Glasgow Post Group 1

THE QUALITATIVE ELECTION STUDY OF BRITAIN 2015

Glasgow Post-election Focus Group conducted May 14th 2015

Transcribed Focus Groups Dataset

Version 1.0

Date of release: 4 July, 2016

Principal InvestigatorDr. Edzia Carvalho, University of Dundee

International Co-InvestigatorDr. Kristi Winters, GESIS, Cologne

Research AssistantMarcel Gehrke, GESIS, Cologne

Funded by British Academy and Leverhulme Trust Small Grant SG142740

and supported by Carnegie Corporation of New York, GESIS-Leibniz Institute (Cologne) and University of Dundee

QESB Contacts

qualesb@gmail.com e.carvalho@dundee.ac.uk kristi.winters@gesis.org

www.qesb.info

1

‘QESB’qualesb2015 @qualesb

Glasgow Post Group 1

READ ME

Transcribed Focus Groups Dataset Version 1.0

On copyright and attribution

Copyright of this transcript belongs to Dr. Edzia Carvalho and Dr. Kristi Winters. Individuals may re-use this document/publication free of charge in any format for research, private study or internal circulation within an organisation. You must re-use it accurately and not present it in a misleading context. You must acknowledge the author, the QES Britain project title, and the source document/publication.

Recommended citation: Carvalho, E. and K. Winters. 2015. 'The Qualitative Election Study of Britain 2015 Dataset', version 1.0. Funded by British Academy and Leverhulme Small Grant SG142740 and supported by GESIS, Carnegie Corporation, and University of Dundee. Available at: http://wintersresearch.wordpress.com

On the transcription

All participants’ names have been changed and any direct or indirect identifiers removed to protect their anonymity

The transcripts in Version 1.0 do not have enhanced data recovery including non-verbal communication. It includes the basic transcription of words said by participants. The participants have been identified through attribution by the moderator or other participants and by an initial attribution by the investigators. Subsequent versions of the dataset will verify attribution of participants by video identification.

The transcripts in this version also do not include extensive instructions given to participants at the beginning of the groups, introductions by participants, and exchanges between participants and moderators during exercises.

Initial Transcription by: Just Write Secretarial Services, Belfast, Northern Ireland. Contact: m.mckillen@btopenworld.com

Reporting conventions used

We have used ** to indicate words, phrases or sentences which we could not hear.

Italic font indicates we have taken a guess at a word/name etc.

Words in parentheses {} indicate physical gestures or what can be heard on the tape but cannot be clearly articulated into specific words.

Removal of direct and indirect identifiers are set off with + word +

MR and FR indicate responses that could not be identified.

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Glasgow Post Group 1

Date of focus group: 14 May 2015

Location: University of Strathclyde, Glasgow

Moderator 1: Dr. Kristi Winters

Moderator 2: Dr. Edzia Carvalho

Participants:

2015 Alias Sex Special Category Age group Supporter Party Strength Pre Group Post Group Constituency 2015 vote preferenceQuentin M Student 18-25 N NA NA Glasgow 1 Glasgow Glasgow Central Y, and party

Floyd M Student 18-25 N NA NA Glasgow 1 Glasgow Edinburgh East Y, and party

Harry M N 26-33 N NA NA Glasgow 1 Glasgow Glasgow South Y, and party

Edmund M N 34-41 N NA NA Glasgow 1 Glasgow Glasgow North West Y, not which party

Katie F N 42-48 Y SNP 5 Glasgow 1 Glasgow Glasgow North Y, and party

Zachary M N 34-41 N NA NA Glasgow 2 Glasgow Glasgow South Y, and party

Thomas M N 18-25 Y SNP 3 Glasgow 2 Glasgow Ayr, Carrick and Cumnock Y, and party

Una F Student 34-41 Y SNP 4 Glasgow 2 Glasgow Glasgow North Y, and party

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Glasgow Post

ContentsZachary..............................................................................................................................................8

Harry..................................................................................................................................................8

Edmund.............................................................................................................................................9

Katie...................................................................................................................................................9

Quentin............................................................................................................................................10

MR...................................................................................................................................................10

Thomas............................................................................................................................................10

WHICH POLICIES WILL YOU WATCH....................................................................................................10

MR...................................................................................................................................................11

Quentin............................................................................................................................................11

Katie.................................................................................................................................................11

Edmund...........................................................................................................................................11

Katie.................................................................................................................................................12

Harry................................................................................................................................................12

Zachary............................................................................................................................................12

Una..................................................................................................................................................12

Una..................................................................................................................................................12

Una..................................................................................................................................................13

Una..................................................................................................................................................13

Thomas............................................................................................................................................13

OPTIMISTIC OR PESSIMESTIC ON DEVO NEGOTIATIONS.....................................................................14

Thomas............................................................................................................................................14

Edmund...........................................................................................................................................15

Katie.................................................................................................................................................15

Zachary............................................................................................................................................15

Katie.................................................................................................................................................16

Zachary............................................................................................................................................16

Zachary............................................................................................................................................16

Una..................................................................................................................................................16

Quentin............................................................................................................................................16

Zachary............................................................................................................................................17

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Glasgow Post

Katie.................................................................................................................................................17

Thomas............................................................................................................................................17

Una..................................................................................................................................................17

Harry................................................................................................................................................17

PERCEPTIONS OF SNP VOTERS.............................................................................................................18

Una..................................................................................................................................................18

Edmund...........................................................................................................................................18

Edmund...........................................................................................................................................18

Edmund...........................................................................................................................................19

Katie.................................................................................................................................................19

Thomas............................................................................................................................................19

Katie.................................................................................................................................................19

Thomas............................................................................................................................................20

Zachary............................................................................................................................................20

Una..................................................................................................................................................20

MR...................................................................................................................................................21

Zachary............................................................................................................................................21

Zachary............................................................................................................................................21

Thomas............................................................................................................................................21

ON LABOUR’S CAMPAIGN...................................................................................................................22

Katie.................................................................................................................................................22

Una..................................................................................................................................................22

Quentin............................................................................................................................................22

Edmund...........................................................................................................................................23

Thomas............................................................................................................................................23

Una..................................................................................................................................................23

Thomas............................................................................................................................................23

Una..................................................................................................................................................23

Thomas............................................................................................................................................23

Thomas............................................................................................................................................23

Una..................................................................................................................................................23

Zachary............................................................................................................................................23

Harry................................................................................................................................................23

Katie.................................................................................................................................................24

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Glasgow Post

Thomas............................................................................................................................................24

