Conor Matchett

Conor Matchett

@conormatchett.bsky.social

Chief Politics Writer at The Scottish Sun - "One of the better bin-raking bollocks-horns". Views my own.

1.1K followers321 following238 posts

Conor Matchett
@conormatchett.bsky.social

SNP conference has just passed a motion calling on all quangos, nationalised organisations (e.g. Prestwick, ScotRail), the Scottish Government, and the Scottish Parliament to quit X

Conor Matchett reposted

Chris Marshall
@chrismarshll.bsky.social

It becomes much harder to call out Reform's disinformation at First Minister's Questions when you're spreading your own.

Chris McCall@dennynews.bsky.social

John Swinney's protestations on this matter are beginning to look desperate.

dailyrecord.co.uk'I have nothing to explain' Swinney rejects claim he misled MSPs over pensionsThe First Minister has faced calls to "correct the record" and told he was "peddling misinformation" after suggesting older people will lose out as a result of Andy Burnham's plan to scrap the triple ...
Conor Matchett
@conormatchett.bsky.social

Mr Swinney had several options after the PM's speech last week. He could have committed to a new pension-age benefit, an improved social care offering, or even a massively uprated Scottish Child Payment. He chose none of them. Politics is about choices.

Conor Matchett
@conormatchett.bsky.social

Some may argue there was an opportunity with the debate over the triple lock changes to a) admit the likely massive consequentials that would come from an uptick in social care spending in England and b) use it for mass generational wealth transfer to poverty-stricken kids

Conor Matchett
@conormatchett.bsky.social

This is maybe a really boring point but I do think Andy Burnham's way of speaking about politics and trade-offs is potentially a seismic shift-change in how British politics operates Totally dependent on his actual actions whether it succeeds, but he is showing it's possible to govern in this way

Conor Matchett
@conormatchett.bsky.social

I know we're not quite in the era of brown envelopes and council decisions being made in dark dingy corners of bars, but giving planning decisions to as few as four people in a not insignficantly small place like Leith (or anywhere else mentioned, tbh) will not end well

Ballot Box Scotland@ballotbox.scot

We can't have 3-4 ward councillors doing aspects of governance currently done by a whole council, that's simply too few and has very limited scope for fair, democratic representation, but if we had 9+ (per my NM Lite proposals) the regional councils are far, far too big.

Conor Matchett reposted

Stephen Boyd
@stephenboydippr.bsky.social

All the usual caveats regarding data quality but the significant fall in Scotland's 16-64 employment rate - and concomitant increase in unemployment - over the past year isn't great news. Employment rate now lower, and unemployment rate higher, than the UK

Conor Matchett
@conormatchett.bsky.social

The SNP's response to Andy Burnham's social care proposals is to whine about higher taxes possibly coming the way of Scottish taxpayers to - as they put it - fund "English" care That's forgetting how the Barnett Formula works and is just a big middle finger to voters who want a solution

Conor Matchett
@conormatchett.bsky.social

That's before we get to the clusterfuck that was the National Care Service (bill: £30million) and Nicola Sturgeon, Humza Yousaf, and John Swinney's apparent reluctance to do any actual policy-making on this issue. They'd much prefer it was solved for them, somehow. A dereliction of duty.

Conor Matchett
@conormatchett.bsky.social

Brutal result for Scottish Labour

Election Maps UK@electionmaps.uk

Larkhall (South Lanarkshire) Council By-Election Result [1st Prefs]: ➡️ RFM: 35.2% (New) 🎗️ SNP: 29.9% (+1.0) 🌹 LAB: 24.5% (-8.5) 🌳 CON: 10.5% (-14.0) No Ind (-10.3), LBT (-0.6), UKIP (-0.3). Reform 'Gain' from Labour - Elected Stage 4. Changes w/ 2022.

Conor Matchett
@conormatchett.bsky.social

My mum texts in: "Your grandmother would have been very proud." Context: The one thing fought over most among my family from her old house was a Sacred Heart that lit the landing between bedrooms and the toilet with creepy holy red light...

Conor Matchett
@conormatchett.bsky.social

The constant infantilising of young adults makes me think the only effective corrective is to ban anyone from voting who is five years older (or more) than the average life expectancy and allow votes for 16 and 17 year olds.

