http://www.amazon.co.uk/Celtic-Fringe-Westminster-Elections-1970-2010/dp/0956272576SCOTLAND
Ordinarily, a loss of fifteen parliamentary seats would be perceived as a catastrophe, but Labour’s representation was drastically cut on account of a boundary review which confiscated many former Labour seats. The Labour Party frequently suffered during the boundary modifications as they had a knack of winning the inner-city constituencies, but as there was a migratory shift away from the inner cities, then such Labour constituencies dwindled in population size, rendering them ripe for abolition.
The Labour government had now won its third consecutive national election, but Tony Blair was beginning to outstay his welcome at the top of the party, as Gordon Brown itched for his turn as the Prime Minister.
As for the Conservatives, they were struggling to land a blow on a far from popular Labour government. It soon became apparent that the party that once looked upon itself as the natural party of government would need another changing of the guard at its highest echelon in order to capitalise on a growing weariness of (new) Labour and facilitate a return to power.
The Liberal Democrats again made much progress, but their leader was obliged to stand down several months later. As a consequence, Menzies Campbell succeeded Charles Kennedy in early 2006 as the party supremo. Scotland had been the main supplier of the leaders of Britain’s third party. The hall of fame had included Jo Grimond and David Steel, while Robert Maclennan was the ‘caretaker manager’ when the Liberals and the SDP merged into the Liberal Democrats.
The Scottish Socialists failed to build upon the foundations of their 2001 efforts, while the SNP’s overall vote share slipped to 17.7%, but they were more than mere extras on the Scottish political scene.
WALES
The Welsh constituency contests were probably becoming much more competitive than was the case in the past. Fewer and fewer seats were a one-party state. This is demonstrated by the fact that only six MPs polled more than twenty thousand votes, and even these select few only just exceeded this amount.
It could be argued that a lower turnout was partially a consequence of Wales possessing its own Assembly, thus diminishing the former importance of Westminster elections. Secondly, with the people of Scotland and Wales required to vote in council elections, European elections, and local parliament elections, as well as the national election, then the populace were election-weary. In the context of 2005, a third explanation for low voter turnout and the absence of a huge endorsement for any particular party or candidate is that people were progressively becoming disillusioned with the Labour government, but were equally wary of the Conservative opposition who did not yet present themselves as a credible alternative.
Having said that, the Conservatives had just accumulated three seats in Wales which was three more than in 2001 or 1997, so clearly progress was being made.
By contrast, Plaid Cymru appeared to go into reverse in this election. Their vote share had decreased from 14.3% in 2001 to 12.6% in 2005.
Meanwhile, the Liberal Democrats doubled their House of Commons representation in Wales. Gone were the days when Britain’s third largest party were also-rans who sometimes didn’t have the confidence or the resources to contest every constituency election.