Katie.................................................................................................................................................24

Una..................................................................................................................................................24

Katie.................................................................................................................................................24

Thomas............................................................................................................................................24

Katie.................................................................................................................................................24

MR...................................................................................................................................................24

Katie.................................................................................................................................................24

ON THE MANDATE TO RULE................................................................................................................24

Zachary............................................................................................................................................24

Quentin............................................................................................................................................25

PERCEPTIONS OF ELECTORAL PROCESS...............................................................................................25

Harry................................................................................................................................................26

Zachary............................................................................................................................................26

Zachary............................................................................................................................................26

Thomas............................................................................................................................................26

Harry................................................................................................................................................27

Thomas............................................................................................................................................27

Zachary............................................................................................................................................27

Una..................................................................................................................................................27

Una..................................................................................................................................................27

Una..................................................................................................................................................27

Una..................................................................................................................................................27

Katie.................................................................................................................................................27

Una..................................................................................................................................................27

Zachary............................................................................................................................................28

Una..................................................................................................................................................28

Thomas............................................................................................................................................28

Quentin............................................................................................................................................28

Thomas............................................................................................................................................28

Katie.................................................................................................................................................28

MR...................................................................................................................................................28

Harry................................................................................................................................................28

Thomas............................................................................................................................................28

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Glasgow Post

Katie.................................................................................................................................................28

Una..................................................................................................................................................29

ON REFERENDUMS..............................................................................................................................29

FLOYD..............................................................................................................................................29

Quentin............................................................................................................................................29

Thomas............................................................................................................................................30

Katie.................................................................................................................................................30

Thomas............................................................................................................................................30

Harry................................................................................................................................................30

Una..................................................................................................................................................30

Thomas............................................................................................................................................30

Una..................................................................................................................................................30

Edmund...........................................................................................................................................31

ON THE DEVOLVED LEGISLATIVE ELECTIONS.......................................................................................31

Katie.................................................................................................................................................31

FLOYD..............................................................................................................................................31

Katie.................................................................................................................................................31

Harry................................................................................................................................................31

Una..................................................................................................................................................32

Thomas............................................................................................................................................32

Zachary............................................................................................................................................32

Zachary............................................................................................................................................32

Edmund...........................................................................................................................................32

Thomas............................................................................................................................................32

Una..................................................................................................................................................33

Katie.................................................................................................................................................33

Quentin............................................................................................................................................33

Zachary............................................................................................................................................33

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Glasgow Post

Transcript

VOTE CHOICE STORIES

I: Zachary, when you made up your mind how you decided to vote, in the end, did you sit up to watch the results? Or, when you saw the results how did you feel?

Zachary: I suppose I probably made up my mind last year to vote SNP and I never really waivered from that. I voted on the day, in the morning, and I stayed up until about 5.30 in the morning watching. I think, like most people, I was very surprised by the exit poll because it was so different from all the opinion polls in the run up to it and I sort of crossed my fingers that it wasn’t correct, and it gradually became obvious that it was. The outcome in Scotland wasn't particularly surprising but the outcome for the UK was very disappointing.

I: And also, if you're not the one telling the story can you make sure that you're the one doing the paperwork, can you put your name and answer the questions? Harry, how about you?

Harry: I made up my mind who I was going to vote for probably few months back. I think Labour hadn't really been doing it for me for a while and it was probably between Green and SNP, but I think in a "first past the post" the Green vote is not really going to get anywhere so I decided a couple of months ago that I was going to vote SNP. I voted before I went to work and then that night was watching Channel 4 and I saw the Exit Poll, I got a text message from my wife, she was out, but she said, "Surely that can't be right?" And I had to unfortunately tell her that the last two previous elections had the number of seats for the main party wrong by zero, so even if it isn’t quite right then it's probably near enough right. So I think I only stayed up until 12.30, because I figured I'm not going to stay up and watch a disappointment, and then I woke up the next day to find that it was worse than the exit poll, inevitably. I was quite disappointed about the overall result but quite happy about the Scottish result. I think it's disappointing that the SNP might not have as much clout as they may well have had if there had been no party with a majority.

I: Thank you. Edmund?

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Glasgow Post

Edmund: Well, mine was very similar to the last three as well. First of all I voted SNP as well, I was leaning towards them but I was a little undecided until pretty much the last week. But in my constituency they were the only ones who were visible, who were out and about, campaigning and talking to people, asking them what kind of things they could do for them and what they might want, what kind of views people might have that they could take with them and use, so that it was fairly clear cut that I was going to go for them, and I kind of thought myself as well that they would be the best to represent Scotland in Westminster, particularly the way the system is, first past the post, it was kind of a two horse race. I voted on the Thursday evening and I stayed up until 2.30 watching it, and again the Exit Poll was a bit of a body blow, because it was fairly obvious that SNP was going to do well but the Conservatives did so well, and I was hoping that there would be some margin of error, that they mightn't do as well and there would have to be some sort of trading afterwards. Then on Friday it was worse than we had thought. It was satisfying to see that the SNP did so well and they might have done slightly better than they might have expected but it was offset by the fact that the Conservatives will be in a majority government and the SNP won't have as much power as that might have thought they might have had if they could have gone in with Labour.

I: Katie?

Katie: Really just echoing what's been said, exact same. I thought I'm going to vote SNP after the referendum, I hadn't joined or anything but I was a yes voter. I have been Labour since I've been voting at the age of 18 but I just feel that Labour have just not got that relevancy any more. Some of the policies, you can’t really distinguish between the Tories. On the day, I voted after work, stayed up. My sister had a bit of an election party so we had a folk round at hers, but the same response, everyone’s chin dropped when they saw that Exit Poll. Stayed around until about 1.30 - 2 o’clock and then I thought, "I’m a bit tired, I'll just go to bed," not expecting that kind of Tory majority as well. So Friday morning as well you kind of think "well okay..." Glad for the SNP, glad for Scotland, think hopefully it will be good for Scotland but a little bit disappointed because we've still got a Tory government again. So yeah, we'll see.

I:Thank You. Quentin?

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Glasgow Post

Quentin: I made up my mind a few months before the election. I voted Labour on the basis that I thought the Tories were going to get in so I wanted to see if I could try and help give them a run for their money, because I grew up in the West Midlands, and although Scotland is quite sheltered from Conservatives, don’t get a lot of Conservative votes, but up there it's rife with Tories and I knew that most of them... they would never die, a lot of them will just... there's only a few swaying constituencies in the UK, most will just stick with the basis that they have voted Tory and so they will vote Tory. I stayed up to 4 am just watching the SNP clean up in Scotland. But yeah, the Exit Poll, once that came up you just knew it was going to be a Tory majority.

