XPost: soc.history.war.misc, soc.culture.scottish, alt.religion.   
   hristian.presbyterian   
   XPost: alt.religion.christian.baptist   
   From: cequka@iprimus.com.au   
      
   "allan connochie"  wrote in message   
   news:4551883a@news.greennet.net...   
   >   
   > "Raktizer Omheit"  wrote in message   
   > news:454fc810_1@news.iprimus.com.au...   
   >>   
   >> "Don Phillipson"  wrote in message   
   >> news:eio3oo$ral$1@theodyn.ncf.ca...   
   >> Don, Scotland has long been a strong supporter of left-wing parties, with   
   >> the exception of the somewhat fascistic Liberal Union-Conservative period   
   > in   
   >> U.K. history from 1895-1905, when compared to their more wealthy English   
   >> neighbours, where the Conservative party has been stronger in the amount   
   > of   
   >> votes gathered.   
   >   
   > That is a completely false idea though! You seem to be looking at Scottish   
   > politics now and imagining it has always been so.Throughout a large part   
   > of   
   > the 20thC the Tories were either the strongest party within Scotland or   
   > came   
   > a close second. They won a majority of Scottish seats in the 1924, 1931   
   > and   
   > 1935 elections. Actually in 1931 they gained a massive 58 seats out of 73.   
   > They had a post war set back when their share fell to 30 out of 71 in   
   > 1945,   
   > and 32 out of 71 in the following election. However come 1951 they got 35   
   > out of the 71 seats as did Labour. In 1955 they again received a majority   
   > of   
   > seats in getting 36 out of the 71 though this year they received over 50%   
   > of   
   > the actual vote and remain until this day the only party to have ever   
   > achieved that.   
   >   
   > The party lost ground in the second half of the 20thC, at first gradually   
   > then dramatically, for various reasons. The end of empire; the   
   > cenralisation   
   > of the Conservative Party from the mid-60s caused it to gradually come to   
   > be   
   > seen almost as an English party; their refusal to back devolution despite   
   > the promises; Thatcherism; and of course the rise of the SNP from having   
   > the   
   > likes of 0.5% of the vote in 1959 to 30.4% of the vote in 1974.   
   >   
   > Allan   
   >   
   >   
   Alan, obviously you know more about Scotland's 20th century political   
   history than I do. However, I do know that the Scottish National Party in   
   the 1997 Devolution Referendum only gained 28% for its proposal to grant   
   Scotland full independence from the United Kingdom. Most Scots voted for a   
   "state" parliament to be located at Edinburgh, and therefore the Scots   
   continue to elect House of Commons M.P.'s to sit in the Parliament at   
   London, England, where of course the English M.P.'S outnumber the M.P.'s   
   from Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland because of England's larger   
   population.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)