How to vote Socialist (1999)

Party News from the April 1999 issue of the Socialist Standard

Voters for the Scottish Parliament will have two votes, one for a constituency member as in elections to Westminster and a second which can be cast for a party list covering a larger, multi-member region.

We are not standing any individual candidates so our message to those who want socialism is to use their first vote to vote against all the various reformist and pro-capitalist candidates by writing the word “SOCIALISM” across the ballot paper.

We are, however, presenting lists in 2 of the 8 regional constituencies (Glasgow and Lothians). Each of the 600,000 householders in these two regions will receive through their letterbox one or other of the socialist election leaflets reproduced on these pages. Here, of course, those who want socialism can show this by using their second vote to vote for the Socialist Party list. Be careful not to confuse our list with that of the “Scottish Socialist Party” which, despite its name, does not stand for socialism but is a leftwing nationalist—a Tartan Trotskyist—party.

Unfortunately our resources do not permit us to give more than a quarter of Scotland’s 4 million or so electors a chance to cast a vote for socialism. In the six other regions those who want socialism will have to indicate this by writing “SOCIALISM” across their second ballot paper too.