Could we one day vote SNP in England?
We’re told that many voters in England have been so impressed by Nicola Sturgeon’s performances that they keep asking whether they can vote for the SNP.
No is the usual answer, as the SNP isn’t standing in any English seats. But it need not necessarily be so.
Indeed, one of the longest serving MPs in Parliamentary history was TP O’Connor who was Father of the House, having sat from 1885 to 1929 as MP for (with double irony) the Liverpool Scotland constituency. Having previous sat as MP for Galway in Ireland, he ended up as Father of the House, having been an MP for very nearly 50 years. (There’s a bust of O’Connor in Fleet Street, honouring his other distinguished career as a journalist).
Needless to say, Liverpool Scotland was a seat with thousands of Irish immigrants. I’m not sure there are any seats nowadays which quite so strongly Scottish. The best cases might be Corby and one or two seats in the old Nottinghamshire coalfield, such as Sherwood. In the post-war years Scottish steelworkers and miners were encouraged to come and work in the steelworks and coal-mines of the East Midlands.
Nonetheless, in this election, voters in some Yorkshire seats will be allowed to vote for a party which is at least allied to the SNP. The Yorkshire First party is led by Diana Wallis, a former leader of the Liberal Democrat MEPs in the European Parliament.
In an idle moment last night I wonder what might happen if the SNP did actually stand in the rest of the UK. And supposing the very unlikely happened and the SNP won a majority of seats in England, Wales and Northern Ireland? Might that not that be the best way to preserve the union? All four countries could then leave the UK together.