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SNP Stuns Labour
In another blow for British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, the Scottish National Party has won a bedrock Labour seat in a by-election. The seat had a Labour majority of over 13,000 votes but went to the SNP by a narrow margin.
In US political terms the swing was 23%, which is even bigger that some of the upsets that the GOP has seen over the last few months.
Speculation remains as to whether or not Brown will be able to stay in power. From the point of view of the Conservatives it would probably be better for Brown to stay in power.
2 Responses to “SNP Stuns Labour”
This is stunning!
Writers at “The Guardian” — which is to Labour what the New York Times is to Democrats — are in a state of shock. Lately they have been demanding a purge of the Blairites from the party and a return to the politics of class warfare. But this is in Scotland…under the Scottish Brown, a much more traditional Labour leader than Blair…and a bedrock Labour seat. There is no way for them to spin this, or blame it on Blair.
Worse for the hardcore Left, the Conservatives came third. That might not sound like much…but for the Conservatives to place a strong third in a Scotland election is akin to a sign of the Apocalypse.
It means Conservative gains in Scotland in a general election . . . which is an effective Apocalypse for Labour.
Patrick is totally right. The Conservatives are desperately hoping Brown stays on as PM to fight the election. With luck, Labour will decide the best way to cope with imminent disaster is to have a good old Stalinist Purge.
Remember that the SNP is further to the left on economics than Labour. The SNP is much like the old Labour Party.
Labour triangulated itself out of power in Scotland.