Michael Kelly: Labour’s performance in England gives some cause for optimism

By MICHAEL KELLY
Published on 04/05/2012 10:32

PREPARING for a long day in front of the telly to enjoy the results of the Scottish council elections. Focus, for me especially, is on Glasgow.

Wandering round to my local polling station yesterday in hot sunshine I have to concede that bad weather – the usual fall back excuse if Labour do badly – will not wash this time. This is the best May polling day I can remember.

Missed the night-long vigil which we used to have to endure when counting began as soon as the polls closed. However, a good sleep means I will be in much better form to judge the impact of the results.

The overnight results from England give Labour some cause for optimism. At least, the feared negative effect of Ed Miliband’s geeky performances did not seem to impact. England seems to have voted on the substantive issues of the economic situation and unemployment.

Will this carry over to Scotland where factors are so different? Clearly it will be a low turnout here too. And the SNP are better organised to pull out their vote. Despite all the contrary opinions I gathered from the various party hacks handing out leaflets outside the polling stations, no one really has a clue. That will be the fun of today. This is as unpredictable as a football match, although a bad result might have less emotional impact on supporters.