Are Labour finished now in Scotland ?

[Michael W]

So Glasgow doesn't vote Labour nah?

They're fucked. the scottish branch is done for.

I never said it doesn't.

Glasgow doesn't represent Scottish Labour as a whole, though. The majority of Labour voters in Scotland will be happy with the result - the party isn't 'finished' by any means, even if its stronghold on Glasgow failed to yield a vote for the Union.

[~~~]

I never said it doesn't.

Glasgow doesn't represent Scottish Labour as a whole, though. The majority of Labour voters in Scotland will be happy with the result - the party isn't 'finished' by any means, even if it's stronghold on Glasgow failed to yield a vote for the Union.

Glasgow is a scottish Labour heartland along with Inverclyde.

Labour supporters here who both supported a yes and no vote, are not unhappy with the party being against independence, they are livid at the party standing shoulder to shoulder with the tories and the tactics they have used throughout the campaign

[BerwickMad]

There were people on 5Live last night talking about Gordon Brown getting leadership of the party in Scotland and looking to become FM. If it happens and Brown can keep up the energy he has shown over the past couple weeks, Sturgeon could get destroyed. Only Salmond in the SNP would be a match for Brown. Anyone who thinks Labour are finished in Scotland is deluded. They just need to get the right people at the top.

[Michael W]

Glasgow is a scottish Labour heartland along with Inverclyde.

Labour supporters here who both supported a yes and no vote, are not unhappy with the party being against independence, they are livid at the party standing shoulder to shoulder with the tories and the tactics they have used throughout the campaign

And more or less the entire central belt.

I don't disagree some are unhappy with that, but enough to ensure the party will be sunk into the ground? I can't agree.

British politics would be a much better place if parties worked together on areas of agreement.

[a1974h]

I've voted labour all my life but I promise you I will never vote for them again. We had a chance in Independence to have a fairer society the kind of society the original Labour Party was founded for.

But the Labour Party opted to keep the union for its own interests.

I actually think as an independant country we could have not only rivalled but exceeded England as a successfull country.

[HibeeJibee]

Clearly the party with work to do is Labour. Only 4 out of 32 council areas voted 'Yes' and even if we take Dundee being "Yes City" as being "SNP City" - a conclusion I'm not entirely sure will be borne-out in future elections - the other 3 are in Labour heartlands.

They clearly had a problem in the 2011 Holyrood election and they clearly had a problem in some places last night. However, plenty of other Labour areas went 'No', sometimes quite solidly. Mixed picture.

They need to get some strong leadership - as a party, they've consistently sent the best talent to Westminster leaving weak personalities at Holyrood. For next year's general election they'll also need to soothe the feelings of those supporters who would have been annoyed by their "chummyness" with the Lib Dems and Tories during the referendum campaign - although I suspect this feeling may not be as widespread as some suggest, and in any case many will recognise that abandoning Labour only serves to help the Conservatives. They also need to get some stronger, more unique and more 'left' policies. If they screw-it-up they will do badly.

Talk of their demise is almost certainly over-stated though. They've just helped win the referendum and carried much of their support in doing so. Emotions which run high today will cool.

[clash city rocker]

When the SNP were forced to go with only one question on the ballot paper,Labour should have jumped in there and then and said that while they didn't agree with Indy,they would demand nothing less than devo max.Instead they have been nothing but negative towards the capabilities of Scotland and Scottish people being able to run their own country.Johann Lamont has been a disgrace...as a lifelong socialist and Labour voter,their sharing a stage with the Tories has disgusted me.Labour will continue to compete in Scotland but their credibility is zero.

[Mr Bairn]

They certainly aren't finished. The thing they have going for them is that so many Scots vote Labour if they aren't using a protest vote or voting for some exciting, positive party.

The Lib Dems died out as a protest vote, the Tories are hated and mostly extremists vote UKIP or Green. That leaves you Labour or the SNP, now a lot of people voted SNP in 2011 as they'd proven themselves to be competent in government. These people aren't necessarily Yes voters but at least they were willing to vote for a referendum to determine the settled will of the people of Scotland. Now that the question has been put on the shelf for a while these people might be willing to continue voting for the competence of the SNP rather than reverting back to Labour.

In short, I think the SNP hold the cards. If they continue to run Holyrood efficiently and are willing to put independence on the back burner for a while, they could naturalise many of their 2011 first time voters, if they throw the toys out the pram and try to organise another referendum then Labour could get back in IMO

[AeroZeppelin]

There were people on 5Live last night talking about Gordon Brown getting leadership of the party in Scotland and looking to become FM. If it happens and Brown can keep up the energy he has shown over the past couple weeks, Sturgeon could get destroyed. Only Salmond in the SNP would be a match for Brown. Anyone who thinks Labour are finished in Scotland is deluded. They just need to get the right people at the top.