MR: I just echo what most people said, I voted SNP, decided quite awhile ago, via Postal Vote as well 07:34. Yeah, the Exit Poll was quite shocking to see. I went to bed about 10 pm because I thought it was over anyway, no point in staying up.

I: Thomas?

Thomas I can't even remember when I made up my mind up to vote for the SNP, because it always seemed for this election that was where my vote was going to go. I thought maybe Greens but it was always predominantly SNP and, like everyone said, I stayed up pretty late to watch it. I must have fallen asleep about 5 or 6. On the Exit Poll, I just didn’t see it coming. But I believed them, as was said by Harry, because they had been so accurate in the past and, whilst I didn’t see it coming, it made sense, in a way, it totally made sense. And the general outcome it feels very separate, very happy for Scotland but overall the Tory majority is ultimately what we are governed by.

WHICH POLICIES WILL YOU WATCHI: One of the things that we're wondering about in terms of people's concerns is whether the policies that you're now going to be keeping an eye on, there is a majority Tory government so they're going to be able to make their own policies. What are the sort of things that you're going to be keeping an eye out that you might be concerned about over the next few weeks, the next few months, the next few years? So maybe we can go in

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reverse and start with Thomas; is there anything that you're going to be paying attention to in terms of...?

MR: There's a lot of news about human rights things, 09:15 I don’t even know where to even start on that. It's a bit shocking that they're going to take that away, and I don’t know if they take away that, what would be the intermediate between that and other rules that they put in then. So I might follow that one Also, we had the Lib Dems restraining them a wee bit over last five years but now they're a free rein so I think a lot of their more extreme policies might come through, and also the EU referendum, when that comes through that will be something to follow.

I: Quentin?

Quentin: I think a lot of the welfare cuts, I'm a bit nervous where that's going to come from. My mum works in the social sector, she says that it's already stretched as much as it can go budgeting etc. So it will be interesting to see what is there. And just in general, the cabinet, they've assigned someone who is anti-gay marriage to Equalities Minister, which is... Yeah, things like that. I have to pay for tuition so I was hoping that Labour would get in so I was hoping that I might get a bit of a decrease on that.

I: Katie?

Katie: The European In/Out Euro referendum, that's kind of scary, especially now that they're talking about bringing it forward. And I’m concerned about abolishing the Human Rights Act, or not making it relevant in Britain. Just everything. The Trident Renewal, just everything that the Tories stand for, there's nothing that I can take any comfort and say "oh I'm glad we have a Tory government because I can relate to this policy." There is nothing there.

I: Edmund

Edmund: For me, it would be the EU referendum as well and how the voting system might work out, that Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, in the election, could be outvoted by England and it could be decided similarly like the election was here last week, as well as their other policies like Fracking, and again Trident and a lot of their other policies.

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Katie: TTIP and things.

I: Harry, what about you?

Harry: I think the bigger one is the EU referendum, seeing how that pans out, although you're saying they're thinking of bringing it forward, that's potentially a good thing, because I think the longer that they drag something like that out, it's probably damaging for business and the UK to have a lot of uncertainty. So if they're going to do it, get it over and done with and hopefully everyone will vote sensibly. I think obviously where these welfare cuts are going to come from, I think there's already been a few ideas of where they might be coming from put out there but to see where the axe is really going to fall and also to see whether they follow through. I think there was some pre-election chat about "we're not the party that hates the NHS" but they haven’t really said how they're going to help the NHS continue as it is, and I suspect that they just might continue with more privatisation, which is a bit worrying.

Zachary: I think the fact that there's this £12 billion worth of cuts to come from welfare and they refuse to say where it's going to come from is very worrying. I would say that I'm a bit less worried about the EU referendum because I suspect people will vote to stay in, that's my feeling, is it will be a bit like the Scottish referendum. All the pressure from business and media will be in favour of staying in and in the end people will vote to stay. The Human Rights Act is going to be interesting because it will probably be the first thing where the Scottish parliament and Westminster are going to have a stand-off about what's going to happen.

I: Una?

Una: Yeah, well, I agree with second bit..

I: Which was the second bit?

Una: What Zachary just said about the stand-off bit. The EU poll does bother me, if we got taken out of the EU that would really, really bother me. I'm not as confident that England will vote, because I guess it's a big population in England and if they don't have this triple lock carry on then it's what England votes is really important. I mean, as far as I am aware, UKIP got the third largest number of votes. I mean, okay, they didn’t get a

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lot of MPs out of that, but I don’t feel that confident, I've seen some polls saying, I mean, there's always a poll, but I’m less confident that England won’t vote us out.

I2: Can I just ask, because you just mentioned that leaving the EU would really bother you, can you explain why? Just to get an idea about what it is about the EU that you want?

Una: I think us becoming some kind of a... not parochial, I can't think of the word for it, I'm not keen on nationalism and I'm not keen on British Nationalism. I know I support SNP but I'm not a nationalist, and I don't like the idea of us shrinking into a .... I feel it's a shrinkage. I think there are lots of good things about the EU but just as an institution it's generally a good thing and I would rather that we were connected to EU rather than this whole special relationship with America. I don't think we should go further towards that, and that's always the argument usually, isn't it? The EU or we can go this special relationship with America, and actually, unlike probably a lot of people, I think that America is important to us, whether we like it or not, for security reasons, but I guess that's another big discussion. But yeah I think... do you want me to start... I don't know if I'm getting boring.

I2: Just the most important things that you consider when thinking about in relation to the EU.

Una: Well, I mean, all the policies in the EU that are complained about by people like UKIP, the free movement of peoples, certain trade issues, I actually think they'd benefit Britain an awful lot and it depends on how you look at them, and I think they're often spun in a negative light in the media but actually they're quite positive things. Even the regulation that's always banded around, I actually think generally it's a positive thing, being in the EU.

I2: Thank you. Thomas, what about you?

Thomas: Policies and things for the next government and this government. Policies I am looking out for? I suppose I'm not as worried about the EU and how that will fall, because I do think, as Zachary said, we'll make it, we'll stay in the EU. It needs a big argument for us to vote to change, people are always wanting to keep the status quo, and I don't think that will come. I'm

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obviously really worried about this Human Rights Act and interested about it, in that if the Tories get this through and do what they want to do and say they're going to do, obviously the SNP will oppose it and that will be interesting to see how that goes. But if the Tories do get that through I think they're in for a treacherous five years, that's how I'm feeling about it, because they can implement all their policies, which, as you said, I find very little to agree with. So it will be interesting to see how this Human Rights Act goes because I mean that's appalling, it's ludicrous, truly ludicrous, but if they get that through then who knows what they're going to do.

