So that’s it. The polling places have shut, and the votes are being counted as we speak. As I’ve said before, I’m sure the fun is only just beginning. Election night itself is a blast, and there will be plenty of us liveblogging events through the night.
And this won’t be the last post you see on Scottish Roundup this evening either. Another post will follow, looking at what the bloggers actually did when they were in the polling booth.
But on with this roundup — and if you’re planning on staying up all night, it’s maybe just as well we bloggers are here. Because STV can’t be bothered to get off their arses and cover what could be the end of fifty years of Labour dominance in Scotland.
Holyrood Watcher reckons they’ve “given up any pretention to be a national broadcaster”, which is funny really because they’ve only really been able to claim that they are a national broadcaster for about a year, when Scottish and Grampian were merged. (As for the Border region… err… shh!)
I had a go at STV myself here, but it wasn’t just the broadcasters I was on about. I was also talking about the Single Transferable Vote system which was used for the first time in Scotland today.
Osama Saeed was also talking about the voting system, and says he’s glad he’s not voting in England, where the choice is not so broad.
But unfortunately it is not all good news for democracy today, as Fitaloon investigates the postal voting and e-counting issues that have been hovering around for the past couple of weeks. It would be a travesty if democracy failed this evening.
Yesterday the SNP will have had some jitters about Labour seemingly closing the gap on the SNP. Grant Thoms took a look at the latest poll of polls. Contributions in the comments there include a discussion on which polls you can trust, and today’s poll in The Daily Telegraph showing a six point lead for the SNP again.
BBC Economics editor Evan Davies takes a look at the economics of independence in quite a balanced post. Richard Leyton adds his thoughts on it.
Ontheoutsidelookingin feels unqualified to comment on the economic side of things — but will still vote SNP. Meanwhile, McGellie is sceptical of the use of data as a whole in the debate.
McGellie also mentions the report by The Adam Smith Institute which claims that an independent Scotland could achieve growth rates of 7%, which is almost as far-fetched as 9%. I guess the ASI must have needed the spotlight.
Still, that didn’t stop The Devil’s Kitchen from letting off some steam about it. Here is an opposing viewpoint from Small Nation.
On the independence question, Flying Rodent repeats a classic post outlining his perspective on it.
Over at The Select Society, they are celebrating 300 years of the Union.
The Union had the dubious honour of sharing its birthday with the tenth anniversary of Tony Blair’s election, which Mr Eugenides has summarised. Meanwhile, Bookdrunk has found a survey about Blair’s ten years.
Neil McIntosh wonders, is Scotland really voting Nationalist? He has a good round up of commentary from the media as well. Holyrood Watcher is not so impressed with all of the London-based coverage.
Meanwhile, Clairwil is aghast that people have actually been voting Labour today. Sometimes, in our little bloggy ivory towers, it is difficult to remember that there are such people.
The consensus amongst permed pensioners is that Labour are shite but so is everyone else so we all might as well vote Labour. Good God, don’t they get bored? If you want a vision of Scotland’s future imagine Terry Kelly fighting a lampost forever.
On the main parties, Will Patterson has this fair assessment of how their campaigns have gone.
What about that moment when Tony Blair tried to gain some Scottish votes by saying that the next Prime Minister will be a Scot? Shuggy says, “at last.” Meanwhile, Jamie Hepburn says it’s narrow nationalism.
But there is an even more narrow party attracting most of the attention of bloggers — and not just those north of the border — is the Scottish Christian Party. Here is Bookdrunk on the prospect of them being investigated for breaking electoral law. Grant Thoms also has his say.
Tory Boy asks, “Is Rev George Hargreaves the least tolerent person in Politics?”
Lib Dem activist Caron Lindsay has her conclusion on the campiagn. Has a desperately negative campaign from Labour turned voters off?
Niall at The Mushkush Miscellany is not too impressed with Labour’s campaign either:
Their entire platform appears to be “don’t vote SNP it will cost you £5,000 and terrorists will eat your babies…”
On the campaign trail itself, David Hutchison documents a truly astonishing achievement from the SNP. Will they be riding so high in the morning?
Kezia Dugdale tackles that awkward question. Does the party with the most votes have the moral authority to lead the Scottish Executive?
Sadly, some bloggers are seeing the culmination of the campaign — and the 300th birthday of the Union — as the opportunity to stop blogging. Scotswahey! has been a good blog over the past few months. McGellie says:
Happy Birthday to the Union – I raise a glass to its longevity, I raise two more to its demise.
Calum Carr has also decided to call it a day, but not before posting this on Gordon Brown’s “ungracious reply” on the question of whether or not he would work with Alex Salmond. More on this from Jamie Hepburn.
Shuggy has found a video of an interview with Tommy Sheridan denying that he is a nationalist, then in the same breath describing himself in terms that most people would recognise as being nationalist.
Here is Richard Havers with some more on Alex Salmond for First Minister, the party formerly known as the SNP.
Is independence a “one-way street”? Alex Salmond was trying his best to claim that an independent Scotland would be able to get back into the Union if it wanted to. But Reactionary Snob wasn’t buying it:
Wouldn’t, I don’t know, England, Wales and Northern Ireland have a say whether they wanted the Scots back in?
James Graham calls it an independence loop-de-loop.
Speaking of Alex Salmond, is he even going to be an MSP in the morning? Jeff reckons he might get in on the regional list, but even that is a bit dodgy. Well, there is that theory about how he likes the Westminster scene so much!
Finally, a bit of fun. The hit website of the week, Sexy MSP!
Right, that’ll do for now. But we’ll be back shortly with more as the election unfolds, so keep your eyes peeled. All suggestions as always please to scottishroundup@gmail.com.