Thursday 14 February 2008

Changing the map

SNP will win extra seats at the next Holyrood election - thanks to the Boundaries Commission's proposed new constituencies. Let's look at Edinburgh, for example.

Edinburgh East would lose Musselburgh and Leith Links, both strong areas of SNP support, but would pick up relatively strong areas in the south of the city. With the work going on there under Kenny MacAskill, Edinburgh East should stay in the comfortable embrace of Scotland's Party.

North and Leith would swap the New Town, Stockbridge and Inverleith for Leith Links and Easter Road, which would have been enough for us to win the seat even without the enormous amount of work we're putting in now.

Edinburgh Central would lose ground around Stenhouse and gain the New Town and Stockbridge. That should leave Central as a marginal. Again, with the work going on there and the positive effects of the spectacular SNP Government, the SNP should come in ahead.

There you have it - two extra seats for the SNP and that's just in Edinburgh. I'm sure that other people will be examining the rest of the country and coming up with a whole lot more seats that the SNP will win.

Westminster first though - that should be fun.

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