Do Scots feel at home in a country dominated by one party?

SNP conference

A new report by Electoral Reform Society Scotland says that both Labour and the SNP have benefited from a “predominant-party problem” in Scotland, and calls for a range of radical political reforms to ‘transform our political culture‘. Continue reading Do Scots feel at home in a country dominated by one party?

The Guid Auld Days at Muirhouse Millennium Centre

Janet - Compare recieves a bouquet

Thursday saw Edinburgh College students with volunteers – Step Up – running their first social event in the community: a retro quiz in Muirhouse Millennium Centre with our regular social groups, The Sunshine Club & the Loose Women (writes James McGinty).

Continue reading The Guid Auld Days at Muirhouse Millennium Centre

Holyrood 2016: factfile

The Scottish Parliament elections take place on Thursday 5 May – one week to go! See below for all the information you could ever wish for!

womens manifesto

Your local constituency candidates are:

EDINBURGH CENTRAL

BETTSWORTH, Hannah (Scottish Liberal Democrats)

BOYACK, Sarah (Scottish Labour Party)

DAVIDSON, Ruth (Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party)

DICKIE, Alison (Scottish National Party (SNP))

JOHNSTONE, Alison (Scottish Green Party)

LAIRD, Tom (Scottish Libertarian Party)

 

EDINBURGH NORTHERN & LEITH

CALDWELL, Jack (Independent)

HINDS, Lesley (Scottish Labour Party)

MACPHERSON, Ben (Scottish National Party (SNP))

MCGILL, Iain (Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party)

VEART, Martin (Scottish Liberal Democrats)

EDINBURGH WESTERN

BATHO, Sandy (Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party)

COLE-HAMILTON, Alex (Scottish Liberal Democrats)

GIUGLIANO, Toni (Scottish National Party (SNP))

HEADLEY, Cat (Scottish Labour Party)

 

Other Edinburgh Constituencies:

Edinburgh Eastern

COOK, Nick (Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party)

DENHAM, Ash (Scottish National Party (SNP))

D’INVERNO, Cospatric (Scottish Liberal Democrats)

DUGDALE, Kezia (Scottish Labour Party)

 

Edinburgh Pentlands

FARTHING-SYKES, Emma (Scottish Liberal Democrats)

HEARY, Blair (Scottish Labour Party)

LINDHURST, Gordon (Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party)

MACDONALD, Gordon (Scottish National Party (SNP)

 

Edinburgh Southern

BRIGGS, Miles (Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party)

EADIE, Jim (Scottish National Party (SNP))

JOHNSON, Daniel (Scottish Labour Party)

SUBBARAMAN, Pramod (Scottish Liberal Democrats)

Holyrood Parliament

LIST VOTE

The names of the parties for the Lothian Region are listed below in the order that they appear on the ballot paper.

Seven candidates will be elected to the Lothian Region as Members of the Scottish Parliament, from the following list:

RISE – Respect, Independence, Socialism and Environmentalism

Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party

Scottish Green Party

Scottish Labour Party

Scottish Liberal Democrats

Scottish National Party (SNP)

Scottish Women’s Equality Party

Solidarity – Scotland’s Socialist Movement

UK Independence Party (UKIP)

Holyrood Parliament

THE VOTING SYSTEM

The Additional Member System (AMS) is used to elect members to the Scottish Parliament.

How it works:

There are 129 Members of the Scottish Parliament (MSPs)

There are two ways an MSP can be elected.

Each elector (voter) has two votes.

Scotland is divided into 73 constituencies and each constituency elects one MSP. These are known as constituency MSPs and are elected by ‘first past the post’ in exactly the same way as MPs are elected to Westminster. This is the elector’s constituency vote.

The regional vote is used to elect 56 additional members. Scotland is divided into 8 parliamentary Regions and each region elects seven regional MSPs.

In the second vote the voter votes for a party rather than a candidate. The parties are then allocated a number of additional members to make the overall result more proportional. The regional MSPs are selected from lists compiled by the parties. These MSPs are also sometimes referred to as List MSPs.

holyrood parliament MSPs

HOW DO I VOTE?

Always read the instructions for filling in the ballot papers carefully, even if you have voted before.

You will receive two ballot papers.

On the lilac coloured ballot paper you will vote for your constituency MSP. The ballot paper lists the name of each candidate along with their party name and party logo.

Simply put a cross (X) next to the one candidate that you wish to vote for.

On the peach coloured ballot paper you vote for a party or independent candidate competing for the seven regional seats for your region of Scotland. The ballot paper lists political parties and independent candidates.

Simply put a cross (X) next to the one party or independent candidate that you wish to vote for.

If you make a mistake then you can ask the polling staff to give you another ballot paper.

Scottish Paliament Holyrood

WHERE DO I VOTE?

Your polling place will be noted on your Poll Card, or you can check it online. You should go to your polling place to vote on 5 May, between 7am and 10pm.

Find your polling station

womens manifesto

WHO DO I VOTE FOR? THE MANIFESTOS …

What do they stand for? What are they offering?

RISE

RISE man

RISE-Manifesto-2016

SCOTTISH CONSERVATIVE & UNIONIST PARTY

tory manifesto

Scottish-Conservative-Manifesto_2016

SCOTTISH GREEN PARTY

green manifesto

Scottish Greens Manifesto_Online

 

SCOTTISH LABOUR PARTY

LAB manifesto

Scottish Labour Manifesto 2016

 

SCOTTISH LIBERAL DEMOCRATS

LD manifesto

Manifesto_-_Be_The_Best_Again-_Scottish_Liberal_Democrats_2016

 

SCOTTISH NATIONAL PARTY

snp

SNP_Manifesto2016

 

SCOTTISH WOMEN’S EQUALITY PARTY

women manifesto

WE_Scotland_Manifesto

 

SOLIDARITY – Scotland’s Socialist Movement

SOLIDARITY manifesto

Manifesto available on Solidarity website

UK INDEPENDENCE PARTY (UKIP)

ukip

UKIP Manifesto

 

FURTHER READING

Keep up on Twitter:

‪#‎SP16‬ ‪#‎VoteSocialEnterprise‬ ‪#‎Holyrood2016‬ ‪#‎SP2016‬
‪#‎VoteRISE‬ ‪#‎GreenHolyrood‬ ‪#‎VoteGreen2016‬ ‪#‎BothVotesSNP‬‪ #‎BothVotesLabour‬ ‪#‎VoteLibDemTwice‬ ‪#‎TeamRuth‬