Twitter campaign backfires spectacularly

IT was supposed to drum up some lastminute support for the SNP ahead of today’s council elections.

But an attempt to get Twitter users to explain why they were voting SNP was hijacked by people who used the trending hashtag to mock the party’s record in government

The official SNP Twitter account put out a message that said: ‘Today is #SNPbecause day. Use hashtag to tell us why you’re voting

SNP tomorrow.’ It was quickly swamped with mockery of the party’s performance, including comments such as ‘#SNPbecause I never need to use ferries’ in reference to the ongoing scandal.

Others joked about keeping staff and councillors in well-paid roles, in a nod to a tweet from SNP staffer Sally McDonald who posted ‘All aboard the gravy bus’ with a picture of her in front of the party’s branded coach. Local issues were also raised, with one user tweeting: ‘I’m not voting #SNPbecause these are council elections and @theSNP led administration have made edinburgh centre, my home of 18 years, a barely habitable dump which becomes a hellish events space in the summer.’

In a jibe at the widespread reports of rats blighting SNP-run Glasgow, another user wrote: ‘I’m #SNPbecause rats are misunderstood and should be welcomed in cities’.