Scunnered; election reflections

Three Scots that bide in newly Tory constituencies reflect oan the result.

Berwickshire, Roxburgh & Selkirk. 2015, Calum Kerr SNP. 2017, John Lamont Conservative.

Berwickshire, Roxburgh & Selkirk – cry it The Borders, syne that’s whit it really is – had nivir electit an SNP Member o Pairliament afore. Nivir even ran it close. Sae whan Calum Kerr nipped in tae beir the gree in 2015, it wis a real bellwether fir the independence muivement nationally, an a soorce o deep an lestin pride tae a local memmership wha, heiven kens, had bided lang eneuch tae see a day like yon.

In an aging, rural community lang gien tae settin local identities ower national yins, a veectory like Calum’s was aye liable tae be a yince in a lifetime affair – an sae it has turnt oot, wi Tory MSP John Lamont at lang an last gittin his hauns on the Westmeenster seat he’d ettelt at – an failed tae win – three times afore.

Sae thare’s nae surprise here, then – no really – that Calum Kerr coudna thraw the odds a secont time. Outrage, aye, an plenty o it, at the dreidfu loss o that rarest o things – a braw politeecian – and even rarer o things – a guid man.

But mair as that in the Borders, thare’s sorrow. Sorrow that the grandest maument o oor poleetical lives has lested nae langer than a blink, an that aw oor fechtin in 2015 – oor postin leaflets, oor chappin doors – has been dicht oot at a straik. An fir whit, ye ask? Fir the fouterin harikari o a leader we nivir chose.

Aye, it’s Tory country doon here richt eneuch. We’ve got it aw; laund-owners, Landrovers, Dukes an hunts an men in tweed on horses. But fir twa-three years, we wir mair as that. We wir viable, ken. We wir like the rest o ye. We coud leuk oorsels an oor neeburs in the een an say, “Aye, us an aw.”

Nou – the day – we’re back tae whaur we wir, in Hawick an in Gala, in Selkirk an in Jed. Invasion o the Boady Snatchers aw ower again. Every face ye leuk at a quaisten. Are they? Did they? Well, guess whit. In the Borders, aye, they are. In the Borders, aye, they did.
– Tammas Clark

Gordon. 2015, Alec Salmond SNP. 2017, Colin Clark Conservative.

Last nicht wis sleepless fir mony across oor hameland, and ess mornin wis a shockin, scunnerin een fir even mair folk, especially in the North-East o Scotland an the Gordon constituency.
Aifter the 2015 election Alec Salmond telt the warld that the Scottish lion had roared. Last nicht herts were brekkin across the nation fan it wis revealed that the big beast had lost his seat, jist days aifter losing his Da.

Losin is aye sair, but losin tae the Tories is agony. I dinna even think they thirsels were expectin ti tak ess previously staunch Lib Dem seat. Yi hiv ti mind that Alec only stood in Gordon fir the first time in 2015, and yi div wonder if he had stood jist up the road in Banff and Buchan far he had a 23 year lang stint as MP, wid he still hae a jobbie doon in Westminster iday?

He may be oor very ain ‘Marmite Manny’ but the hale country has got an affa lot tae thank him for. I honestly dinna think we’ve seen the last of Big Eck yet. But as fir the North East, the near future is lookin affa blue.
– Antonia Uri

Angus. 2015, Mike Weir SNP. 2017, Kirstene Hair Conservative.

Angus, Scotland’s birthplace. Thon’s the message oan ilka sign as ye drive intae the rollin drums an glens o ma east-coast hame. It’s toons are ancient, its culture strang. It wis at Arbroath they scrievit the Declaration that wrocht us a nation owre seven hunner year syne. Brechin, the cathedral city oan the banks o Sooth Esk, wis the hert o the auld Pictish kingdom. It’s a coothie, quiet neuk. An it’s lang been SNP. Mike Weir wis a local lad wi a guid wey aboot him. A muckle majority jist twa year ago. Safe as hoosies. Ah’d read that mibbie his jaiket was oan a shoogly peg. Ah didnae credit it but; jist the usual havers fae the media.

