Scottish Votepods.com

Just A Minute Challenge - Explain the Voting System

Does anyone understand the relationship between the two votes we all use on May 3rd? We all thought we did until we were discussing it with the fabulous Napier University video journalism students who are filming the votepod debates.

So we gave three folk a boffin, a politician and a normal person a minute to explain. Thanks to all three for being such good sports because as you'll hear, it's not at all easy!

Who do you think did best?

Richard Wilson - student

Andy O'Neill - Electoral Commission

Kevin Pringle - SNP Campaign Manager

STOP PRESS - The New Scottish Election Ballot Paper

Lesley Riddoch writes: Yip folks – its all changed (click ballot paper to see larger image).

Out go two separate ballot papers.

In comes the constituency (first) vote and the regional (second or top-up) list vote on the same ballot paper.

Out go the names of list candidates on the ballot paper (it was kinda long!).

In comes party names only (the full candidate list will be displayed on a poster in the polling station.) And now for the complicated bit.

Out goes the old idea of first (constituency) vote and second (list) vote.

In comes the list vote first (lefthandside of the form) and the constituency vote second (right hand side).

Some cruel commentators said this was Labour’s revenge on the Greens who surprised everyone last election by persuading people to “split” their vote, giving the Greens their second vote as a sort of charitable have-a-go afterthought. This way, the thinking goes, voters are less likely to split votes because all the options are side by side on one paper.

The Greens however are not downhearted. Their press gal Esther Black says the Greens will soon launch their “1st vote Greens” campaign which will help voters achieve the big mental shift from second to first (bit like learning to drive all over again!) – AND make the link with the other voting system being used in council elections, being held on May 3rd by STV (the one with numbers 1-5 not “x”s.)

But this week’s award for sheer electoral cuteness has to go to the artists formerly known as the SNP – henceforth to be called Alex Salmond for First Minister (ASFM). It doesn’t quite trip off the tongue as easily as SNP ( actually the name will still be there in wee writing underneath the party logo!) But it does mean top billing thanks to Alex’s alphabetical advantage. So the first thing the average left to right scanning Scot will see is Big Lec’s name.

Taking cunning to a whole new level of – well, cunning -- the party formerly known as the SNP are also trying to rebrand the vote formerly known as the second vote into a First Ministerial vote (still with me?) According to ASFM strategy maestro Kevin Pringle “in a sense, the regional list is also a vote for who will be First Minister.” Will Kevin and the ASFMs pull off this transformation and persuade voters the second vote is now the first and the party list is now a Presidential contest??!

Watch this space – and thanks to Andy O’Neill from the Electoral Commission who let us put this draft ballot paper online in the interests of public enlightenment but who did NOT contribute to any of the ribald commentary above. All my own folks!

Green Groups Campaign Together

The Big Green Debate on April 17th at The Hub in Edinburgh promises to be the biggest of the Scottish Votepod Events. There'll be music from Capercaille and most of the party leaders are taking part. It's being organised as part of the Everyone Campaign, by a network of charities

'dedicated to establishing the environment as a serious mainstream issue in Scotland, with political decisions taken in the interest of the environment, not simply social and economic considerations'.

Groups involved include the National Trust for Scotland, RSPB, Ramblers Association, Sustrans and Friends of the Earth. A full list and links to their campaigns can be found here.

If you'd like to submit a question for possible inclusion add a comment to this post or email us.

Incidentally the Everyone campaign is organising a whole series of smaller hustings meetings at locations throughout Scotland. Have a look here to see if there's one near you, and make your voice heard.

Visit The Wellbeing Forum

The organisers of the Wellbeing Debate have set up an online forum to help set the agenda for the event. You can contribute to it here.

Concerns over peoples health and the services provided by the NHS are likely to be a major factor in this election.  The online forum  provides a great opportunity to raise issues and debate them ahead of the Votepod event.

The Wellbeing Debate is taking place at 7.00pm in the AK Bell Library, Perth on Monday 16th April. There are very few places left so if you want to attend e-mail the organisers. Musical entertainment is  provided by Michael Marra and St Andrew of the Woolen Mill.

The event is supported by Highland Spring.

Who Should Play at The Votepod Events?

The ever witty Cameron Simpson Diary in The Herald has a nice piece today about which bands would be most appropriate for each of the Votepod events. Reader Mike Richie suggests we should have booked the following

Big Wellbeing Debate - The Cure;
Big Green Debate - Ocean Colour Scene;
Big Energy Debate - Electric Light Orchestra;
Big Cairngorm Debate - Ozark Mountain Daredevils;
Big Neighbourhood Debate - The Streets;
Big Skills Debate - Men At Work.

They're great suggestions and if you've got any other witty ideas, we'd love to hear them.

PS - You can see the actual list here.

The Big Student Debate

Over 400 students, school students and members of the academic community packed the McEwan Hall at Edinburgh University to participate in a debate about educational and other issues. The event was chaired by Lesley Riddoch and Scottish Votepods is delighted to bring you both audio and video highlights from the debate.

