Local Elections 2021: Scotland

Ballot to Talk About

In the third and final edition of a three part series previewing the 2021 UK local and regional elections, this epsiode takes a closer look at the races across Scotland, with a focus on the race to control the Scottish Parliament in Holyrood. This episode also reviews the results of this week's Tasmanian state elections in Australia as Peter Gutwein has likely led his Liberal Party to a third succesive majority Government. It also looks at the resignation of Arlene Foster as Northern Ireland's First Minister, and what this change might mean for the future of the DUP and the Northern Ireland governing arrangement more generally.

Covid-19 may be keeping most things under lockdown, but the 2021 UK local and regional election campaign is underway with just four days to go. Scotland will be seeing elections for the 129 seats in the Scottish Parliament, with Nicola Sturgeon's SNP hoping to gain the two seats they need to reclaim a Holyrood majority Government. Sam and Chern take a look at the state of the race and the aspirations for the three main parties (SNP, Conservatives and Labour), discussing the potential implications for the Union. Will Nicola Sturgeon get the majority Government she craves to be able to increase pressure on Westminster to grant another independence referendum? Will Anas Sarwar or Douglas Ross win out in the competition to lead their parties to second place in this close-run campaign? Will Scottish voters vote tactically to maximise seat counts across the constituency and regional lists? Will the recent scandals around Boris Johnson and Dominic Cummings in Westminster have any impact on the willingness of Scottish voters to vote Conservative in this cycle north of the border? All these questions and more answered in this week's episode.

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