“The Bloc will vote SNP“
Except that everyone has 2 votes.
A fact that ‘most’ people have probably forgotten.
Some people will vote for ‘their’ party on constituency and List ballots.
Presume there are stats about the % of people who voted for the same party twice in all past SP elections.
There has always been some pressure to not ‘split’ the vote, but many people like(d) the idea of being able to vote for different parties. In the early days there were more parties to consider on the List - and a significant number of individuals.
Tommy Sheridan has a lot to do with that changing.
In the early days of the SP it was mostly believed that no party could ever have an overall majority. This was a deliberate reason for having a PR system, and the various existing systems in other parliaments were studied.
The reasons were to remove the (perceived and real) problems of FPTP (notably Westminster) and also to increase the chance of Government by consensus which, some believe, is more in line with attitudes in Scotland.
Without this system it’s unlikely there would have been many Greens and perhaps no other parties at all other than the ‘normal’ four.
As I’ve said before, there is now the opportunity for other parties, interest groups and individuals to stand and campaign as ‘none of the above’ or on single issues - and get elected - but this seems less likely to happen than at previous elections.
This is being billed as the ‘IndyRef2 election’ which to some extent it is. If people want Independence they can vote SNP or/and Green.
Those against have more choices and perhaps harder decisions.
But, the chance of Independence during the next Parliament is small and Independence will/would not miraculously solve all problems.
So all the more reason to take an interest in parties’ policies/manifestos and also individual candidates.
But it is likely that ‘the media’ will still be more interested in what NS did or didn’t know (when) than Climate Crises.
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