Bad tactics there, Tavish!

The Scottish Greens are, no doubt, grateful for Liberal Democrat voters’ generosity in assigning their Highlands & Islands regional list votes to other parties and for not voting Lib Dems 1 & 2.

Had they done so, along with the other constituency parties’ preferred tactic of voting for their own party in both constituency and regional votes, then, of course, the Greens would not have won the fifth regional list seat in Highlands & Islands. 

However, the irony is that, had the regional list seats been calculated on constituency votes, as would have been the case had all parties voted for themselves 1 & 2, then the Lib Dems would have won the fourth list seat giving them an overall total of six seats in Holyrood.

This result would, of course, have saved them the ignominy of being the smallest party in Holyrood. Bad tactics there, Tavish! Never mind. C’est la guerre! 

Geordie Pottinger

Isles View, Hamnavoe