For decades, many have stated that Scotland is inherently more left-leaning than their fellow nations, England, Wales and Northern Ireland. However, many – mostly those who belong to the right – claim that this is farcical and simply a political myth, exploited by the left in Scotland. In reality, it appears that the left do enjoy considerably more support north of the border.

To begin with, you have to consider that Labour (a party traditionally associated with the left) has continually dominated in Scotland for decades. This trend appears as far back as the 1970 general election – which is highly significant because it debunks the argument that Scotland is solely left-wing due to Maggie Thatcher’s unpopularity. Labour did, in fact, win 3 elections in Scotland before this date (1959, 64 and 66), however the 1970 election is the most crucial because Labour won the greatest share of votes and seats in Scotland, despite losing the election throughout the UK. (You could argue that 1959 is when this trend first surfaced because the Conservatives won the election throughout the UK, yet Labour won the most seats in Scotland. However, their vote share was actually less than the Conservatives, and it is only due to our shoddy election system that Labour won more seats.)

In 1970, the Conservatives received 46.4% of the vote throughout the UK, with Labour receiving less, on 43.1%. However, in Scotland, a different tale is told: Labour received 44.5% of the vote while the Conservatives only received 38.0%. This meant that, despite the UK electing a Conservative government, Scotland actually opted for Labour as their preferred choice. Ever since then, the Conservative vote share has continued to be inferior in Scotland, and Labour has won every single general election relatively or extremely comfortably – expect 2015’s, of course.

The Conservative’s decline in Scotland – before Thatcher – is attributed, according to Patrick Wintour of the Guardian, to the fact that “It steadily lost the skilled Protestant working class, as Britishness and sectarianism lost their appeal, while its Clydeside industrial class leaders were replaced by anglicised lairds and aristocrats.” He goes on to say that, “As the Scottish middle classes abandoned the cities, Labour consolidated its hold on urban Scotland while retaining the loyalty of the Catholic working class.”

So it seems that Conservatism in Scotland was already dying in the 1960s and that Thatcher killed it off by using Scotland as “a laboratory for experimentation,” as David Cameron once said. Furthermore, their failure to support devolution in Scotland substantially damaged their chances of success in the country.

Today, it is evident that the effects of the decline in Conservatism in the 1960s in Scotland, along with Maggie Thatcher’s infamous tale, has pushed Scotland to the left of the political spectrum. I stumbled upon a YouGov poll that showed that, throughout the UK, most people associate themselves with the centre ground in politics, while the rest spread themselves out almost evenly between right and left – although slightly more favour the right.

However, I thought that I would take a look at the results for Scotland, provided in the same poll, to see if any substantial differences between Scotland and the rest of the UK were present. Indeed, there was. And it was significant. Not surprisingly, more people associated themselves with the political left in Scotland: while 13% claimed to be ‘slightly left-of-centre’ throughout the UK, the figure was 20% for Scotland; for ‘fairly left-wing,’ it was 12% throughout the UK, while in Scotland, it was 23%. Moreover, only 4% of people in the whole of the UK labeled themselves as ‘very left-wing,’ while, in Scotland, the figure was 7%.

Naturally, the same pattern unfolded for those on the right, with the total percentage of people in the UK (incorporating all the given terms: slightly right-of-centre; fairly right-wing; very right-wing) equalling 31%. On the contrary, in Scotland, the figure only reached 19%.

The figures above are quite dramatic, and they show, clearly, that Scotland is, in fact, more left-wing than England, Wales and Northern Ireland. This is played out in election results, as left-leaning Labour have dominated in Scotland for decades, as mentioned, and now the SNP (who have gradually moved more left overtime) now dominate instead.

So, the ‘myth’ is not a myth, it is actually the reality, whether those on the right like it or not. If the right wishes to make a comeback ‘north of the border,’ then they ought to accept their dire position there first. If they don’t, then they can only expect a rerun of what has occurred in the past: left-leaning dominance in Scotland.

If you require more evidence, here it is: https://yougov.co.uk/news/2015/03/22/scotland-are-left-rest-uk-almost-every-issue/

Ryan Curran

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