Much has been made of tactical voting in the upcoming election. Supporters of both Yes and No are now beginning to pick which way to vote most effectively. Unionists are looking at which of the big pro-UK parties can best win their seats, most of the time it will be Labour. Nationalists are obviously going to vote SNP tactically, even if they are inclined toward Green/SSP policy. This is embodied in the advice of Tommy Sheridan, the leader of Solidarity, who is not standing candidates and advised his members to vote SNP. No such advice has been given by his unionist counterparts, mainly for fear of ‘shoulder to shoulder’ accusations but also for the wider problem within Scottish unionism: its parties do not realise the extent of the divide between nationalism and unionism that is fast approaching levels seen in Northern Ireland.
The nationalists have one big vehicle for their cause, the SNP. It is long recognised that the unionist vote will be split between Labour, Conservative, Liberal Democrat and UKIP candidates, but no action, other than grassroots on social media has taken place. Even in Gordon the constituency that Alex Salmond is standing in, the unionist candidates are doing far too much scrapping with each other, all claiming to be the best option to stop the SNP. In this and other seats the nationalists have the advantage; they have jettisoned variety and differing political beliefs, for one cause- independence. The best way to get a pro indy candidate elected is used without question. Imagine for a moment that there was one seat where it was, for example the Green party and Labour who were neck and neck, always had been in the past results and in polling data. Nationalists would have no qualms about ditching the SNP for the Green candidate, in order to elect someone who would fight for independence; furthermore one would not be surprised if the SNP candidate ran a low profile campaign. The reverse of this example is already happening, as SSP and Green candidates lie low to give their SNP allies a decent shot at winning. In some areas they are not even standing.
While all of this is to the detriment of political debate, tactical voting and campaigning is what the nationalists have resorted to. If unionists could match it, then we would win more MPs, easily, because we are in the majority. At Holyrood elections you could vote with your heart, but in first past the post Westminster elections with your head. However this would need to go further than just grassroots campaigning. The main parties would need to covertly back each other tactically, accepting that competition between unionists at this troubled time in Scotland is very unwise. In Gordon, the Tories and Labour should be standing in name only, their candidates delivering few leaflets and minimising their press coverage. The Nats could attack it as a unionist cabal if they wanted, but it would be out of frustration at the fact they were on course to lose. This kind of operation, should be taking place across every seat. Unionists need to catch up with the Nats whose silent tactical work with SSP and the Greens has been underway for some time.
This would hopefully be a one off situation, for the upcoming election. Such is the nature of Holyrood’s voting system, no such tactics are needed apart from using your first vote for the unionist party that can win, and your second vote for the unionist party whose policies you prefer. If by some miracle the unionist parties did what I have discussed here, to ensure that areas that voted No, get unionist MPs and the Nats are frustrated in their progress, then this election could be an overwhelming victory for the pro-UK movement. However the clear lack of enthusiasm for such tactics from the big parties, leads me to conclude that Scottish unionism will be defeated, because it won’t realise it’s in a fight for its life.
The nationalists have one big vehicle for their cause, the SNP. It is long recognised that the unionist vote will be split between Labour, Conservative, Liberal Democrat and UKIP candidates, but no action, other than grassroots on social media has taken place. Even in Gordon the constituency that Alex Salmond is standing in, the unionist candidates are doing far too much scrapping with each other, all claiming to be the best option to stop the SNP. In this and other seats the nationalists have the advantage; they have jettisoned variety and differing political beliefs, for one cause- independence. The best way to get a pro indy candidate elected is used without question. Imagine for a moment that there was one seat where it was, for example the Green party and Labour who were neck and neck, always had been in the past results and in polling data. Nationalists would have no qualms about ditching the SNP for the Green candidate, in order to elect someone who would fight for independence; furthermore one would not be surprised if the SNP candidate ran a low profile campaign. The reverse of this example is already happening, as SSP and Green candidates lie low to give their SNP allies a decent shot at winning. In some areas they are not even standing.
While all of this is to the detriment of political debate, tactical voting and campaigning is what the nationalists have resorted to. If unionists could match it, then we would win more MPs, easily, because we are in the majority. At Holyrood elections you could vote with your heart, but in first past the post Westminster elections with your head. However this would need to go further than just grassroots campaigning. The main parties would need to covertly back each other tactically, accepting that competition between unionists at this troubled time in Scotland is very unwise. In Gordon, the Tories and Labour should be standing in name only, their candidates delivering few leaflets and minimising their press coverage. The Nats could attack it as a unionist cabal if they wanted, but it would be out of frustration at the fact they were on course to lose. This kind of operation, should be taking place across every seat. Unionists need to catch up with the Nats whose silent tactical work with SSP and the Greens has been underway for some time.
This would hopefully be a one off situation, for the upcoming election. Such is the nature of Holyrood’s voting system, no such tactics are needed apart from using your first vote for the unionist party that can win, and your second vote for the unionist party whose policies you prefer. If by some miracle the unionist parties did what I have discussed here, to ensure that areas that voted No, get unionist MPs and the Nats are frustrated in their progress, then this election could be an overwhelming victory for the pro-UK movement. However the clear lack of enthusiasm for such tactics from the big parties, leads me to conclude that Scottish unionism will be defeated, because it won’t realise it’s in a fight for its life.