ZoltanBuchan Posted November 4, 2014 Share Posted November 4, 2014 As it currently stands, Nicola Sturgeon will not be invited to take part in the televised leadership debates prior to next year's Westminster GE. This is despite:1) The SNP having the third highest membership of any party in Britain2) Current polling showing that the SNP stand to win 10 times as many seats as UKIP, who are looking likely to be included, and possibly twice as many as one of the parties currently in government.Therefore, the only excuse for excluding the SNP is that they are not a 'British' party, who only field candidates in a certain part of the country. So....While I'm fully aware that it's obviously not going to happen, if the SNP put up 50-100 candidates in the rest of the UK, there would be no reason to exclude Nicola Sturgeon from the debates.A GE is of course no place to try and pick up protest votes, and the vast majority would clearly receive minimal support. However, by standing in urban seats throughout the country, and in towns in the North of England, the Party could stress that with the high number of seats it expects to win in Scotland, the SNP could and would force a Labour government further to the left in any possible coalition deal. This may even help a few candidates to hold on to their deposit.Might even win in Corby Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EvilScotsman Posted November 4, 2014 Share Posted November 4, 2014 As it currently stands, Nicola Sturgeon will not be invited to take part in the televised leadership debates prior to next year's Westminster GE. This is despite: 1) The SNP having the third highest membership of any party in Britain 2) Current polling showing that the SNP stand to win 10 times as many seats as UKIP, who are looking likely to be included, and possibly twice as many as one of the parties currently in government. Therefore, the only excuse for excluding the SNP is that they are not a 'British' party, who only field candidates in a certain part of the country. So.... While I'm fully aware that it's obviously not going to happen, if the SNP put up 50-100 candidates in the rest of the UK, there would be no reason to exclude Nicola Sturgeon from the debates. A GE is of course no place to try and pick up protest votes, and the vast majority would clearly receive minimal support. However, by standing in urban seats throughout the country, and in towns in the North of England, the Party could stress that with the high number of seats it expects to win in Scotland, the SNP could and would force a Labour government further to the left in any possible coalition deal. This may even help a few candidates to hold on to their deposit. Might even win in Corby None of the 4 parties who'll be represented at the leaders' debates field candidates in Northern Ireland. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Toepoke Posted November 4, 2014 Share Posted November 4, 2014 Salmond might win in Liverpool given his popularity on QT there! I mentioned this previously, 100 grand would fund the deposits of candidates for half the seats in England. Maybe a price worth paying to guarantee maximum exposure in the media? It'd certainly be a handy threat to bargain with, personally I think any debates not representative of the Scottish electorate shouldn't be screened at prime time up here... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Freeedom Posted November 4, 2014 Share Posted November 4, 2014 absolutely not. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UPROAR Posted November 4, 2014 Share Posted November 4, 2014 what would be interesting would be to see the parties 'excluded' from the TV debates (Green, SNP, PC) form a UK wide westminster election coalition. This would see them exceed the obstacles the BBC erected to live debates in almost every way - they could then field one representative from each party in the coalition at each TV debate. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Armchair Bob Posted November 4, 2014 Share Posted November 4, 2014 The Greens are excluded because the broadcasters believe they cannot win enough seats to make a material difference to the election - though in a self-fulfilling prophesy, by refusing to publicise them, they guarantee poor Green success. The SNP on the other hand are not excluded for not being a British party. they are excluded for not being an English party, and therefore completely irrelevant. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Toepoke Posted November 4, 2014 Share Posted November 4, 2014 (edited) The Greens are excluded because the broadcasters believe they cannot win enough seats to make a material difference to the election - though in a self-fulfilling prophesy, by refusing to publicise them, they guarantee poor Green success. Imagine where UKIP would be if the BBC etc. had applied that criteria to them!... Edited November 4, 2014 by Toepoke Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Auld_Reekie Posted November 4, 2014 Share Posted November 4, 2014 100% not. Doing so loses sight of what the SNP are and what they are trying to achieve. Fielding candidates means being responsible for them and having them represent your interests in parliament. Candidates south of the border are not going to be motivated by Scottish interests, independence or even home rule, and if they were, I'd suggest having them elected and being driven by these issues would see them and the SNP getting a very warped and bad rep quickly. The TV debates are a farce but this is not a solution. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZoltanBuchan Posted November 4, 2014 Author Share Posted November 4, 2014 Problem with the TV debates is that they're a direct import from America, and therefore only really work in a two party system. Include the SNP and UKIP as well as the other three, and it's just an all-star edition of Question Time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JasMc1973 Posted November 4, 2014 Share Posted November 4, 2014 great idea, then they can become the British National Party...got a lovely ring to it.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joe545 Posted November 4, 2014 Share Posted November 4, 2014 Problem with the TV debates is that they're a direct import from America, and therefore only really work in a two party system. Include the SNP and UKIP as well as the other three, and it's just an all-star edition of Question Time. That's exactly how it works in Sweden. Works fine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
weekevie04 Posted November 4, 2014 Share Posted November 4, 2014 Why not follow Scandinavia? We could have - Labour, Tory, Lib, UKIP, SNP, Plaid, Green, UUP/DUP, Sinn Fein/SDLP Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Toepoke Posted November 4, 2014 Share Posted November 4, 2014 Looks like the next offering from Endemol... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stocky Posted November 4, 2014 Share Posted November 4, 2014 : Some 260,000 people born in Scotland now live in London I have always thought they should field someone for the London Assembly, its the city with a HUGE number of Scots in it, and the voting is PR , so a very good chance of a seat... do it just to cause mischief... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iainmac1 Posted November 4, 2014 Share Posted November 4, 2014 There is always the Berwick upon Tweed constituency. Stand on reclaiming Berwick! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest flumax Posted November 4, 2014 Share Posted November 4, 2014 Seeing they abstain on English only policies, they would have to break that to be able to represent constituents. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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