We have broken the material down into managable sections that you can  listen and view directly on this page. You can also view videos on the Scottish VotePod Channel on You Tube, subscribe to the audio podcasts on iTunes or directly download the audio files.

The following party representatives took part

Labour - Sarah Boyack MSP (Deputy Minister for Environment and Rural Development)
SNP - Fiona Hyslop MSP (Education and Lifelong Learning)
Conservative - Murdo Fraser MSP (Deputy Leader and Enterprise)
Green - Mark Ballard MSP (Transport )
SSP - Colin Fox MSP (Leader )
Solidarity - Tommy Sheridan MSP (Leader)
LibDems - Margaret Smith MSP (Chief Whip)
Independent - Margo MacDonald MSP (Independent)

Section 1 - Discussion on Top Up Fees and Student Debt.

As you might expect the issue of top up fees and the level of student debt was a key item in the debate. This section starts with a question from a member of the audience Keddie Law who had graduated in the McEwan Hall 39 years ago! You can listen here.

You can download the file here

Video highlights

Section 2 - Discussion on Replacement of Trident.

The recent decision to replace Trident received little support in the hall but students were concerned about what MSP's could do about the decision. Listen here

You can download the file here

Video Highlights

Section 3 - Voting Age and Student Apathy

A significant number of school students were in the audience and there was a lively exchange about lowering the voting age to 16 and about why some young people are apathetic about politics.

You can download the file here.

Video Highlights

Section 4 - Should Scotland Apologise for its Role in the Slave Trade.

Section 5 - Should Politicians take a Longer Term View

A contribution from the floor challenging politicians to take a longer term view of the challenges facing mankind.

Section 6 - Glasgow University at the Crichton Campus.

Some members of the audience had travelled up from Dumfries to ask about Glasgow University's decision to close their part of the towns Crichton Campus.

You can download the file here.

Section 7 - Student Sport

A question from the floor raised concerns over speculation that a single university for sport is to be created in Scotland.

You can download the file here

Thanks to John Parnell, Morven Innes, Gerry Corbett, Clara Martin, Lynne Whitelaw and Andrew Scott - Video Journalism students at Napier University.

 

A Warm Welcome

Scottish Votepods is bringing together all sorts of people in an effort to bring a buzz to the forthcoming election campaign. Here’s what a few of the people involved have to say about the project.

Donald Shaw of Capercaillie

Capercaillie, is a band named after an endangered species – so we will be delighted to kick off the Big Debate about Global Warming.
These Holyrood elections are too important to have boring, lacklustre political meetings. However they vote, I hope people will come to all these debates and quiz the people who will be running Scotland for the next 5 years.

Baroness Helena Kennedy, Chair Power Inquiry

Far from being apathetic Scots are joiners but we have lost trust in politicians and political institutions to deliver meaningful change. We need to find new spaces in which people and decision makers can connect. This is a creative and exciting way to connect with a wider audience using musicians and new technologies -- opening up the forthcoming Holyrood elections to new voices.

Sheena Wellington, singer

The Votepod debate series is a great idea and I'm so pleased to be involved. Every political struggle or advance in history has relied on songs to express our deepest hopes and aspirations -- A Man's A Man is a great example. I hope Scotland’s music will help inspire voters to be active in this election -- come along and quiz the people who want you vote in May!

Sharon Thompson, Solar Cities Scotland Energy Debate Organiser

The concept behind votepods is inspired.  Re-engaging the public with politics and music(Hazey Janes pictured) gives a fresh take on humdrum hustings. Votepods is giving groups like us a tool to get our message across to as many people as possible - not just the usual suspects - and we hope to prove that elections needn't always a bore!'

The Herald partners with ScottishVotepods.com

We're delighted to announce that The Herald is partnering with ScottishVotepods.com to bring the 10 Big Debates to the widest possible audience.

The paper carries a piece about the launch of the project by the Herald's Chief Scottish Political Correspondent Robbie Dinwoodie as well as details of the debates. The Herald website will also be carrying audio and video from the debates.

Green Debate to Become Green Leaders Debate?

There was never any doubt that environmental issues will feature strongly in the coming election. Well their importance is confirmed by the fact that the party leaders are queuing up to take part in the Big Green Debate at The Hub, Edinburgh on April 17th at 7.30.

We're delighted to announce that Alex Salmond, the SNP Leader and Nicol Stephen, Leader of the Liberal Democrats have just agreed to take part. They'll join Robin Harper, Tommy Sheridan and Colin Fox, Leaders of the Green, Solidarity and Scottish Socialist Party on the platform.

Here's hoping that the busy election diaries of both Annabel Goldie and Jack McConnell can be juggled to allow The Big Green Debate to become The Big Green Leaders Debate.

And with Capercaille providing the music, it promises to be quite a night!

Help Shape the Debate - Post a Comment

While we want as many people as possible to attend the events, we realise that not everybody will be able to go. So if you've got a question you want to ask or an issue that you would like Lesley to raise, please let us know. We'll do our best to include them at the event.

You can contribute here or by clicking on the comments tab at the bottom of each individual entry on this site. If you prefer, you can e-mail us directly.

Don't just sit there - get involved and Shape the Debate.