OPTIMISTIC OR PESSIMESTIC ON DEVO NEGOTIATIONSI: You guys are going through this stuff really quickly. Since we've got a lot of... there was one person that we thought was Conservative but he's not here. But one of the things that we did talk about or that did come up was the negotiations about the devolution and devo max or full fiscal autonomy, and I'm wondering if you guys feel quite optimistic or pessimistic on how the negotiations for devolution are going to be going. Do you think that Nicola and the 56 MPs are going to put enough pressure on Cameron to get Scotland the kind of powers that you would like to see or are you leaning more towards they're not going to be able to come up with a solution that you will find satisfactory?

I2: It's okay not to have an opinion, because I know that people might not have, it's quite a heavy thing to get your head around. So it's fine if you don't have an opinion but if you do we would love to hear it.

I: Basically are you more leaning on the optimistic side, do you think that it will go well, or are you more on the pessimistic side?

Thomas: I think that it could go quite well. I think there is a real separation now between England and Scotland and I think with this very right winged leaning way that England is with the large amount of UKIP votes and Tory votes, I don't think it wants Scotland as much as we don't want them. I saw Boris Johnston after... it was early in the morning and the election things came in, and he said we have to give them something, whether they need something, with such a large percentage of SNP MPs we have to gift them something. So I think it would take a lot, it will be a case of even if Cameron

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19:57 to the SNP supporting a couple of things, for whatever reason I do think we'll get certain terms.

I: Anyone else want to come in on that? Edmund.

Edmund: Earlier today they were saying that Manchester was going to be given some devolutionary powers as well, so I think they're going to do it in England so I would say that Scotland will get a bit more as well. I don't know if they will get everything they want, they won't, but I would imagine Northern Ireland, Wales and the rest of England, the different regions, they'll all want a similar devolution of sorts, they might not get as much as Scotland but because they're further down the line as going towards independence I'd imagine they probably will get more in the way of devolution, but probably not enough to satisfy the SNP.

Katie: It can actually go both ways, and I thought about this a lot on the night, and I thought the Tories are going to go in and we'll have this almost impotent kind of SNP sort of presence, and it's weird because you've got the Tory and there is no way that they're going to let Scotland, we have seen that at the end of the Independence Referendum, Scotland, it represents too much. While we've still got oil in our waters, Scotland is there to stay. So it's almost like they see us as the kind of child that's always getting into trouble and they need to kind of look at us "Oh, Scotland again, it's the pesky Scots." So I think that they will do what they have to, to keep us happy, to keep us engaged, part of the family, but they don't really see Scotland as being British, as being part of... it's a poor relative, but I don't think that they will let us go and I think that they might pander to some of the SNP but ultimately they don't see the SNP as... they're waiting for Labour to get their act together because they think that Labour is the true home, in Scotland that's like the true home and that SNP is going to implode in some way because they've got their own parliament and... Something will happen, I can't see this lasting for SNP, even though I did vote for them. I think that it is a bit of a transition and they will pander and they will do what they can but they won't give ultimate sort of power or autonomy; I don't think they will do that.

Zachary: I think the interesting thing perhaps is that I suspect that the Conservatives are less opposed to more radical solutions than Labour

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would be, because I think the Labour party still sees Scotland as its property, almost, and whereas Conservatives...

Katie: They've given up on it.

Zachary: ... have given up on Scotland really, so they don't want Scotland to leave the union, but I wonder if they might be prepared to look at more radical solutions than Labour would have done if they had been the majority.

I2: 23:25

Zachary: Yes, so what Boris Johnson said earlier in the morning, of course, was looking at some federal solution, which definitely would be interesting and I think that would potentially be something that a lot of people who voted Yes last year would be prepared to support as an alternative to independence.

Una: I would agree with that, and I would probably say federalise things more and if they change the voting systems to PR and federalise things, I mean, I wasn't 100% of a Yes voter and that sort of thing would sway me. The sad thing was that I felt that it did become very much Scotland and England in a way, yes I voted Yes for Independence but I didn't vote Yes because I dislike England and I don't like the fact that the two countries have become, I feel we're almost like... we're just very opposing. Even the way we're talking about it now it's getting them and us ish and it makes me sad for my relatives in the north of England, who are stuck. So that kind of bother me. I am not 100% sure, I haven't looked into it enough, but the full fiscal autonomy thing the SNP want or were hedging whether they want right now, which suggests that maybe they don't want it right now, which means that... well anyway. What am I trying to say? Just that that's the policy I'll be following. I'm not sure what's going on with that, and just because I voted SNP doesn't mean that I think everything they do is going to be fantastic.

I: Quentin?

Quentin: I don't know, I'm not sure, because on one side they have to give Scotland something because they obviously had such a large majority SNP. But on the other side the Tories are very split. They've got... a lot of them

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are big English nationalism, almost verging on UKip, so they have to please them, and a lot of people in England do think that Scotland do get a good deal, so it's whether or not... because if they do grant Scotland more and more powers it's going to annoy quite a lot of Conservative voters. So it's going to be interesting to see what happens. I'm not entirely sure what will happen, because obviously something does have to happen, but it's at what level of Devo Max they actually will give Scotland.

Zachary: I wonder if it will actually prove to be the opposite situation, where they will see it as a way of placating that attitude, because by granting Scotland more tax raising powers, that obviously affects the money that's coming from Westminster to Scotland. So whether it will lead to renegotiation of the Barnett Formula, they may see giving powers as a way of ...

Katie: As a back door way of dealing with...

Thomas: Yes, it's their only option.

Una: But wouldn't it mean that possibly Scotland will get less? We are very autonomous but we might actually get less.

I: Anyone not get a chance to speak who wanted to speak on the issue?

Harry: Given the SNP votes in Scotland, I think that they've come to realise that they have to offer us something, because if they look long-term and they don't give us anything, and there is potentially another referendum, there will be a lot of people who will be saying "they said that they would give us something and they didn't, we're going to vote Yes," and they will lose Scotland. I think, like you said, you're a Yes voter but if they had devolution max on the sheet you would have went for that, and I think potentially most people would. So I think if they allow Scotland to have more powers and Scotland actually gets the time to explore more of those powers, because there are plenty of powers that Scotland currently does have that they don't actually use in any way differently from the rest of the UK, which is why I thought the referendum, it wasn't necessarily the most sensible timing. I think if you've got some... Scotland already has some fiscal powers that are different from the UK and they don't do anything differently with them, so it's like why, when you haven't explored the

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options that you've currently got, do you want to go full whack ahead? But yeah, I think that if Scotland is offered more autonomy, if it did come to it and there was another mandate for a referendum, I think actually people would say that we are quite happy with it as it is now and that way the Westminster government wouldn't probably... there's probably minimal chances of losing Scotland in the future.

