I’ve long disliked our voting system. It has given the Labour and Tory parties absolute Westminster power for years. But by their share of the popular vote they’ve been minority governments. That also correlates with a long-term decline in turnout, a decreasing engagement with politics, and many voters finding their votes count for nothing because they live in a ’safe’ seat: Only about 100 seats changed hands in this election.
These days I live in Glasgow. The definition of safe Labour territory. All seven constituencies here have returned Labour MP’s this time around, as they have done for years. But I got to wondering what the actual share of the vote was, and how behind Labour is this city, really?
The problem for me with the electoral system is that the way people vote has fundamentally changed. We used to vote for local candidates to represent us in parliament: our system – one that’s been unchanged for a long time – reflects that with local constituencies and individual names on the ballot paper. There was no broadcast media when it formed. However, despite this, voters now vote for and associate primarily with parties – and not individual candidates. This perhaps most recently exemplified by leadership debates, to the way the media reports the election, and the decline in local engagement (Glasgow South had just one hustings). I’d therefore suggest most voters would be hard-pressed to name their “preferred” party candidate as they go to vote: rather they’re mainly looking for party symbols.
I know there are proponents of First Past The Post – amongst them my returned MP – but low turnout in ultra-safe constituencies, and the disenfranchisement of many, is the price that’s paid. The electorates desire for representation by different parties are ignored, and often (although not in my constituency) more people vote for other parties than the winning candidate, than support them. This is not a long term sustainable approach.
I don’t hold for arguments for ’strong’ governments being ‘necessary’. Coalitions work in Germany, and many other places. They work very well in Scotland, as also does a minority government right now. To suggest we can’t get used to coalitions is to dismiss the electorate as unable to cope with compromise. Goodness me, wasn’t it actually refreshing to hear our politicians reflective about compromise this morning?
The detail is 417,578 people were eligible to vote in Glasgow, and 229,223 did so. A turnout of 54.89% – Compare that to the national average turnout of 65.1% (as of 4pm). 10% lower where there is a predominant assumption that Labour will win. To me that suggests that FPTP in safe seats (which is most), does not encourage engagement. Even if you add a little for the fact that the dynamic in Scotland is different, with the Scottish parliament controlling much of the ‘domestic’ agenda we see picked over in the national media.
If we look at how the votes were cast, based on the four main parties across the region, the SNP secured 17.32%, the Liberal Democrats 13.70%, Labour 56.2%, and the Conservatives 7.63%. Other parties just 2.83%. If we take the total vote and allocate out Glasgow’s 7 seats based on that – in a simple proportional way (it assumes people would have voted the same in different systems, but as we have no measure of what their preference would actually be, it’ll have to do), Labour would get 4 seats, the SNP, Liberal Democrat and Conservatives would get 1 seat each. Quite interesting to compare it to the Glasgow regional votes in the 2007 Scottish parliament elections (Labour 38.2%, SNP 27%, Liberal Democrat 7.2%, Conservative 6.7%, Green 5.2%).
So in short, 43.8% of people in Glasgow, who cared enough to vote, did not support the Labour party, for which the city is assumed to be loyal. Of course, Labour is still very much the dominant party even looked at this way, but it’s not the 100% support that the 7 returned Labour MP’s suggest. Plus turnout across Glasgow was 10% lower than the national average. If people actually felt their vote would matter, how much higher would it have been?
We have the system we have. Congratulations to the MP’s who were returned, and I trust and hope they’ll execute their tasks well.
My issue with the system remains that as a result of voting patterns shifting to parties, not candidates, and the voting system not reflecting that, a large proportion of the electorate are disenfranchised. Their votes do not count, because the boundaries are arbitrary, and we insist on returning the candidate with the most votes, not candidates that reflect the will of the people.
Solutions? I think the Scottish parliamentary electoral system is excellent. We maintain the constituency link that’s so important, and have regional MSP’s who are allocated based on share of the vote. The only draw back is the party list system that has, so I’d argue for a wider involvement of the public in selecting candidates – a primary of sorts – before they go on that shortlist.
