Eh? Folkiedave, the system used for elections to the Scottish Parliament is a form of Proportional Representation known as the Additional Member System (AMS). Each voter has two votes, the first for a Regional Member, there being 56 regional Members across 8 regions. The second vote is based on the usual "first past the post" system for the 73 Constituency Members of the Scottish Parliament.

In either case two-thirds of the people of Scotland rejected the SNP. That is what the figures tell me, but they only represent some form of substantive evidence of the overall political picture in Scotland based upon how they actually voted, or didn't.

If Akenaton wants to parley those figures into something that supports his contention that Scotland voted for the SNP he could only be described by any rational human being as being delusional. How else could you describe as a mandate to rule, a situation where only half the electorate turn out, and of that half, two-thirds do not vote for you.

Translated Ake, Folkiedave, that means through deliberate voting practice, or through apathy, 83% of the electorate of Scotland did not vote for the Scottish Nationalists - What kind of victory is that folks? - Momentous? Credible? Non-existent? Looks like another of those elections where a box marked "None of the above" would have more truly reflected the mood of the electorate as a whole. They should do what they do in Australia - You get fined if you don't vote.