PERCEPTIONS OF SNP VOTERSI: Anyone else on that before I move on? Have you ever seen that meme where it's like six pictures, and it's from a university lecturer, what society thinks I do, what my students think I do, what my mum thinks I do, what I think I do, what I actually do, and I'm just wondering, you guys are the biggest group of SNP voters that we have. We have one Labour voter but you also might have a perception on this; I don't want to exclude you. But I mean, if you were to say to English voters, or people not in Scotland, about voting SNP, about what you think they think it means to be an SNP voter and what you think it means to be an SNP voter, what would be those two perceptions? Do you understand what I mean? Una do you want to...?

Una: I think, so I am using my sister as, what's it called, 29:50. I get the impression that people think that it's a big nationalistic thing, I guess for some people it will be, that it's extreme, she does use the word 'extremist,' oh I don't know, help me out someone...

Edmund: I think from viewing all the channels, between Sky and BBC and every other channel, online and everything, that in England, from what I've seen, I haven't been 30:21 so I can't speak for...

I: Everything here is going to be anonymised

Edmund: Just from what I've seen, it seems to be that some sections of the media and the press in England, there seems to be a lot of demonization, especially in the last few weeks of the election, of the SNP and they were seen as being... the worst thing that you could ever do was to... if you vote Labour they're going to be allowed to come in and form a government and that's disastrous, that was my perception of what was being... I know there was a lot of spin and all put on it for that reason by a certain side that won the election, but it seems to be a fact that they were very much demonised

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in England and maybe that's the result of the way...like Una was saying, England and Scotland seem to be pulling apart, away from each other, Scotland is mostly SNP/left winged, and England and some of Wales as well are mostly right winged, like the Conservatives.

I: What does it mean to you to vote SNP?

Edmund: To me, I was basically putting myself as which party I think will represent Scotland at Westminster in the best way I think that they should.

Katie: And because you find generally, I think, SNP are that kind of a lot more left leaning, and you've that sort of socialist politics, you just think that is what I want, I want that kind of social justice blah blah blah, Labour just, the fact that Labour are just standing by and letting the Tories do what they can and they're sort of ...you had Miliband being a little bit socialist, but it just wasn't him. I just find that the Labour party is all about privatising everything, they've just forgotten about working principles and we're not all millionaires and you just give people a job that pays a decent salary and give them respect. Half of the Labour party has never worked in their life, it's that and I just can't relate to anybody in the Labour party anymore, whereas the SNP, yep. They're people who you know and ... that's what it is for me.

Thomas: Exactly, to me the SNP is just very..? As much as I feel great about voting SNP, I just agree with their politics. It's just simple progressive politics, left winged, and I totally, 100% agree with, whereas I've got a bunch of English friends on Facebook and they're positioning the SNP...They're very right wing leaning stereotypical, in a sense, English men, but they're very fearful of the SNP, and as you said, I think they see it as extremist. I think it's a wee threat to their nice little right winged country that they have going at the moment, and I think that's how it's viewed, I really do, which is why the demonization occurs. There's a lot of fear there.

I: Anyone else want to come in on this?

Katie: There is a lot of inequality down in England that we don't necessarily see here, but in a lot of the cities they're very split and you've got the rich side of the city, London is just incredible, but even the other cities, places like Birmingham where you just have got houses and stuff that ordinary

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people cannot afford to live there. In Scotland we're not so bad, we don't have £5 million houses, it tends to be....I think there is that difference. Society is very polarised down south, very polarised.

Thomas: I think that's what drives the fear, because these folk with...they see the poverty, especially if you go to London you can really see it, it's this "I'm all right and I'll look out for myself," which is why they're scared of this kind of mode equality coming, because they fear that it will cost them and they don't gain anything from helping others, financially.

I: Zachary, do you have some thoughts?

Zachary: I think there's a very interesting piece in the London School of Economics, which was on exactly this subject, which was about the two views of the SNP, and essentially the study had looked at the nationalist attitudes in Scotland, and what they were saying is that you need to stop talking about nationalism, really, because this is not what has caused the rise of the SNP. People south see it as nationalistic, they see it as anti-English, quite often, and threatening because of that, but the study had looked at people's national definition of them, that sense of identity, and it said that since 1999 nationalistic sentiment in Scotland has actually been reducing quite significantly so that now only 50%, or less than 50%, of the population consider themselves Scottish above British, whereas 20 years ago it was somewhere up around 70%. The article just said that people are voting SNP for very practical reasons, because at the moment it's the most convincing party in Scotland because it's the party that's representing most people’s views, and I think, for a lot of people voting for independence, including me, it was entirely a practical thing. I saw it as the best way for the country to go down a path that I saw as reflecting my own values, and I just didn’t see that happening within the UK anymore.

I: Anyone else want to speak on perceptions?

Una: I agree with the anti-English, I think that's the big thing, the fear of the SNP in England, it's an anti-English party. I agree about the referendum, and also, and this is why I was banging on about PR, they would have to change the voting system, because there is a practical democratic reason. Obviously if the majority of this country is voting very left, SNP or even if we were voting Labour and we just be keep being run by a very different...

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just very practically you are being... This is a type of democracy but it doesn't feel wildly democratic, in a sense.

I: Anyone else want to come in on perceptions?

MR: I think that the North of England might be more sympathetic to the politics of the SNP, whereas the south are completely Conservative. I've got cousins in England, and there is a fear. When SNP were potentially going to fill what Lib Dems did last year and make a coalition with Labour, there was the fear that Scotland could influence a lot of things in English lives, and there was the thing about it, should the Scottish be able to vote in English polls, things that only affect England and Wales? I think that they do view the SNP as an extremist nationalist party, whereas I think that people in Scotland view it as a genuine left winged party, as opposed to Labour, which has changed.

I: One of the perceptions is that the SNP is just looking out for Scotland and another view would be the SNP is advocating Scotland for wider UK policies. So if that sound like a fair representation, how many people here think that the SNP is really only looking out for Scottish interests? (no one raises his/her hand) How many people feel that the SNP is looking out for the interests of the whole UK? (Una, Zachary, Harry, Edmund, Katie and Floyd raise their hands)

Zachary: I think that it's changed.

