So with 24 of Scotland’s 32 council’s declared, it looks likely that Scotland has voted to remain in the union. I’ll post on this more fully later on after the final results are in. There are a couple of inital thoughts though.
| Yes (at 5am) | 1,102,788 | 46% |
| No (at 5am) | 1,305,388 | 54% |
Firstly, by the looks of things it looks like Scotland’s commuter towns have voted for the status quo in their droves. As at 5am Lothians, Falkirk, Stirling Aberdeen & East Renfrewshire voted no. All areas that are commuter towns that see people work in Edinburgh & Glasgow. You only had to look at the turnout in these parts of the country to see that voters have turned out to retain the status quo.
Secondly, It looks as if the Yes campaign lost momentum in the aftermath of the ICM poll 10 days ago. The poll, which put Yes ahead for the first time, galvanised the No camp. It looked as if Yes drifted back in the polls at this time, thanks to No stepping up their campaign. Thanks to the Gordon Brown effect. Also as well, i don’t think that the Yes camp handled the attacks from big business effectively. Yes essentially dismissed these attacks as “scaremongering”, but really should have completely and utterly rebutted these claims. In effect a slight laziness or complacency set in. Maybe this was campaign fatigue setting in, who knows.
Thirdly, “The Vow” I think turned heads. I think it caught Yes on the hop, when they should have rebutted this thoroughly.
The campaign overall has been a wonderful display of democracy. Sadly we now have to put up with the sight of smug Westminster politicians on our television screens over the next couple of days.
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