SNP surges amid Conservatives ‘support’

 

Scotland’s First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has thanked the Conservatives for helping to raise the profile and public awareness of the Scottish National Party.

She said that David Cameron’s party highlighting the potential influence the SNP might have at Westminster was “not unhelpful”.

Although last September’s referendum failed to gain independence for Scotland, it created a spectacular surge for the SNP in the polls.

This has led to predictions that the party could seize 56 of 59 seats in Scotland, enabling the country to hold the balance of power at Westminster.

In an interview with The Times, Ms Sturgeon said: “At every Westminster election I’ve fought until this one, the biggest challenge that we’ve had to overcome is being heard and being relevant.”

“We don’t have this problem this time. The message it’s given to people in Scotland is – if this is the attention we get just from the SNP riding high in the polls, imagine how loud our voice would be if that was translated into seats. So in that respect I absolutely think it is not unhelpful.

STUDENT VOICE

Alex Sowler, formal BU student says: “I think it will be destructive to the British Parliament having a party that ultimately wants independence from a United Kingdom”.

Rebecca Byng, Multimedia Journalism student says: “Despite Conservative support, I think it’s increasingly likely that there could be a Labour/SNP coalition in May which personally, I won’t be happy with.”

Ellie Seedhouse, Wildlife Conservation and Ecology student at BU says: “I think Scotland should stay in the UK and giving them more vote (power) means they have more chance at independence.”