Cameron’s disunited kingdom
Scots nationalists put independence back on agenda as Labour Party licks wounds in wake of hefty defeat.
THE UNITED Kingdom has been less united.
David Cameron won a second term as prime minister after a campaign exploiting divisions between England and Scotland and promising voters a voice on quitting the European Union.
The separatist Scottish National Party won 56 of 59 seats, putting independence back on the agenda.
‘‘As much as the Conservatives have triumphed, it comes at a very high price. They could go down in history as the party who helped create Scotland’s independence,’’ said Adrian Pabst, who teaches politics at the University of Kent.
‘‘The single biggest challenge is a disunited kingdom and sleepwalking into an exit from EU.’’
Boris Johnson, favoured to succeed Cameron when he steps down partway through his term, has advocated a ‘‘federal offer’’ to the people of Scotland.
‘‘Everybody needs to take a deep breath, think about how we want the United Kingdom to progress,’’ Johnson said after winning a seat in London.
‘‘I’m sure most people want to keep the basis, the idea of a unified state of one sort or another.’’
Cameron governing a united Britain contrasts with his campaign message that a Labour government supported by the SNP would flout England’s interests.
The leader of last year’s failed Scottish independence referendum is celebrating winning a seat in Britain’s House of Commons. ‘‘The Scottish lion has roared,’’ said Alex Salmond, former Scottish first minister.
Cameron’s Conservatives, the opposition Labour Party and the Liberal Democrats won just one seat each in Scotland, highlighting the division with England.
In the final weeks of his campaign, Cameron repeatedly told voters in England that they would suffer if the SNP had a share of power, inverting an argument used for decades by nationalists north of the border.
Cameron has pledged ‘‘English votes for English laws’’, limiting the powers of Scottish lawmakers in Westminster to vote on legislation which only affects England. Now he has a majority, he will be in a position to bring legislation to Parliament which might have been blocked in coalition.
Scots voted to stay in Britain in a referendum on independence in September, and the SNP capitalised on the surge of nationalism sparked by the campaign.
Just over a week day, the first signs that Labour’s cam-
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As much as the Conservatives have triumphed, it comes at a very high price. They could go down in history as the party who helped create Scotland’s independence. Adrian Pabst
polling paign was on course for failure started to emerge, but the tight circle around leader Ed Miliband decided to keep them secret.
Labour’s final internal poll, conducted shortly before the final party leaders’ debate, suggested it could expect just a one- point swing in the party’s favour. Rather than making gains, this suggested Labour would be heading backwards from 258 in 2010 to around 250 seats.
Team Miliband considered – and rejected – changing strategy, and decided instead to keep the poll findings quiet from colleagues.
Even Iain McNicol, the general secretary, was not informed, as those who knew better hoped that the slew of public polls published by newspapers would prove more accurate than their internal data.
Separately, there were the warnings from senior MPs that the party was suffering horribly in the face of Tory scaremongering about the dangers of a Labour government backed by the SNP.
At heart, Miliband never satisfactorily resolved the contradiction at the centre of his campaign which emerged during his leadership bid in 2010.
One wing of his office believed that Labour lost in 2010 because they had failed to win the support of working-class voters. Some key strategists pushed a ‘‘blue Labour’’ agenda tough on immigration, welfare and spending. A more liberal wing thought they could steal Liberal Democrat votes and form a progressive majority united in the common cause of a social democ- racy. That basic tension divided the office and plagued Miliband until a disastrous conference speech in September forced the party to toughen up welfare and immigration messages.