Thursday nicht Ah drove up fae Carnoustie, throu the pleuterin rain, through Froikham an Brechin. Whaur in 2014 there wis YES signs an saltires blawin fae ilka hoose, noo there was great fuck-aff signs fir the Tories. Their candidate wis some bonnie young lassie cried “Hair”. Her photae wis strappit tae tattie pallets in fields aa they wey alang. Ah goat a gey queer feelin that somethin wis agley. Surely here, Scotland’s actual beatin hert, the fowk widnae dance wi the deil?
Friday mornin, Ah find that ma fellow teuchters hae selt us aa doon the river. Ma bonnie Angus is blue, an Ah’m fit tae greet.
– Alistair Heather

Comments (7)

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  1. IJM says:

    Being from E. Dunbartonshire, ( Border country re Glasgow) I am also greetin.

    A lot of auld yins here who read the wretched rags of propaganda. A lot of complaining
    about the young folk.

    The well heeled elderly are particularly repellent in their desire to deny the very same
    rights , which saw them through life, to the young.

    Substitute ” these dark skinned foreigners ” for “lazy feckless young people” and you,ll
    see where I am coming from. Brexit is a mindset, if not Europe, something else will do.

    1. jack elliot says:

      Scotland however uses the Additional Member System which is much more fair.

      http://jackelliot.over-blog.com/2017/06/westminster-should-copy-the-scottish-electoral-system.html

  2. themorayneep says:

    Yo listen up here’s a story

    About a little guy that lives in a blue world http://www.themorayneep.com/the-blog/the-day-moray-turned-blue/

    1. Ally says:

      Haha, that’s quality. Cheers Neep!

  3. Richard MacKinnon says:

    Not even an attempt to analyse why. Just hand wringing and greetin that make your toes curl.
    “Last nicht herts were brekkin across the nation fan it wis revealed that the big beast had lost his seat”. No they were not. Most thought Salmond had a right brass neck standing again back in 2015. Salmond thought he had the divine right to skip between Westminster and Holyrood whenever he took the notion.
    I will go further, Salmond has always been Marmite. My opinion is, and I said it at the time, that Salmond should have announced that he was going to resign after the 2014 referendum, but he should have said it back in 2013 or early 2014. If he had announced that it was his intention to step down as leader of the SNP (sometime) after the referendum (before the next Scottish elections), maybe he could have persuaded one No voter in twenty that was required, to change their mind and vote Yes. If so, Scotland would now be an independent country.
    He got what he deserved last Thursday.

    1. Alf Baird says:

      Thay SNP MP’s aw got whit thay deser last Fuirsday, fir thay “selt us aa doon the river” whan in May 2015 thon 56 “rairin lions” (sic) decidit tae sattle intae Westminster insteid o sattling up feenaly wi Westminster, e’en wi a whackit Scots majority, mair than eneuch tae feenish thon union o pairlaments fir guid the same wey it wis stairtit. 56 MP’s wastit, an noo 35 MP’s wastit an aw; aye, e’en wi anither majoriti tae, thay’ll aye tak thon unionist seats an siller raither than tak oor naition bak. “Rairin lions” ma airse. ‘Competence’ niver wan ony naition its naitionhood; gurr is whit’s needit fir thon, but thay SNP heid bummers dinna hiv ony gurr nor gumption.

      1. Ally says:

        Ah cannae agree wi aahin ye say there. But ae pynt whaur Ah hink oor opinions owrelap is in this belief; the SNP hae failed tae capitalise on haein 56 MPs. Nigh oan a clean sweep o an entire nation votit fir ae pairty. No in Zimbabwe or ane o the auld Soviet Satellite states; but in Scotland. It’ll ne’er happen again.

        An whit dae we hae tae shaw fir it? Hee haw Barney McGraw.

        Indy isnae a bawhair closer. The Tories wernae forced intae retreat oan ony major policy. It wis a shot sclaffed wide o an open goal, an we wilnae get a better crack at Westminster.

        We still hae 35 but. Let’s dae summit radical wi it.

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