Scots hope for stronger voice from knife-edge election

SNP looks on course to win more than 50 of the 59 Scottish seats

Voters in Scotland said they wanted more influence in the British government as the Scottish National Party prepared for sweeping gains in yesterday’s general election, which could hand it the role of kingmaker.

At a community hall in a Glasgow suburb where SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon voted, 51-yearold Thomas Strubbs said he was hoping for more local powers.

“We need a stronger voice for Scotland in the UK parliament,” said Strubbs, who like many voters referred back to last year’s referendum in which independence was voted down by 55 per cent to 45 per cent.

On the other side of the road, a blue-and-white Scottish “Saltire” flag was proudly displayed on the wall of a pavilion alongside an SNP placard.

After casting her vote, Sturgeon told supporters: “My message is that we’ll stand up for Scotland.”

“We will look to make alliances with people across the UK to make Westminster politics better,” she said.

Sturgeon has said the vote could be a “watershed” where Scots reject Labour, the party that has represented them for generations, fundamentally altering the balance British politics.

Across Britain, the vote was too close to call, with Prime Minister David Cameron’s Conservatives and the opposition Labour Party neck and neck in the opinion polls. But in Scotland, it is a very different story.

Despite losing September’s referendum, the SNP looks on course to win more than 50 of the 59 Scottish seats in parliament — up from just six at the last election in 2010.

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Most of these would be at the expense of Labour, which won 41 Scottish seats five years ago. Losing these would make it very hard for Labour to win a majority in the 650-seat House of Commons.

With the Conservatives also likely to fall short of a majority, both sides may well have to turn to smaller parties to form a government — giving the SNP and its anti-austerity message a strong hand.

The desire for a greater say in the UK is a common refrain in Glasgow, Scotland’s biggest city and a once proud shipping and industrial hub.

“I hope Scotland will have more power on its own and be stronger in Westminster,” Sam Aaron, a 38-year-old doctor, said. “I don’t think Westminster or the central government has given Scotland enough credit or enough power. So hopefully today that might change a bit,” he said.