The SNP appears to have a very selective view of fairness

Funnily enough, a quote of the day from Thomas Sowell which I used a couple of days ago - and which was instantly compared to the SNP in the comments - describes perfectly the reaction of the SNP to last week's Scottish election results.

In a highly uncharacteristic display of pluralism, Blair's New Labour UK government set up the Scottish parliament and Welsh Assembly in a manner which would make it difficult for a dominant party in either country - which at the time meant their own party - to win an absolute majority in either body unless they had, or were very close to, an absolute majority of the votes.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, neither the SNP not anybody else complained at the time.

The Additional Member system in Scotland duly delivered the hung or "balanced" parliaments in Scotland which it was intended to produce in every election since except 2011, with no complains until this week, while First Past the Post for Westminster elections continued to deliver a large majority of Scottish seats to the largest party in Scotland - Labour to 2010, the SNP in 2015.

So how have the SNP reacted to the last three votes in Scotland?

1) Holyrood 2011 - SNP get majority in Scottish parliament with 44.7% of list vote (and 45% of constituency vote.)

No complaints from Alex Salmond or the SNP

2) Westminster GE2015 - SNP get 94% - all except three - of Scotland's Westminster seats on 50% of the vote.

No complaints from Alex Salmond. Nicola Sturgeon says on US television that she has set up a party investigation into the three seats the SNP didn't win - this may have been a joke - but there is no SNP complaint about the voting system.

3) Holyrood 2016 - SNP falls two seats short of another majority with 48.8% of seats from 44.1% of the list vote (and 47% of the constituency vote).

Alex Salmond spits the dummy out, complains that the D'Hondt list system stopped the SNP getting a second majority by only giving them 2% or so more of the seats than they had constituency votes, and calls for a change in the electoral system.

Now, I am not a fan of the D'Hondt system, but really.

Or, translated into appropriate language for a bairn of Mr Salmond's apparent emotional age

"WAAHH! 
IT'S NOT FAIR!
THE SYSTEM'S NOT RIGGED ENOUGH TOWARDS ME!

As I quoted Mr Sowell as saying the other day,


Comments

Jim said…
I wonder whom i commented about on the fateful day you posted that quote. :)
2:38 pm
Chris Whiteside said…
His successor - but pretty much the same point applies.
9:12 pm
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