Democracy At Work


I notice that South Lanarkshire Council has become a bastion of municipal socialism again - the Labour party having gained overall control after defeating the SNP in a recent by-election.

So it seems that the Tories who have been propping up the majority Labour Group since the council elections in 2011 - have served their purpose and will not be needed any longer. 

Scotland's councils are normally elected under a system of proportional representation or PR - by a single transferable vote (STV) if I remember correctly.

But in by-elections people's votes don't transfer in the same way and when only one seat is up for grabs (out of 3 or 4) - this can produce unusual results.

In effect a by-election becomes more of a First Past The Post Race (FPTP) race - as happened in a Glasgow City Council ward as well a couple of years back - in Drumchapel, I seem to recall.

Now if I remember correctly, the Glasgow by-election result meant that Labour won all four council seats - which would be impossible in a normal election.

In the recent Rutherglen South by-election  Labour won the seat with 1,352 votes - while the Lib Dems secured 999 votes and the SNP 712 votes.

Which means that the Labour candidate - won the contest on a minority (44%) of the total votes cast.

The Tories meanwhile didn't even stand a candidate it appears - but as they are out on their ears by now, that hardly matters anyway.  

Popular posts from this blog

LGB Rights - Hijacked By Intolerant Zealots!

Image
Now that we're a month away from the month formerly known as June, we can think about what's happened. Given the new events being rolled out in London, Manchester and across the States, I think this sums up the *erm* transition of Pride. H/T @LGBNOW pic.twitter.com/HL87yIXXHg — Fred Sargeant (@FredSargeant) August 2, 2023 No doubt about it - the once proud campaign in support of lesbian and gay rights has been hijacked by intolerant trans zealots!     
Read more

SNP - Conspiracy of Silence

Image
So here's the issue - two Glasgow MSPs (Nicola Sturgeon and Humza Yousaf) have been asked a reasonable question about their use of public money to employ two SNP councillors who already have full-time, salaried jobs as senior elected members of Glasgow City Council.   But these two public servants (both long-serving ministers) refuse to answer, so what to do next? One regular reader suggests raising the matter on the floor of the Scottish Parliament which is a good idea, but requires an MSP who's prepared to put down a written question for Scottish Ministers to answer. So here's a list of activities which will help shine a light on what has been going on because as Lord Nolan once said apropos driving up standards in public life - 'daylight is the best disinfectant'. Write to the leader of Glasgow City Council Write to the Chief Executive of Glasgow City Council Write to all elected members in Glasgow City Council Write to the party leaders in Glasgow City Council W
Read more