The SNP Nails Down New Labour’s Coffin
Victory for the SNP and the likelihood of a Labour victory (or even hung parliament) at the next election diminish into almost nothing. Glasgow East is in no way typical of any other area of Britain but after this calamity Labour morale has surely declined to the level where no Summer boost can save them. As this article points out a failure of this scale on a national level would leave both the Chancellor and Prime Minister unseated.
The SNP have seen their power solidified and their claim to Scotland strengthened. This suits the Conservatives immensely in terms of electoral success, but they are far from the party best equipped to deal with the long-term fallout, that is to say the constitutional crisis that Scottish attempted departure would trigger.
I would love to draw the conclusion from this that there is room in Britain for a left-wing party to replace Labour, but drawing any such evidence from Scotland is highly unwise.
So then, a result which leaves the political landscape somewhat more certain but yet more distinct from the norm.
We are looking at a decade maybe more of Tory governments, and no their is no quick fix to the problems of the Labour Party and the collapse of it’s organic link with the working class over the last ten years will leave them vulnerable to terminal decline.