He could have been labour leader in iscotland - real change, exciting and dynamic,instead of this cringe worthy charade.

[F_T_Y]

Imagine a war criminal like brown as first minister.

Disgusting.

[~~~]

Even London Labour know the Scottish branch is fucked

http://m.huffpost.com/uk/entry/5846282?1411147398

[Big Rider]

I am an ex Labour voter. They are dead to me now. Everyone of them makes me cringe. Think of Lamont, Murphy, Alexander, Curran, Lords Brown and Darling, Miliband, boke!

[boabinoban]

If Cameron can make the West Lothian Question work for him then Labour are completely screwed. Scotland can vote Labour til it's blue in the face, but we'll just have lots more lovely lovely tories. Isn't that lovely? And I bet within six months good ole cuddly Boris decides it's time to give Cameron a run for his money. And with Farage making plenty noises, possible Barnett formula revised or scrapped, no agreement on these mystical 'new powers' and Cameron immediately breaking any promises by saying achieving the results promised by Brown were 'unrealistic', then this is going to be one great big ole barrel of fucking laughs. Get fucked Scotland.

[Shannon]

Daft Labour voters who vote their monkeys in every General Election will do so once again in much of Ayrshire and Greater Glasgow. They don't care they cuddled up to the Tories.

The people who voted Yes should try and unite against Labour by voting for the SNP or other independent supporting parties but will forget about politics and moan on Facebook instead.

I do hope in my area where yes vote was nearly 50% we can get our Labour Unionist ousted but be very hard as need a 15% plus swing

[boabinoban]

I've lost so much faith in the democratic process, Westminster, the fucking mainstream fucking b*****d media, and Scotland as a whole in the course of the referendum. Yes had the odds stacked against them and it was a feat of social media and campaigning that got it 45%. Scotland just fucked itself and I am numbed by it. Truly numbed and fucking angry.

[ForeverSinging]

I'll tell ye what - I may well vote Labour one day but it'll take a real intellectual and emotional change in the party for me to do so.

To me Labour represents a manipulative machine that has lost any sense of radicalism and that actively promotes a lack of thought amongst the people that need it the most.

[justinjest]

The labour party were in terminal decline before these elections, their behaviour during them dealt the death blow.

My fervent hope was that post yes vote, we would see the Scottish labour party re-inventing itself as a socialist party again, once it no longer had to dance to Westminster Labour's tune.

That dream died with the no vote.

However, hurt as I was with the no vote, it is nowhere near as bad as the hurt I feel at the behaviour of the labour party during these elections. Getting into bed with the tory party is unforgivable in my eyes. Propping up the tory government when they were wavering, is a betrayal that can never be righted.

The labour parties behaviour during this election has resulted in a future of right wing, tory / ukip coalition governments lording over us. The scenes in George Square are just a taster of what is to come.

I'm firing off emails to my labour councillor / MP / MEP telling them of my disgust at their behaviour.

I've voted labour all my life, but never again, unless there is a cataclysmic shift to the left.

The labour party will be as insignificant as the libdems after the next elections.

[sparky88]

Clearly the party with work to do is Labour. Only 4 out of 32 council areas voted 'Yes' and even if we take Dundee being "Yes City" as being "SNP City" - a conclusion I'm not entirely sure will be borne-out in future elections - the other 3 are in Labour heartlands.

They clearly had a problem in the 2011 Holyrood election and they clearly had a problem in some places last night. However, plenty of other Labour areas went 'No', sometimes quite solidly. Mixed picture.

They need to get some strong leadership - as a party, they've consistently sent the best talent to Westminster leaving weak personalities at Holyrood. For next year's general election they'll also need to soothe the feelings of those supporters who would have been annoyed by their "chummyness" with the Lib Dems and Tories during the referendum campaign - although I suspect this feeling may not be as widespread as some suggest, and in any case many will recognise that abandoning Labour only serves to help the Conservatives. They also need to get some stronger, more unique and more 'left' policies. If they screw-it-up they will do badly.

Talk of their demise is almost certainly over-stated though. They've just helped win the referendum and carried much of their support in doing so. Emotions which run high today will cool.

Indeed. Even the Tories were far more successful at getting their vote out to vote no - Perth and Kinross being the highest No in the whole of the country, for example.