Scots hope for stronger voice

Their vote could be key to who rules

VOTERS in Glasgow said they hoped for a stronger voice for Scotland yesterday as Britain voted in elections set to see the Scottish National Party make big gains and become a potential kingmaker at Westminster.

Opinion polls during the campaign put the SNP on course to win most of the 59 House of Commons seats in Scotland, giving them a strong hand in the likely event that no party wins an overall majority.

“Whatever the outcome, whatever party wins, they are going to need to change how they see Scotland as a political entity,” John Lyons, a retired civil servant casting his ballot in Scotland’s biggest city, said.

The Labour Party, the official opposition in the Commons, has long held sway in Scotland, winning 41 seats in the last general election in 2010.

But it could lose most if not all of these to the nationalists – a stunning turn of events, just months after the SNP lost September’s referendum on Scottish independence.

“My message is that we’ll stand up for Scotland,” SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon, casting her vote in a Glasgow suburb, said.

Across Britain, the final opinion polls indicated the vote was too close to call, with Prime Minister David Cameron’s Conservatives and Labour neck and neck.

If neither win a majority in the Commons, they may well have to turn to smaller parties to form a government -- giving the SNP a strong hand.

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

Scotland has had a devolved government in Edinburgh since 1998, although major decisions about tax and spending, defence and foreign policy are still taken in London.

The desire for greater powers and influence is a common refrain in Glasgow, a once proud shipping and industrial hub.

“I don’t think Westminster or the central government has given Scotland enough credit or enough power,” Dr Sam Aaron, 38, said.

He is opposed to independence, but said: “A stronger Scotland will be actually better for the UK.”

Labour leader Ed Miliband has said he understands the patriotism and pride of Scots, but warned that backing the SNP only made it more likely that the Conservatives, who are deeply unpopular in Scotland, remain in power. – AFP