I know many people disagree it’s necessary to reform our voting system (not least, my MP), but the cost of not working to revise the system to ensure that it reflects the wider will of the people will be reducing turnout, reduced engagement in politics, and a continuation of the strange situation where a handful of ‘marginal’ seats determine who actually takes power. The voters in a hundred or so constituencies are where Governments are decided, not the country as a whole, and that can’t be right.
Glasgow may well always be heavily Labour, but it saddens me that a large minority of voters – such as myself – are being ignored, simply because we have an outdated voting system that reflects a bygone age.
I took part in the inaugural Edinburgh parkrun on Saturday, an event that was special in very many ways. The weather was absolutely perfect, the course was beautifully flat, it was exceptionally well organised, there was a huge turnout, I got a new 5k PB, and – best of all – it really felt like parkrun had properly arrived in Scotland, joining Glasgow parkrun, of which I’m one of the Event Directors.
It did require rather an early start to get over (never popular in our household), not least because I wanted to have a chat with the guys who were behind the event. I was also determined to keep my distance from them when things were getting under way, I know all too well how busy it can be being in charge of a parkrun event, and how much more stressful it can feel when it’s the first, and distractions don’t help.
Paul Sinton-Hewitt, the man who started parkrun five years ago, was along, so it was great to have an opportunity to have the first of many catch-up chats with him whilst we waited for the event to get underway. Sadly my warmup wasn’t quite as long as it should have been, but I was keen to join the start crowd for the announcements, and quite touched to get a mention in their acknowledgements.
I was feeling good for a PB, having been pushing myself in training recently, and am feeling increasingly comfortable running with the fastest group in my training set. The last 12-18 months have felt a bit ‘flat’ on PB’s. My 5k hasn’t improved at all, and my 10k has just settled into the low 44’s. Perhaps half-marathon and marathon training have taken a bit of the focus away, but mostly I think I’ve settled into a comfort zone and have been reluctant to push myself a bit harder, so I was feeling it was time to try that little bit harder, on a course that was conducive to a PB.
I set off and settled into what felt like a comfortable pace. It’s an out and back course, so great for being able to mentally break up the sections even without a GPS device giving me splits. There were also km markers at this first event, which was helpful to be able to lock on to targets. I was delighted to get a 3:57 split for the first km, but conscious that was perhaps a bit optimistic to maintain, so eased off slightly for the next km, which I managed in 4:10. A tough session on Wednesday ensured my mind was in the right place: I knew I could maintain this sort of pace for over 5k, all be it with recovery breaks, so it was all mind over body.
The half way point was naturally enough the turn back point, which is an immense boost; Really enables you to focus on the work ahead, and keep the effort up. My 3k split was 4:12, so pace was looking consistent, as I focused on what I find the toughest section of the race – the 3-4km where you’re really beginning to feel things, and need to dig in and battle those demons niggling away. 4km went by at 4:18, so slightly down, but easy now to focus on the end: It was in sight! A few supporters in the last stretch said I didn’t look like I was working too hard, but I knew I was, and somehow managed to find a tiny bit extra to cross the line with a 4:08 split, and a 20:43 overall time, a PB by 16 seconds from over a year ago, and the first PB of any sort for quite a while.
I’ve always felt it’s important not to push so hard that you’re sick at the end: I’m determined to enjoy my running first and foremost, times come after that! This time I pushed it a bit harder than I had done before, and kept my dignity (just!), and even remembered to take a token at the end of the funnel (the shame I’d have felt if I’d forgotten!).
Naturally chuffed to find myself with a spangly new PB, and feel there’s much more to come where that came from. I’ve a real sense of determination to push my times, particularly in the short-medium distance events, over the next six months, and a sub-20 5k and a low-40’s 10k time feels like it’s not all that ridiculous now.
The post-run parkrun chat went on for a long time – we finally headed back towards Glasgow around 2pm, having stayed for coffee and cake whilst the Edinburgh team did their results, and discussing various parkrun plans and ideas. The Edinburgh team did spectacularly well, and blew apart the first-event attendance record, with 204 participants. With Glasgow parkrun having 193 runners, that meant that almost 400 runners were taking part in parkrun events in Scotland on Saturday.
