Wednesday 21 October 2015

Charles Pattie - Professor, Department of Geography, University of Sheffield [Presentation]

Scotland's 2015 electoral landslide: why it's worse (or better) than you think

Perhaps the most dramatic result on Election Night 2015 was the Scottish National Party's rout of Labour in the latter's previously rock-solid Scottish heartlands. Labour's vote share fell steeply and the party lost

40 seats, returning just 1 MP. The SNP, meanwhile, surged, more than doubling their vote share, gaining an absolute majority of the Scottish vote (the first party to do so since the Conservatives in 1955) and taking 56 out of Scotland's 59 seats. Dramatic though this was, however, it is only the surface manifestation of a much deeper and more dramatic story. Survey data reveals an almost unprecedented change not just in voting but in deeper political allegiances in Scotland. The tectonic plates of Scottish politics have shifted dramatically, with serious potential consequences for the entire UK.

Room: Roger Stevens LT 11 (10.11) (Building 89 on campus map), University of Leeds, Leeds. Starting 4pm until 5pm with Teas/Coffees available from 3:30pm in School of Geography Foyer (Building 90 on campus map), Garstang level 7, Room 7.41. See interactive campus map, (PDF copy available here).

Link showing directions to School of Geography where teas/coffees are held in more detail available here.