Voters can’t be taken for granted

Alex Salmond grew fond of talking about political earthquakes during the Glasgow East by-election. He kept it up during his frequent visits to the Glenrothes constituency and claimed he could still feel the ground shaking as he prepared to take this seat off Labour as well.

The SNP and Labour were both shaking yesterday, but for different reasons: the SNP could not believe they had blown it and Labour could not believe they had won with a comfortable majority. Both sides were convinced of the opposite outcome as the count of votes began. How could they misjudge the mood of the electorate so badly?

The SNP criticised negative campaigning by Labour about local home-care charges as being a major factor, whereas Labour viewed it as a massive personal vote of confidence for Gordon Brown’s leadership during a national crisis. The clear inference, again, was that Britain was strongest in a crisis when united.

Afterwards, the SNP tried to put on a brave face and some of their number even said they did not really expect to win such a strong Labour seat. Really? They could have fooled us.

The words “end of the honeymoon” have been bandied about when discussing the SNP’s future. It is too early say. Mr Salmond is still in the driving seat and many policies have won broad public appeal. There are sticky times ahead, though, with local income tax and the proposed independence referendum.

Lessons will be learned, of course, but it is surprising how many times experienced politicians forget one basic lesson – and that is, never take voters for granted.