Huge congratulations to the Edinburgh team for staging a great event on Saturday, the first of many. And as the awareness of parkrun continues to grow in Scotland, we’ll surely see more events starting wherever there are determined individuals who fancy stepping up to make it happen. Sterling, Perth, Dundee, Aberdeen and Inverness are surely only a matter of time. Perhaps even a second event in Glasgow before too long (largely we just need an event director who wants to drive it forward). With coverage such as this piece in the Sunday Herald featuring parkrun rather prominently, awareness is growing all the time
When I joined my running club, Bella, I was keen to try different types of running event. Largely that meant different distances, and a spot of cross country and trail running. But hill running just wasn’t something I’d thought I’d find myself including. Hill runners, to me, seemed one stop short of ultra-marathoners, and to be looked at a bit carefully…
But as time passed, I’ve got to know one or two, and rarely heard a bad thing said about the activity. Whilst on holiday, I also read a wonderful book “Feet in the Clouds: A Tale of Fell-Running and Obsession” (highly recommended to any runner), which sowed a few seeds in my mind, and began to feel that perhaps it wasn’t quite so bad after all. After all, you don’t have to run up the hills – just do your best to get up and down again as quickly/safely as possible, and enjoy the experience.
So when my Road Running club decided to organise a hill run – The Bella Ben Venue Challenge – it seemed like a custom made opportunity to try it out. I knew there’d be plenty of hill-running newbies taking part, so I wouldn’t feel completely outpaced.
The weather forecast though, wasn’t too promising. High winds and rain seemed to be on the agenda, as a low-pressure decided to sit over the northern reaches of Scotland. The Forth road bridge was closed to high sided vehicles. 80mph winds. I’d been assured though that a run would happen, regardless of the forecast, so seemed rude not to go and see what it was all about. It was all in a good cause too, proceeds going to Lomond Mountain Rescue team, so despite a slightly concerned wife, and baffled comments from my Glasgow parkrun co-organisers, I set off up to Aberfoyle and into the Trossachs to run up a hill not that far from where I was married last year.
After parking up, I headed through the paths to the start area, and sorted out registration. £5 is incredibly good value for a race, particularly for such a good cause, and given the marshals had a heck of a way to go to get to their various points.
Given the high winds, the course was altered. Quite sensibly. That the marshals – Mountain rescue team members I should add – couldn’t stand up on the ridge, it was felt appropriate to adjust the course. Even though it looked delightful at the start, we were sheltered, and I’d seen how changeable the weather was.
After the start, we headed up through hard-packed forest paths, which were really quite delightful. For a road-runner like myself, quite a novelty, but the steep inclines were taken steadily, and it felt quite odd (for a road runner) to be “allowed” to walk as much as I did. I was also determined to enjoy the experience, and not push too hard. Nonetheless, I had perhaps set off a bit too fast, so deliberately eased off and let a few folk past.
The checkpoint at the edge of the forest marked the start of the ‘real’ hill running. We were out onto exposed hillside, which had a generally visible path up, but it was heavy going. Very muddy indeed, and quite disconcerting to place your feet into what looked like wet grass, only to sink knee deep into quite slurpy mud! Thankfully my shoes didn’t come off, but it was a close thing! I put the prospect of having to wash my clothes out of my mind and just enjoyed it: It’s not every day you’re able to get quite as muddy
It was tough going at points. A few scrambles required, and if not a scramble then a bog to navigate, but my legs seemed to hold their own, although I was very grateful to finally see the lead runners approaching in the opposite direction. Fellow club runner Matt Williamson was just in the lead, and haring downhill at quite a rate. Impressive stuff, but I knew I had nowhere near the confidence to do anything like the lead runners were managing!
The top was approaching, and I was passed by plenty more fellow club runners, one or two of whom warned about the winds at the top. And I was grateful for the warning, as no sooner as the cairn that marked the turning point came into sight, the winds hit, and it was quite something. I was blown in all directions, and it was everything I could do to get to the cairn and see the incredibly resilient marshal note down my number, before turning and struggling back down, passing on the warning about the wind to everybody I passed!