I: Can you expand on that?

Zachary: One of the things that doesn't get talked about very much is the fact that, since devolution, SNP hasn't voted on English matters in Westminster. All the other parties have done so. So the SNP in fact have deliberately not been doing exactly what they're now getting accused of doing, which is interfering. I think, from what I understand, that's now going to change and they are now going to vote on UK issues. As far as I understood, I think Nicola Sturgeon means what she says, which is the most important thing with this election, is about fighting austerity, it's not about leaning towards independence, and that's for the whole of the UK.

Thomas: I think that she will gain a lot of friends in England as well, and they say that SNP does look out for Scotland, which I can totally understand

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if you call yourself the Scottish National Party and you don’t know much about them and live in England. But, as Zachary said, with our fight to austerity and our stance and our bigger voice now we've 50 odd seats in Westminster, I think when people in England and the whole of the UK see her stance on this issues she'll gain friends and folk that are leaning will support her, and I think the view that the SNP stand for just Scotland will be reduced within the course of this term.

I: Anyone else want to come in on that, about its policies, the view of the SNP policy and aims being UK wide versus just for Scotland? Okay.

ON LABOUR’S CAMPAIGNI2: Una, you mentioned something about the Conservatives ruling when actually Scotland haven't necessarily voted for Conservative rule, and I want to touch upon that and see what the group thinks of that mandate. So do you think, given the results, the Conservatives have a mandate to rule the way they need to?

Katie: But the thing is, this is what's always happened for decades, where Scotland returns Labour MPs. So the only thing that's changed now is that Scotland has got hacked off with that and said "You know what? We're actually going to send somebody that's going to make a bit of a difference for us." It's not anything new, it's just this time we've done it different, because we just blindly send our Labour MPs like we always do because that was all we could do.

Una: Is that also because Labour, or the perception of Labour, has moved to the right in England? So maybe that's what's going on as well, a little bit?

Quentin: I think it's had to. I think possibly one of the reasons why SNP got such a big majority is because Labour had to fight two arguments, they had to fight "I am more socialist than SNP in Scotland," and they had to fight the Tory in England. They stretched their resources far too much, and then obviously Lib Dems lost all the seats that they gained from the Tories, it was just the worst possible situation that could have happened.

I: Edmund, you're nodding at that?

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Edmund: They just got squeezed. They had two separate elections, they had to fight two separate battles in two separate places and they ended up losing both.

Thomas: They made a big mistake, terrible campaign. You see if Miliband had come out and gone straight at the press when they 41:47 about Nicola Sturgeon and gone "Yeah, totally, she's a great politician, we're dealing with it." (over talking)

Una: He only did that, and I don't think he was right, he only did that because the perception of the SNP in England is (over talking)...he is terrified to see...

Thomas: He was terrified, and he didn't do it off the cuff, he sat down and made that decision for the points that you're saying, but I just think that he would have got on a hell of a lot better if he had come out and "here we are; this is what we stand for."

Una: Here?

Thomas: Everywhere. Maybe not so much in Scotland but definitely in England.

I: How many people think that Ed Miliband was caught between a rock and a hard place in terms of Labour and 42:37? (everyone raises his/her hand)

Thomas: Definitely

Una: You can see from the criticism now, they're being told that you should be more right winged in England, whereas here everyone is saying you should be more left winged, shouldn't you?

Zachary: I suspect they have to split.

Harry: New Labour did very well because they went very centrist and Ed Miliband went about a whisker more of the left but he was obviously between a rock and a hard place this time and a lot of people are saying they should now move more towards the centre grind. But who is there to vote for, for people on the left? Obviously they can vote Green but they're not going to get a substantial number of MPs unless the voting system changes. It's like people are ending up with a choice of something down

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the middle or to the right, and I don't know whether that's fair for a lot of people in Britain who have very different views.

Katie: I also feel it's a shame, it's not his fault but I think he did lack charisma and people just couldn't see him as being a prime minister, he just doesn't have that presence. He is a bit...

Thomas: It is true, it is so important to us, subconsciously, how someone handles themselves. Even though we say it doesn't, I think it so much affects it.

Katie: And all these photo opportunities, just making all these silly... the guy's just an idiot. (Over talking)

Una: Compared to who? David Cameron? Charisma?

Katie: He's got that smarmy sort of feel of somebody who is in control, whereas with Ed, anytime he would speak he stumbles on his words, and what was it? "Hell I am" when asked are you ready, and all of that.... and he stumbles off the stage and you just think, "oh God..." He was just a bit of a comic kind of character, he's just a type of John Cleese type. You cringe, there was that sort of Faulty Towers kind of feel with him.

Thomas: It felt that he was trying to be someone that he's not, which is so dis-genuine, which was the worst part about it.

Katie: In the debate he's looking at the camera...

MR: He was like Russell Brand, using all these...

Katie: Yeah, "Yo" and all the rest.

ON THE MANDATE TO RULEZachary: I was going to be boring and go back to your question about democratic deficit. I think there is an issue with the mandate because the conservatives got about 35% of the vote overall in the UK. But that has always been the case. That's always the case on a "first past the post" system. I can't remember the last time that anyone got 50%, if they ever have, and that's of course a very good reason for PR. And another good reason for PR, I think, is that the results have exaggerated the reality of the split between England and Scotland. I actually think that it's very easy for

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those of us on the left in Scotland to imagine that Scotland is a left winged nation and England is a right winged nation, and the reality is much, much more complicated. There's always been 20%, 25% of the population in Scotland who vote Conservative, they just don't really get represented by Conservative MPs, and there is a huge number of people in England who vote on the left and I think it's dangerous to exaggerate the difference, because it's not good for us to feel that we are nations who are completely different from each other.

I: Quentin, you looked at me meaningfully.

Quentin: I just thought, I think, obviously, on first past the post, of course they have the right to mandate. England is very Conservative, but even within there most people my age wouldn't vote Conservative. So there's massive splits in England. It's just the voting system. When you were watching the election I'm pretty sure it was mostly UKIP getting thirds in Scotland. Alex Salmond used to talk about "Oh you'd never see a UKIP MP in Scotland," but they were getting a lot of votes, and I think that it's a bit naive when people think Scotland is this sort of socialist utopia, I think it's not that at all. I read somewhere that Aberdeen has more millionaires per square mile than Europe, I can't remember the actual statistic but it was somewhere along those lines, and Edinburgh is a pretty wealthy city, I think the Highlands, a lot of wealth, a lot of people with land etc. Obviously a lot of people do vote left in Scotland but I think that it's over exaggerated quite a lot.

