News / Looking back at the week: a massive personal victory for Goodlad
WE USUALLY start this regular column by saying how busy local news reporting in Shetland is – but this week we can add without any hesitation that we also witnessed an historic moment.
The election of SNP candidate Hannah Mary Goodlad to represent Shetland at Holyrood for the next five years was indeed a political earthquake locally, but perhaps was not a seismic shift towards the SNP and away from the Liberal Democrats.
It was a massive personal victory for Goodlad who was regarded as the most convincing and energetic of the eight candidates, and whose plea to vote for her rather than her party was evidently followed by hundreds if not thousands of local voters.
Expectations are high and people will want to see her delivering sooner rather than later. An islanders’ cabin quota on the NorthLink ferries may well be one of the easier promises from her manifesto of ambitions for the isles.
Goodlad has asked to give her 100 days to fully get her feet under the table. But which table is it going to be? Just parliament or indeed government? Body language and three visits by first minister John Swinney since August may well suggest that it could be the latter. We will find out soon.
Meanwhile, looking at the very different figures from the constituency vote and those for the political parties on the list, it becomes immediately clear how tactical Shetlanders have voted.
Goodlad received 5,453 votes (47.5 per cent) to win the Shetland constituency by a large majority, but her party, the SNP, came only second on the list (27 per cent) losing against the Liberal Democrats who secured just over 30 per cent of the party vote.
So all is not lost for the Liberal Democrats/Liberals who, no doubt, will bounce back after some soul searching in the wake of losing an election in the Northern Isles for the first time in 80 years. They will also have some representation here in form of Highlands and Islands MSP in the form of Morven-May MacCallam.
What is clear is that the big changes in the national political landscape are finally reaching Shetland. Who would have thought just a few years ago that the Greens would establish themselves as the third political force in the islands (16.1 per cent in the list vote), well ahead of Labour and the Conservatives?
And then there is Reform with a candidate who was too busy in his day job to engage much in the election campaign, yet secured 11.4 per cent on the list and 6.3 per cent in the constituency vote, with Vic Currie now becoming one of seven Highlands and Islands list MSPs.
Most worryingly in all this however is the amount of people who are seemingly disengaged or not interested in the democratic process, as the number of people who are for whatever reason do not vote continues to grow.
The turnout percentage for Shetland was just over 64 per cent, one of the best in Scotland but lower than five years ago.
Goodlad has described the local election result as a massive cultural shift. It would be good if this shift would also entail moves to tackling the democratic deficit.
All in all, a very busy week indeed. It may well be worth to recap some of the main events including our well-followed live blog from the election count on Friday.
The other big debating points these last seven days were traffic calming measures in Lerwick, proposed speed limits for Brae and Voe, council vehicles parked at the Hillhead, as well as the impact of dust on neighbouring properties from the Staneyhill construction site.
To recap the whole week, including court coverage and many election letters, just go to https://www.shetnews.co.uk and read our news stories at your leisure.
Thanks for all your support this week, with Shetland News continuing to provide news and views free of charge.
Remember that if you like what we do and feel able to, you can become a supporter here: https://account.shetnews.co.uk/register/
Become a member of Shetland News
Shetland News is asking its readers to consider paying for membership to get additional perks:
- Removal of third-party ads;
- Bookmark posts to read later;
- Exclusive curated weekly newsletter;
- Hide membership messages;
- Comments open for discussion.
If you appreciate what we do and feel strongly about impartial local journalism, then please become a member of Shetland News by either making a single payment, or setting up a monthly, quarterly or yearly subscription.
Already a member? Sign in to hide this message.
