Voting Tory in Scotland - Michael Gove
Micahel Gove writes in the Scotsman about getting people to vote Tory in Scotland. His final paragraph is
It is, of course, part of my job to convince them that the only way they can get the Cameron-style policies on education they might like, on eliminating illiteracy or dealing with poor discipline, is if they vote to get them implemented in Holyrood as well as Westminster. Voting Tory, as Annabel Goldie pointed out this week, is still a big ask for some Scots. But, increasingly, the question many Scots are asking themselves is, why not?This is the question, why not vote Tory at the General Election. Since 1997 when no Tory was returned to Westminster both Scotland and the Conservatives have changed significantly. A new optimism and confidence has come to Scotland with the start of Devolution, a belief that we are as big, if not better, than our nearest neighbour and with this has come a realisation that we can aspire to bigger and better things, not caught up with the tribal beliefs of a stagnant and dying Labour Party. This has already been seen with the SNP being the biggest party in Holyrood, but now the Tory Party is seeing the beginning of a renaissance with the polls showing that Labour is now in third place in Scotland with the Tories a strong second. Michael Gove gives some of the reasons this might be true
Under David Cameron, the Conservative party has changed in a way which brings it more closely into alignment with mainstream Scotland. The Cameron policy instruction to test every idea to see if it helps the poorest first, the Cameron spending decision to protect the NHS at this difficult time, the Cameron campaigning injunction to defend public-service professionals from attacks on their independence, all place modern Conservatism and middle Scotland back in synch.He is right the Tory ideals are now as much Scottish ideals, a desire to become better but also to ensure that no-one is forgotten as we grow. This is in distinct opposition to Scottish Labour who are still stuck in the 70's thinking and their tribal warfare.
Let us hope that Gordon Brown is soon forced to call an election and Scotland can get the representation in Westminster it deserves.
Michael Gove: Tory vote is a big ask for Scots, but nation and party are changing - Scotsman.com News
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5 comments:
Tory ideals will never be Scottish ideals. Tory ideals will always related to SE England and their needs. I'm not taken in by that for one minute. Sorry.
Tory ideals will never be Scottish ideals.One only has to look back at the Scotland of the 1950s to see the vacuity of that sweeping statement.
subrosa, just a cut and paste of a comment I made on PB.com.
"The problem is that the SNP are now waking up to a terrifying thought, they have been desperately hoping that Labour would get booted out of power down South by the Conservatives, because they hoped it would bring Independence that bit closer. But a wee revival in the Conservatives fortunes up here might have been welcomed, but not a larger one, with all the implications that brings for both Independence, and the strength of the SNP performance in 2007. They want that result a couple of years ago to be a message that the Union is so yesterday, when it fact, it was more about change and booting Labour out as some of us said back then.
There are the traditional Labour heartlands in Scotland, and they won’t change, nor did they fall in love with Blair. That is why there was room for Tommy Sheridan and the SSP when New Labour descended on us. But it was Blair who wooed and won the other parts of Scotland that went red, and these area’s have seen a decline in the Labour vote that matches the decline in Blair’s career towards the end. They were not sold on Gordon Brown then, or now, his Scottish roots were not the issue."
And that is why the SNP are now finally waking up to the danger that Cameron might just appeal to parts of Scotland in the same way Blair did. Strong and decisive leadership in Westminster during this recession is vital, and something that will be demanded by voters right across the UK, including Scotland.
Its no accident that The Conservatives lead Labour among all regions and social groups – including Scotland now in the latest polls from YouGov and ComRes. First time in over 30 years, Brown's appalling premiership has not just given the SNP a big boost, its in danger of propelling the Conservatives back into Scottish Westminster's seats at the same rate we lost them in 97'.
Subrosa , just to question why you should think that tory ideals are not the same as many Scots ideals. Leaving aside Independence, which is wanted by many in Scotland and not just the SNP, we get onto the real values that people want in their lives.
Things like Opportunity and Power over our own lives rather than being treated as a statistic.
Good Schools for our children, Stronger families who support each other rather than relying on the State, less red tape so that we can have better control over our lives, fair taxation that means we all pay our share to help each other, more local control of issues to ensure that rural areas like mine spend money on things which will help them, a stronger fairer society that ensures we all have a chance in life etc etc.
None of these are just aimed at the England they are aimed at all of the UK.
The problem is more about the tribal nature of Scottish Politics, particularly in the West where many people have no idea what the individual parties stand for but just vote what they are told to do.
The reason the SNP and Scottish Tories have worked well together in Holyrood is because many of their policies are very similar and they are prepared to give and take rather than be stuck in history way the two other main parties work.
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