I2: That was a really intense and brilliant discussion, so thank you very much.

I: If you've finished your sheets you could pass them back up.

PERCEPTIONS OF ELECTORAL PROCESSI2: So coming back to the election itself, I think that we mentioned in the pre-election focus groups that we work with the Electoral Commission on certain issues that have to do with the election, and one of the things that they want to know is the perceptions of how the election was run. So my question then to you is do you think that the election was well run? Was it

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fair? Were there any instances that made you think, "hold on a minute; what's going on here?"

Harry: I think they have all these opinion polls leading up and it gives people an idea of the mood of everyone else, I suppose, and a lot of people might make their decision to vote based on what's out there on the opinion polls. If there's a split decision but you can see something going one way and you think that your vote is going to count more if you do one thing rather than the other then that might change how you vote, and obviously the actual... the real opinion of the nation is fairly different. but then I suppose what you're saying is again nobody is really winning on a majority of votes they're just winning on the way the system is set up. So if you are just looking at the number of people who are leaning one way or the other then you might not very necessarily get a representative opinion poll.

I2: Thank you that's a very interesting point to raise, and of course that's the other point connected to what you're saying, which is about PR. But of course the Electoral Commission cannot do anything about opinion polls or about the type of electoral system that we have. So what we are kind of looking at is in terms of the process itself.

I: The technical stuff, voting on the day, going to the polls.

I2: The postal vote

Zachary: As I said, last May I had real problems registering to vote.

I: What happened? Did it turn out okay?

Zachary: I never got a polling card from them and when I went, both my flatmate and I, our address was wrong, and that was presumably what the problems have been, and it just ended up being a complicated process. It took a lot of time to actually get my vote and, yeah, had I been a bit more apathetic I wouldn't have had a vote.

I2: Any other comments in terms of ...do you think that the election was well run generally?

Thomas: For me it was dead easy, I got my polling card through, I didn't need to do anything about it, straight into the polling station, put my vote...as simple as it could be.

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Harry: Yeah, for me, it was fine. I had misplaced my polling card but I just went in anyway, and they just asked me my address and I was scored off. So, I think one thing that maybe a lot of people are thinking is, you know, this sticking the cross in the box on a bit of paper, should we not be a bit pass that these days with technology.

I2: That has come up in other groups

Thomas: I really fear for the technology, especially after that episode in America where the guy that programmed it said at the trials that he'd programmed it... I think it's just easier to screw with.

Zachary: Did anybody see the thing about the Daily Telegraph online who to vote for thing? It was a tactical voting guide, it's who you want to be prime minister then who should you vote for, and they had it worked out for every constituency. Private Eye actually did the investigation, it had all been worked out for England but for Scotland it was set up to say vote for anyone but the SNP, for every single constituency.

Una: I thought it kept coming out as Tory for England as well. "We better support that!"

Una: One quick thing about the, you can just go in and say this is who I am and this is my address...

I2: You don't need a polling card.

Una: You can vote for someone else, evidently by that strength

I2: It's illegal to vote for someone else.

Una: I know, but I'm just making the point that it is possible and it happens.

Katie: Someone else could go and give your details and just vote, because it's no ID.

I: It's easy, but on the other hand it's a little too easy, so there is a double edged sword to this.

Una: I'd rather people are voting than not, I'd rather... even if they were voting for someone else, but...

I: Yeah, that's true. People have brought this up.

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Zachary: It seems to work, the level of voter fraud seems to be extremely low

I: People are also saying “I am also voting in pencil and someone could just erase it. I know they won't but they could." It's so free, some people do have some anxieties and maybe that's the price 53:50. So both points, not a lot of voting fraud but people also saying “anyone could just walk up and say that they're me, what I do if I walk in and someone has already voted in my name, how do I ...?”

Una: I'll be honest, years and years ago, maybe 15 years ago or something ridiculous, it was the European Elections and I didn't have a voting card and my sister did and she said "I can't be bothered voting" and I said "I'll just go and vote; I'll just take your card." It doesn't really matter does it? In a way, you wouldn't think about it....

I: Actually, you're the second person who's told a story like that, and it's all anonymised, nothing is going to come back.

Thomas: I got two polling cards through once for an election about four years ago, one to an address in Glasgow, one to an address in Ayr, and I contemplated voting twice.

Quentin: It's a five grand fine.

Thomas: Yeah, I don't know if they would know.

Katie: How would they know?

MR It's a £5000 fine.

Harry: How would they know it was you who'd walked in with a polling card? Anyone could have walked in and said 54:57 (over talking)

I2: They may have CCTV

Thomas: Yeah, exactly.

Katie: But not in the polling stations, in schools and little places... That's the other thing that I find quite weird, is that some of the polling stations, especially down south, they have them in really bizarre places. I think in

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Scotland we tend to have them in the schools and stuff but they have them in canteens and things, and that boxing place

Una: Yeah, that was weird.

ON REFERENDUMSI: The last question I'll ask is... we don't want to talk about the EU referendum, because that would take all night, but we do want to ask about your opinions on referendums in general. Britain has generally not been a country that goes and asks people what it thinks a lot, but yet in the last couple of years you've had the AV referendum, you've had the Independence referendum, now you're looking down the barrel of an EU referendum, so we're wondering if you guys like this idea of having referendums, or referenda, but apparently it's supposed to be referendums. I prefer referenda myself. So yeah, we're just wondering what are your thoughts on being asked these big questions and the big debates that come with them. Is it a good thing? Is it a bad thing? Are you torn on this? Maybe we'll start with Floyd?

FLOYD: I think it's really good thing, it engages people in politics. I know the Independence referendum was obviously a massive thing, voting went up, it rocketed up. I think if people actually think my vote, count for count, is going to have a say, it's going to do with my life then, yeah, I'm going to vote. So I think that referendums are generally a good thing. On big issues like the EU/Independence thing, I think it works well on issues as big as that, not on little things.

I: Great. Quentin how about you?

Quentin: It's good, I think there's a danger of it being overused. I think, to an extent, it does undermine representatives who were actually elected. The AV vote, the referendum on that, got a really low turnout, so it only works... I think the referendum on Scottish Independence I think that was probably a big one off, I don't think you would get the same turn out of EU, but I think that it still be quite high. Plus, I think that a lot of people aren't politically ... people don't go to look for policies. A lot of people don't know, unless you've brought up and brought it up in a political family or something like that, it's danger people... I know a lot of people down south

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who solely will vote out of the EU just because of all the immigrants that are coming in. That's their only main perception of what the EU is, and until you start teaching politics in schools from an early age, I think there's a danger with referendums. I think they're good but a danger of being overused.

