Local by-elections , October 12th, 2017

[yellowperil]

Actually the relatively good performance by the Tamworth Conservatives is pretty meaningless, and so is the Labour capacity to hold on , when almost 80% of the voters could not be bothered to vote at all. No sign pf enthusiasm for either of the so-called big parties, which is not to say that if the usual smaller parties had made their usual token appearance it would have been any better. I was reminding us,in my own way, that Tamworth played a pivotal role in the development of our democratic system. Now it seems to be at the centre of apathy and ennui.

No, Gwyn, no a-peel at all.

[johnloony]

The full result has now (at last) been published on Aberdeen's website, albeit in a long-winded convoluted and relatively inaccessible format. But anyway, the winning candidate was (as expected) elected at the 3rd round, not the 4th:

Con 1672 +7 =1679 +36 =1715 +156 =1871
SNP 1146 +5 =1151 +73 =1224 +66 =1290
LD 295 +14 =309 +103 =412
Lab 276 +14 =290
Green 56
non-transferable +6 =6 +78 =84 +190 =274

[Foggy]

So, 35 Green votes transferred to unionist parties and there were more non-transferable votes from them than SNP preferences?  So much for the Scottish Green Party's separatist stance! 

[Davıd Boothroyd]

Oct 17, 2017 23:51:45 GMT Foggy said:

So, 35 Green votes transferred to unionist parties and there were more non-transferable votes from them than SNP preferences?  So much for the Scottish Green Party's separatist stance! 

I suspect the socioeconomic composition of the Scottish Green Party vote in rural Aberdeenshire may be somewhat different from, say, central Edinburgh or north Glasgow.

[Foggy]

Oct 17, 2017 23:53:29 GMT Davıd Boothroyd said:

Oct 17, 2017 23:51:45 GMT Foggy said:

So, 35 Green votes transferred to unionist parties and there were more non-transferable votes from them than SNP preferences?  So much for the Scottish Green Party's separatist stance! 

I suspect the socioeconomic composition of the Scottish Green Party vote in rural Aberdeenshire may be somewhat different from, say, central Edinburgh or north Glasgow.

Fair point, but the party's (unwise) position on independence is consistent across Scotland. 

[greenchristian]

Oct 17, 2017 23:51:45 GMT Foggy said:

So, 35 Green votes transferred to unionist parties and there were more non-transferable votes from them than SNP preferences?  So much for the Scottish Green Party's separatist stance! 

The Scottish Greens' pro-independence stance is a pragmatic, rather than ideological one. They believe they're likely to get a Greener agenda through in an independent Scotland than they will if Scotland remains in the union. Even if we assume that Green voters are in line with all of the party's policies there's no particular reason that the SGP's stance on independence should lead Green voters to preference the SNP above, say, Labour in local by-elections.

[john07]

Oct 18, 2017 0:01:59 GMT Foggy said:

Oct 17, 2017 23:53:29 GMT Davıd Boothroyd said:

I suspect the socioeconomic composition of the Scottish Green Party vote in rural Aberdeenshire may be somewhat different from, say, central Edinburgh or north Glasgow.

Fair point, but the party's (unwise) position on independence is consistent across Scotland. 

Yes but not every voter in Scotland sees everything through the prism of the separatist-unionist divide. I doubt if many Scottish Green voters primarily go for them because of their separatist stance. If they were that hot on separation, they would probably have voted SNP in the first place.

I have come across a number of Green activists and they range from leftist social democrats to neo-anarchists. However one was very right wing indeed. I suspect that Green voters come from even more diverse backgrounds and opinions.