The descent was, at first, wonderful for the fact that I had my breath back and could enjoy the experience a bit more. But soon found focusing on finding a safe path at the higher speed I was travelling more than made up for it. A few slips and a nearly twisted ankle made me certain to be careful, but also not to think too much. Instinct felt more reliable than trying to rationalise which path seemed better. Just get on with it!
Getting to the bottom of the exposed hill and on to the hard-packed forest paths was a welcome relief, and it was a thoroughly enjoyable run down through the forest. Rather than belt it out, I decided to enjoy the run, and fell into an evenly paced run with another runner, and we had a lovely chat as we descended. Some absolutely stunning views out over the Trossachs, with Loch Achray in the distance. After a while though I felt strong enough to push on a bit harder, and set off in search of a needed cup of tea!
Crossing the finish line (a time of 1:22:09, the winner finishing in 51:17!) was a great relief, with an enormous sense of achievement, but nothing as compared to the wonderfully warming cups of tea the club had put on in abundance, and a marvellous spread of home baking. Plenty of post-run analysis with the many experienced (and newbies like myself) hill runners. All seemed to agree the decision to adjust the race the correct one, and all seemed to feel it was a great new addition to the hill running calendar.
Looking at the course profile here (via Chris Upson), it seems there was 860m (1,800ft) of climb involved, over a 6.4 mile (just over 10k course). A few years ago I’d have felt that would be quite a decent achievement for a hill walk, but the idea of running up and down just not something to ever consider. Madness. Yet delighted to have felt able to have taken on the challenge, experienced hill running for the first time. Amusingly I even now find myself with an athletes entry on the Scottish Hill Racing website!
My legs aren’t too bad, two days afterwards. Much better than I expected to be honest: perhaps the hill work paid off! Whilst not a hill running convert just yet, I’m absolutely delighted to have taken part, and certainly going to try another hill run in the not too distant future. Living in Scotland means I have some of the best scenery in the world on my doorstep, and being able to combine seeing it and experiencing it through my passion for running, just seems an ideal combination.
The SNP are currently making lots of noise about the leadership debate, even now threatening (sorry, “not ruling out”), legal action to block the broadcast.
It’s bizarre that a party that seeks an independent Scotland should be interested in taking part in a debate between the three possible candidates for the UK prime minister, or feel that blocking broadcast would make any difference. The UK is, after all, a country they seek to dismantle. The iPlayer would certainly render any attempt to block broadcast impossible, and even if they succeeded in that, it would be, in my opinion, political censorship
Let’s face it though the debate itself won’t make much difference, but rather the heavy analysis in the papers comment pages, the selected use of key exchanges on television, are actually what will affect our judgement. That and, hopefully, careful consideration of the political situation in our own constituencies. After all, we’re electing representative candidates, not prime ministers.
If there was even a slight chance the SNP could actually form a UK government, based on polls and candidates standing, it’d of course make some sense. But a line really has to be drawn somewhere, not least the dilution too many candidates would create to an effective debate between large egos keen to score points.
I’ve certainly no objection to there being a specific Scottish leaders debate (we had one for the Scottish parliament, after all) ahead of the Westminster elections next year, but there’s absolutely no sense in the SNP, or other very regional parties, being included in the national leaders debate. After all, the topics being proposed are UK wide matters and therefore largely entirely ‘reserved’ to Westminster. The vague claim they make about such matters affecting Scotland (such as defence policy affecting the future of nuclear submarines on the Clyde), simply holds no water: There’s simply no chance the SNP can drive that policy.
“Come to me with your solutions, not your problems” is a line I like, and try to adhere to. The SNP’s posturing is entirely unconstructive, bordering on petulant. It does nothing at all to convince me this is a party that deserves consideration for a vote, unless they realise what fools they are making of themselves. One heck of an own goal so far in advance of the next election.
This morning, I was umm-ing and ahh-ing about bothering to go watch the demolition of some high(ish)-rise flats just around the corner from me. I had a grand prix to watch, a few techie things to do, and coffee just brewed. But figured I’d never actually seen something blown up, so popped around the corner and found a good vantage point to watch the demolition of two blocks of flats in Shawbridge, Pollokshaws, Glasgow.
