Commons analysis reveals the extent to which the SNP and Conservatives voted together under the last Labour government
The supposedly ‘principled’ stance of the SNP and the Conservatives not to do a deal with each other under any circumstances after the General Election is today coming under strain.
New research carried out for Scottish Labour by the House of Commons Library has revealed the extent to which the majority of Conservative and SNP MPs found themselves in the same voting lobbies under the previous Labour government.
According to the data, between 2001 and 2005, a majority of Conservative MPs voted with a majority of SNP MPs in 64 per cent of all pertinent votes in the House of Commons. The figure for the 2005 to 2010 Parliament was 71 per cent.
When it came to votes on Finance Bills which enact budget measures, in the 2001-2005 parliament, 68 per cent of votes saw a majority of SNP MPs and a majority of Conservative MPs voting in the same way. In the 2005-2010 parliament this figure increased to 88 per cent.
Commenting on the analysis shadow Scottish secretary Margaret Curran MP, said:
“Last week Nicola Sturgeon told people in England and Wales to vote for any party but Labour. With this evidence that they voted with the Tories the choice is clear – if you want rid of the Tories, you need to vote Labour in May.”
The figures come amidst more attempts from within the Conservative Party to woo the SNP ahead of a likely hung parliament.
Despite David Cameron’s assertions to the contrary Paul Goodman, editor of ConservativeHome, has this morning argued that Conservatives should be prepared to negotiate with the SNP by offering home rule for each of the UK’s nations. He concludes that ‘the Cameron/Osborne/Crosby trio ought to be just a little bit careful about how they handle Sturgeon and her party during the run-up to May 7’.
Goodman’s suggestion comes following a similar intervention last month by the former leader of the Scottish Conservatives Annabel, now Baroness, Goldie. Noting that throughout her time as leader, Alex Salmond’s minority government at Holyrood often relied on Conservative support to get measures passed, she told the Daily Record that the SNP’s readiness to work with the Tories at Holyrood but not at Westminster simply reeked of ‘posturing’ and ‘hypocrisy’.
And it cannot be forgotten that in 1979 it was the SNP voting against James Callaghan’s government in the confidence vote that ushered in 18 years of Conservative rule.
So as the election draws near, let’s not be fooled into thinking that Conservative or SNP promises not to work with each other after the election are grand statements of respectable principle.
Ed Jacobs is a contributing editor to Left Foot Forward. Follow him on Twitter
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8 Responses to “New research shows cracks in the Tories’ refusal to work with the SNP”
Guest
Lord Blagger, you accuse me of your sins.
You’re the one looking for the good right wing values of Borders here, as you whine about local democracy. You are whining about parties – gasp – being allowed to talk to each other.
Facts are bizarre by your standards, I get it.
Guest
(PS, Labour are right wing, so your whining is even sillier – again, the answer is voting reform and not running away, and you can’t take any of the hype you hand out freely)
littleoddsandpieces
…Last week Nicola Sturgeon told people in England and Wales to vote for any party but Labour. …
The SNP are correct.
Neither Tory nor Labour will get sufficient votes to form a majority government, and so there will be the most severe hung parliament, and then a second general election later this year.
When the Tories and Labour intend to have a coalition between EACH OTHER in the UK parliament, that it appears they have in some 5 Scottish councils already, including Stirling.
When neither can reach sufficient votes now, never mind when even fewer voters come out again later in the year for the 2nd general election.
Vote any party but Labour is correct, as the middle class will vote Labour, not the 75 per cent who are poor (Class War is right about that statistic). Because the middle class is about £40,000 income per year and above.
The poor now outnumber all other voters in huge numbers of marginals throughout the UK, but especially the biggest UK nation, England.
So to save the nation from a minority government of
COALITION TORY AND LABOUR in 2015.
Vote different in 2015 in this Vote or Starve Election.
WHO?
– TRADE UNIONIST AND SOCIALIST COALITION (TUSC)
Running 124 MP candidates and rising
And in many council elections this year.
The party includes an Ex Labour MP and councillors who left or were sacked by Labour party for being against austerity cuts, and campaigning anti-austerity trade union officials.
MEBYON KERNOW
Cornwall has the most slim, in single figures of number of votes that got the sitting Tory or Lib Dem MP into the job in 2010.
CLASS WAR
Mostly running in London
Great for the youth vote.
OFFERING DOUBLE DOLE AND PENSION
Small parties are big this year.
The more small parties get MPs, the more they can form an arm’s length coalition of the threshold of 323 MPs between them.
Labour will be in the coalition, as would SNP and PLAID CYMRU.
The 1 Greens.
TUSC / CLASS WAR / SOCIALIST GB / MEBYON KERNOW
These parties offer MPs that would
– reverse the rise in retirement age,
– pay a decent state pension,
– reverse austerity and welfare cuts, and
– save the poor from growing starvation
from babes in wombs to grannies and grandads.
http://www.anastasia-england.me.uk