The arrival of 2026 brings forth a ramping up of anticipation for probably the most significant event in this year’s political calendar: May’s regional elections. We heard rumblings of its forthcoming machinations towards the end of 2025 – Anas Sarwar told me to “shake things up in Scotland” every time I clicked on a YouTube video over Christmas – but 1 January fired the starting pistol. The campaign engines are starting up. The steering wheel is spinning. The sat nav is telling us to make a U-turn where possible.
Talk of these elections is punctuated by the prospect of a national verdict on the state of our politics. It seems a rough night for Labour spells curtains for Keir Starmer. It’s easy, therefore, to use regional elections for nothing more than to damn the suits in Westminster. Scottish polling demonstrates that practice acutely. Since collapsing to nine seats in the 2024 general election, the SNP’s support has begun to rise steadily, albeit tentatively, as Labour’s has plummeted. Seemingly, May’s Scottish elections will see a disgruntled electorate throwing wine in the face of Keir Starmer, and paying the SNP for the bottle.
But how about, instead, you actually vote for the person you think will do the best job?
Anas Sarwar, the Scottish Labour Leader, recently called for an investigation into First Minister John Swinney and former First Minister Nicola Sturgeon over contaminated water at the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital in Glasgow, about which an inquiry is ongoing. It seems that doctors who raised concerns weren’t listened to, and several died as a result. While you think about that, have a look at the swelling attainment gap in Scottish schools. And maybe ask your local SNP branch about where those ferries are for Scotland’s northern islands.
Will any of these failures harm the SNP? I doubt it. Will Sarwar’s calling out the SNP earn him legions of new voters? Unlikely. It’s disappointing that our approach to regional elections has been to treat them as a referendum on who is in office, rather than an opportunity to shape public policy.
I make no claim that the SNP have been a complete disaster, and I don’t seek to evangelise the word of the Labour Party. But the caprice of the Scottish electorate underlines how tragic it is that we treat the election of pretty significant governing roles with such flippancy that our vote is swayed by an emotional twitch of the hand at the ballot box. ‘I’m voting for that lot because the other lot annoy me’ – hardly a mature approach to democracy.
It’s too early to hear the other Scottish parties’ plans for government. When they come, you’re free to decide who to support however you like. But it’s foolish to vote for the party you think will irritate the guy down South. The Holyrood elections mean you can decide who can best look after Scotland. Not who you want to tell to fuck off.
“NS5365 – Queen Elizabeth University Hospital” by Richard Sutcliffe is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0.
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Be Careful how You Vote: Our Emotional Approach to Politics
The arrival of 2026 brings forth a ramping up of anticipation for probably the most significant event in this year’s political calendar: May’s regional elections. We heard rumblings of its forthcoming machinations towards the end of 2025 – Anas Sarwar told me to “shake things up in Scotland” every time I clicked on a YouTube video over Christmas – but 1 January fired the starting pistol. The campaign engines are starting up. The steering wheel is spinning. The sat nav is telling us to make a U-turn where possible.
Talk of these elections is punctuated by the prospect of a national verdict on the state of our politics. It seems a rough night for Labour spells curtains for Keir Starmer. It’s easy, therefore, to use regional elections for nothing more than to damn the suits in Westminster. Scottish polling demonstrates that practice acutely. Since collapsing to nine seats in the 2024 general election, the SNP’s support has begun to rise steadily, albeit tentatively, as Labour’s has plummeted. Seemingly, May’s Scottish elections will see a disgruntled electorate throwing wine in the face of Keir Starmer, and paying the SNP for the bottle.
But how about, instead, you actually vote for the person you think will do the best job?
Anas Sarwar, the Scottish Labour Leader, recently called for an investigation into First Minister John Swinney and former First Minister Nicola Sturgeon over contaminated water at the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital in Glasgow, about which an inquiry is ongoing. It seems that doctors who raised concerns weren’t listened to, and several died as a result. While you think about that, have a look at the swelling attainment gap in Scottish schools. And maybe ask your local SNP branch about where those ferries are for Scotland’s northern islands.
Will any of these failures harm the SNP? I doubt it. Will Sarwar’s calling out the SNP earn him legions of new voters? Unlikely. It’s disappointing that our approach to regional elections has been to treat them as a referendum on who is in office, rather than an opportunity to shape public policy.
I make no claim that the SNP have been a complete disaster, and I don’t seek to evangelise the word of the Labour Party. But the caprice of the Scottish electorate underlines how tragic it is that we treat the election of pretty significant governing roles with such flippancy that our vote is swayed by an emotional twitch of the hand at the ballot box. ‘I’m voting for that lot because the other lot annoy me’ – hardly a mature approach to democracy.
It’s too early to hear the other Scottish parties’ plans for government. When they come, you’re free to decide who to support however you like. But it’s foolish to vote for the party you think will irritate the guy down South. The Holyrood elections mean you can decide who can best look after Scotland. Not who you want to tell to fuck off.
“NS5365 – Queen Elizabeth University Hospital” by Richard Sutcliffe is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0.
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