Of course, I hadn’t recharged my iPhone, so was worried throughout it was about to run out of juice, but it just managed to hang on long enough to record it. Hopefully embedded below:
All very impressive – quite a satisfying set of explosions, and the vibrations set off a good few alarms. Unfortunately the wind direction meant the debris cloud came straight towards us, so made a quick exit. They’ve been stripping the flats down for nearly a year, so I’m pretty hopeful they got rid of the asbestos, but goodness knows it didn’t look like the sort of stuff I wanted to hang about in.
There’s also something quite poignant about watching flats collapse. After all, these were homes for many people over many years, so I couldn’t help but ponder how many people around me were watching the place of so many memories, disappear into dust and debris. The stair or flat shaft in the second building to go seemed to hang on for just a little longer, almost reflecting the reluctance that some may have been feeling.
Nonetheless, impressive stuff, and back to watch the Belgian Grand Prix (one of my favourite races of the calendar), drink coffee, and eat chocolate, whilst Frances is away for the day on the Waverley. Can’t quite understand the appeal of spending 7 hours (down from the planned 10-12 hours) on a boat. Nice for an evening cruse with jazz.
I’ve a love/hate relationship with bank holidays in Scotland.
Simply put, they’re just a bit different from England: An extra one on the 2nd January is well known. There’s also something different with the August bank holiday. It’s at the start of August, not the end. There was some half-baked November holiday for St Andrews day, that nobody observes. There’s a full list on wikipedia if you’re interested.
So far so good.
There are also a few more regional holidays up here than I ever observed in England. At times Scotland feels more like Germany, which has plenty of regional public holidays (as well as fascinating customs, in Dusseldorf, of “Möhnen” (generally any female old enough to hold a pair of scissors, brazenly cutting of mens’ ties during Carnival). I’d written a few years back about Glasgow fair, early in July.
The thing is, absolutely nobody I know really observes the Scottish ones, other than public sector employees. Ironic given banks weren’t public sector, at least until recently. There’s that little quirk corrected at least.
The private sector largely has to respond to economic demand, and national companies have to have standards – it’d be mad to disregard orders because of a local holiday most people don’t observe, or have one entire office shutting down when the rest of the company is open. Certainly almost all of my clients are based down south, and I can’t really down tools on a bank holiday, when they’re expecting me to work. One of my clients, an international company, has gone a step further to add bank holidays to staffs holiday allowance, so people have flexibility.
I suppose with a nationalist government up here, it’s highly unlikely we’ll see any standardisation of holidays across the UK. Perhaps there is something nice about having a day off when lots of people are working. Perhaps the idea of national holidays is just altogether antiquated, and we should all just get on with our lives and stop worrying. Or don’t we have enough of them right now?
Anyway, this Monday is the English August Bank Holiday, and it’s a day off that neither Frances or I had realised was coming up, so it’s a bit of a treat. So right now, I’m liking Bank Holidays.
Just a public note to congratulate my good friend David Rowe. Whilst most of us took it easy today, David, er, didn’t. He completed the Swiss Ironman. It’s an immense achievement, the culmination of many months of training and effort. The London marathon – probably the toughest thing I’ve ever done in my life – was just a training run for David!
The Ironman competition is truly something else. A 2.4 mile swim, a 112 mile bike ride, and then a marathon. To even complete that it is a huge achievement, but David finished with some amazing times. 1:08:25 for the swim, 5:36:01 for the bike, and a 3:47:27 marathon time, a total time of 10:37:39, finishing in position 537 out of 2,200 participants. Indeed, he came 11th out of the 85 other UK participants in his age group.
David’s wife Sharon deserves huge congratulations too, for supporting David and, I think, probably doing most of the worrying too
I spent this morning up in Balloch, supporting the hundreds of runners in the Vale of Leven 10k, the last race of the 2009 Polaroid 10k series. I’d have been running myself if I’d got my finger out and entered in time, but figured it’s just as important to do a spot of supporting on occasion to make up for all the cheers I’ve received when running myself! I took my camera along and snapped away quite furiously, and think I managed to capture a picture of almost everybody taking part in the process. My pictures are available on flickr here.