I: We have one more question before you leave on the 2016 elections, so after this one. Anyone else on the referendum issues? You don't have to have an opinion.

Thomas: This might sound quite radical but I really like them, and what we were saying about technology earlier, I think we could implement that, because the criticism against referendums is that they cost a lot of money and take time, but with the technology we have now I think that it's very easy to get everyone’s opinion on a matter.

Katie: We can do it with reality TV here... more people are voting for X factor and we can't vote on government, and it's things like that, that you think "really?"

Thomas: Exactly. So I think get rid of the MP's.

Harry: I think you're right, it is good to get the people's opinion, but again like with the Scottish referendum and the EU referendum, both of these things, it's like is it really necessary? Both of these things have caused, or will cause, a lot of uncertainty. Even regardless of the outcome, there will be an impact. Whether that's in productivity, or people might see it going one way and they might make some decisions or businesses might make certain decisions. So I think that it's good they are used but they do need to be used appropriately.

I2: Any other comments?

Una: I am massively against allowing people to vote sort of...

Thomas: Just people to vote! (laughter)

Una: ... X Factor style, I think that is the knee jerk, and I totally agree with what you were saying, I think on big issues, and you were saying it galvanises it. It's really important, something like the Scottish referendum or whatever, and I think, at least for the EU, I think there will be lots of

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build-up, there will be lots of information. With the AV there was no information because the Conservatives didn't want that to go any which way. So I think if you did a poll of people in Britain and said "what is proportional representation?" you would struggle to get a decent answer, and yet we're all voting on it, even though it's like a mitigated proportional representation, AV, but anyway. So I really wouldn't want knee jerk, yeah, immigrants, "quick, vote!" pressing buttons voting out of Europe and I don't know what else.

Edmund: 60:46

ON THE DEVOLVED LEGISLATIVE ELECTIONSI: The last question has to do with the parliament coming up in 2016, and we've kind of rephrased this one way but I think I have a better phrasing of it for this group, which is when you're thinking about 2016, would you prefer to see a Scottish parliament that is really dominated by the SNP or would you like to see a lot of parties and coalition? Katie, you're nodding your head.

Katie: I don't want an SNP dominated Scottish parliament; hopefully we won't get that. I think it will be an opportunity for other parties, Greens and Lib Dems and Labour and things.

I: Floyd, you're nodding your head?

FLOYD: I think on a national level they're quite good in Westminster but I do think that it would be good to get a bit more split in Scottish parliament.

Katie: And hold them to account. It's that accountability, they've gone a good job, they came in after Labour, they've done a good job, but everyone gets seduced by power and they've been in power for a while, and they can now sort out the other important things and let's get the Greens, let’s get other parties in. I think that it's better for Scottish politics if there's a bit of a mixture and not just dominated by SNP. We'll become a one party state.

I: Anyone else agree or disagree? Harry?

Harry: I wouldn't be that bothered if it was dominated by SNP. I think I mentioned the last time that I would be most likely vote Green as it's proportional representation and I would hope that we would get more than

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one Green MP, but if the will of everyone else decides that we get mostly SNP, then so be it if that's what people want.

Una: I would probably vote Green, you said that you were thinking about it.

Thomas: That's what I was just thinking, the amount of folk I'm hearing saying they're going to vote Green is positive.

Zachary: I suspect that we'll see another SNP majority. I can't see it going any other way, unless they have to rely on the Greens, perhaps. But I suspect it will be...

I2: Would that be a good thing or a bad thing?

Zachary: I think it would be a good thing, because I would like to see Nicola Sturgeon getting a chance to prove that she means what she said. Remember we've had Alex Salmond in charge, and I don't think he's a social democratic, particularly, and I would like to see her getting more of a chance to prove her credentials.

I2: Edmund, what do you think?

Edmund: I think it always better for democracy if there's more options and more choice for voters, and then, when they get in, for the actual MPs and MSPs as well there's more debate and discussion about issues with all sort of different views rather than just one view and one party. A bit like in America where there's just a two party system. So voters can either go A or B, and if A = B you don't have a choice, it's the same crowd.

I2: Are there any other comments on the 2016 election and how you think SNP will do? Any opinion on that? Anyone who has not had a chance to speak and wants to? Great, I think that's it. Two things before we let you go. The first thing is Kristi and I must have mentioned it before, we are trying to book a date for the 2016 general election and to have focus groups around that, so if you guys are interested and still around we would love to have you back. So given all the nodding, we can take it that you are interested and we'll keep you on file.

Thomas: I would do this full time. [laughter]

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I2: I wish we had the money for that. The second thing is, this is a bit of a long shot but we'll let you know anyway. We did focus groups in Dundee just after, about a couple of months after the Scottish referendum and we spoke to Yes and No voters and campaigners and we are now linking that to the 2015 General Election and looking at how those people that we spoke to then have moved on or not moved on in the General Election, so we are going to have this event in Edinburgh, giving our findings and getting posters 65:25 in and so on to talk about the links between the two. So again, if you're interested we'll send you out an invitation and if you can make it we will be very happy to see you there.

I: Thank you so much, we got some fantastic data, we thank you all for your time, and your wide range of views. I think you're right, now that the focus group is over, there is a stereotype about what an SNP voter is and we just hear normal people who are voting SNP and so we're hoping to bring that out. So we'll go down south, sit quietly and listen to see what they talk about, the SNP voters, and like you said it's that whole what the English think, what the Scotch think, what Nicola Sturgeon thinks!

Una: It would be interesting to ask them whether people who vote Labour, because I did speak to people that voted Labour down south who said "we blame the SNP where they didn't get in." I know they still wouldn't have got in but the perception of the coalition thing is why people blame Conservatives and we blame the SNP.

I: Do you think that Labour is going to come back? I think you were saying Katie, that it's a matter of reforming and coming back.

Katie: Yeah, but I think it will be a while.

Quentin: I read something recently that they were planning another ten year plan to get into power, so...

Zachary: I don't know what they can do in Scotland, apart from... The only way they can come back in Scotland I think is by splitting, but that seems to go against their very anti-nationalist rhetorics on... I don't know what they will do. Jim Murphy is kind of hanging on by his fingernails.

End of recording

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