Jenny Hjul in the Times has written an excellent piece on the Salmond/Brown comparison.
Last week saw the SNP conference, and also the first UK Government cabinet meeting to be held in Scotland for 90 years. Hjul highlights, excellently, the problems Brown now has north of the border... and Salmond is the biggest problem for him.
It is summed up beautifully when Hjul writes...
"Salmond’s popularity has little to do with independence, which two-thirds of Scots reject. It is based on his perceived ability to run Scotland differently".
How Labour, as a whole, aren't openly shouting for Brown to go, is beyond me. The desperation of the man, whcih is seeping into the party en masse, is truly worrying, not only for the party, but for the country for 2 more years.
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3 comments:
Nice to see good stuff written about the SNP leader, but it does seem tinged with some of the recent Unionist spin. Mainly:
1, SNP popularity has nothing to do with independence; and
2, SNP are a one man band and are nothing without Salmond
People like Hjul are never going to be honest in their praise of anyone they see as a threat to the Union.
I do agree there's always a slight twist with 'the South's' coverage of the SNP. However, I agree with Hjul.
SNP popularity is not based upon their aims of independence. It's based on the idea that right now we're not independent, so in the meantime, this is how the country needs to be run, and that philsophy, in Scotland's current constitutional position, is winning people who aren't yet convinced about independence. Yes, part of it is about independence, but even those who are vehemently against it will still vote SNP as they are the best option.
And I do believe that SNP are a one man band. When Swinney was in charge, I wouldn't vote for them. When Sturgeon takes over, I probably wouldn't either. He is the galvanisation behind the SNP, and while the others are certainly raising their games, they need Salmond, and will do for a while yet!
That is an interesting perception. We activists forget sometimes that many voters don't know anything about politics and vote on the basis of personality.
I don't think most voters do however. Policies do matter and political position matters. It was actually Swinney and Sturgeon who made the SNP electable by reforming the party's internal organisation and positioning us in the mainstream.
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