I had a great spot in the first 1k where the leaders were already edging ahead, and snapped most people as they want past, even chucking some money in Tommy’s collection bucket, before jogging to the 4k mark where the runners emerged out from their loop of the Balloch Castle park. After snapping most people there, I then headed back to the finish area to catch most of the finishers. I’d missed the winners, but my excuse is I’d foolishly not put on running shoes or gear, so was plodding along in jeans and heavy shoes. Not the best. Ah well. Didn’t do too badly.
It was wonderful to see so many participants, not only from my own running club, but so many from Glasgow parkrun too. My only difficulty is remembering names! So my apologies if I just cheered something generic. So many people seem to know my name as a result of giving the pre-race briefing to the 1200+ runners who’ve now taken part, I only know a fraction of your names. But great efforts from everybody taking part. It was a warm and sunny day, so looked like it was tough going in the second half of the course, where shade was in short supply!
Regarding the pics: As I say on the notes, please get in touch if you’d like higher resolution pictures, or if you’d like to use the pictures at all.
Absolutely delighted to have just received an e-mail from the Save Pollok Park campaign that gives the marvellous news that Go Ape have withdrawn their ill-considered plans to build a course in Pollok Park. It seems there was an important change requested by the National Trust for Scotland, which meant new planning requirements (as well as expensive alterations) would have been necessary.
Most campaigners never had a problem with Go Ape’s business. I’d still love to have a go on one of their courses. It’s just that the idea of building an aerial assault course in an inner-city park would have completely ruined a stunningly beautiful, and already very limited, part of Glasgow. It just made no sense at all. So I’m delighted they’ve finally seen sense.
The council were also claiming it was about creating a “venue for health and recreational activity”, and at £20 a shot (despite supposed ‘free’ places), it never made sense where there’s so many problems with health, and poverty, in Glasgow. I just wish they had looked at other free, easy, accessible activities which wouldn’t have required chopping trees down, and are already open to all, such as this perhaps?.
Huge congratulations to Bill and Bob of the Save Pollok Park campaign for all their hard work. I’m absolutely certain the campaign would not have been as successful if it hadn’t been for their efforts, diligence and determination over the last couple of years.
In January last year, I headed out into a gloomy Glasgow evening to attend the a public meeting on ‘the future of Shawlands’. A lot was said, but at the time I was concerned it was all, er, hot air. I finished my write-up with this:
This meeting seemed to agree at the outset that there should be an action plan, but I’m still at a bit of a loss as to what the next steps will be, and/or who will be involved. I [agree] we don’t really need more ineffectualy bureaucracy or groups, so hope somebody will take a solid and active role in driving it forward over the next few months.
Perhaps I live in some home-worker, running obsessed bubble, but I’ve heard precisely nothing since last years meeting. I know I’ve not exactly gone hunting, but I’ve had a fewother things going on that have occupied my time.
So I’ve just read, on southside happenings, that there’s a survey out (see see the end of this post for links). If this is the first thing to have happened, and it’s just a request for more information and feedback, I’m not going to hold out much hope this is little more than a further attempt to be seen to be seeking opinion, rather than actually getting on and doing anything.
Cynic that I may be, so many politicians love ‘consulting’ then doing precisely what they intended all along (having created the impression of having listened), or – worse still – hoping the consultation process will be seen as a substitute for action.
I’d suggest the main feedback will, in any case, be ‘demolish the arcade’, which is the main and understandable demand of so many residents. However I very much doubt that’s going to happen any time soon, without demonstrating there viable business location for investors to fund such. It’s certainly not the councils job to. On that note I did provide a few ideas of my own – ones which are actionable – for how things could be improved under their own merit and perhaps lead on to redevelopment. There have been a few changes for the good in the area (a few new shops have appeared), but there have been setbacks (Woolworths has furthered reduced the arcade’s open shops), but I’ve not noted much determined effort. But I could have missed attempts to publicise this and other efforts since the meeting. But I really do look out for such things in the places I visit.
I’ll fill in the survey sure enough, but I do get the feeling there is no sense of urgency here, and this is very little more than window dressing on an effort that’s not going anywhere fast. I look very much forward to being proven wrong.
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