies nationally -- not far short of the 6.7% they polled on the regional list. Unless there was an enormous amount of split-ticketing in both directions, it would appear that both votes SSP was a fairly solid block (and one that largely went SNP in 2007 rather than Labour, though there would of course have been some churn).

[No Offence Alan]

I suspect the SSP vote in 2003 mainly came from left-wing nationalists put off from voting SNP by John Swinney.

[Davıd Boothroyd]

News Group Newspapers' attempt to get a retrial of the 2006 libel case when Sheridan won £200k damages, has been thrown out: www.scotcourts.gov.uk/search-judgments/judgment?id=36331ca7-8980-69d2-b500-ff0000d74aa7

[john07]

Hasn't Tommy Sheridan aged rather badly?

Definitely a face for Radio!

[Deleted]

May 11, 2016 10:43:56 GMT @boogieeck said:

From which a great deal might follow. Jack McConnell holds on, Alex Salmond maybe stands down, with Labour less damaged maybe Brown holds more in 2010 and can form a coalition with Clegg.

In Scotland, Labour polled very well in 2010 under Gordon Brown, little could have been gained to bring them close enough to a Coalition with Clegg. Unless you mean that Labour holding on in the Scottish Parliamentary elections of 2007 would have influenced enough English voters in 2010, which appears doubtful.