Stephen Bush@stephenkb.bsky.social

I wrote this back in 2023 and I become more and more alarmed by the global trend: in an ageing democracy the young now have to contend with the 'you understand I have a job now and am an adult?' conversations with parents and older relatives but backed by the coercive power of the state:

ft.comWhy childhood is getting longerTechnology, demography and culture are all pushing society to extend how long people are considered young for
Conor Matchett
@conormatchett.bsky.social

This is obviously tongue in cheek but in an ageing society where the majority arguably don't have a stake in anything but the short-to-medium future, there is an argument for limiting their influence on the lives of those 1/4 of their age... (as much as there is that young 'uns don't know enough)

Conor Matchett
@conormatchett.bsky.social

This thinking is fundamentally what has slowly killed off Scottish Labour

Jonn Elledge@jonnelledge.bsky.social

There's a sort of core to Labour support, of people who feel a genuine connection to the party and see voting for - even working with - those of other parties as a betrayal. This group seems chronically unable to understand that *even among historically reliable Labour voters* they're a minority

Conor Matchett
@conormatchett.bsky.social

Beyond a historic result for the Greens in Edinburgh

Ballot Box Scotland@ballotbox.scot

Edinburgh and Lothians East Region: List MSP Allocation #1: Kate Nevens (Green) #2: Angela Ross (Reform UK) #3: Irshad Ahmad (Labour) #4: Miles Briggs (Conservative) #5: Q Manivannan (Green) #6: Katherine Sangster (Labour) #7: Kayleigh Kinross-O'Neill (Green)

Conor Matchett
@conormatchett.bsky.social

Green surge the story of the Holyrood election in 2026 Reform UK may well yet finish ahead of them on the regional list, but the breakthroughs in two constituencies - winning both from the SNP - shows shifting sands among younger voters in big cities. Watch this space

Conor Matchett
@conormatchett.bsky.social

Brutal analysis from ex-Scottish Labour spin doctor Paul Sinclair... Says Scot Lab did not do the intellectual "heavy lifting" during the campaign and went for personality politics instead with Anas "flirting with the country hoping that we’d fall in love with him"

Conor Matchett
@conormatchett.bsky.social

*The* reason Reform UK are "soft" on the Union and really don't care how much the Tories talk about it

Mark McGeoghegan@markmcgeoghegan.bsky.social

🚨📊NEW report out today from @ipsosinscotland.bsky.social and @uofgpolicy.bsky.social - Does Independence Still Matter? Our modelling of drivers of voting intention for next week's Scottish Parliament elections says yes, by orders of magnitude more than traditional political issues. Read more here:

gla.ac.ukNew report finds that while salience has dropped, Scottish independence still matters to voters1 May 2026: A new report, based on February and March 2026 polling by Ipsos, explores the drivers of voting behaviour in Scotland. It finds that constitutional preferences remain the strongest determi...
Conor Matchett
@conormatchett.bsky.social

Really good explanation of just how narrow the margins are in this election between it being a very good night for the SNP and an average to poor one...

Ballot Box Scotland@ballotbox.scot

Weekend Read: Party Profile: Scottish National Party Not so long ago, the SNP were headed to a crushing defeat. With effectively zero improvement in their polling, they are headed for yet another big win. Turns out to be very helpful for your chances if your opponents self-destruct.

ballotbox.scotSP26 Party Profile: Scottish National PartyThe big beasts of Scottish politics, by rights the SNP should be headed to a bruising election. Instead, Labour’s total collapse has opened the door to a big SNP win and potentially even a m…
Conor Matchett
@conormatchett.bsky.social

Few SLab folk earlier this year were saying this election would have more in common with 2011 for Labour to win it (i.e. coming back from a distance like Salmond did). We are at the highlighted point in the 2011 campaign, by which time the SNP had reversed their polling deficit.

Conor Matchett
@conormatchett.bsky.social

Not so for Labour *so far* in 2026... Our latest polls have been questionable MRPs - but even so there is *no sign* of the polling meaningfully shifting in the same way it did in 2011. Will take a huge swing away from Swinney in the next two weeks for a 2011 style reversal

Conor Matchett
@conormatchett.bsky.social

I'm not sure John Swinney running into a sandwich shop can save Labour from a very difficult result on May 7. But still think it's significantly more likely there is a pro-union majority than a SNP majority, and it's probably 50/50 on whether the Greens get enough seats to make it a pro-indy parly

Conor Matchett
@conormatchett.bsky.social

That's the sound of hundreds of Scottish Labour activists facepalming you can hear in the distance, by the way

Friends of Pudding@friend2pudding.bsky.social

his remarks are a fascinatingly poor bit of writing. you could not have done a better job setting up incredulous jeers from the tory benches, which will be clipped nicely for the evening news.

Conor Matchett
@conormatchett.bsky.social

COLUMN: The SNP's culture of secrecy & cover-up must end. They have perfected their approach - of deny, delay, distract - into an art form of pointing at shiny things away from the glare of the party's failure to reckon with misconduct among their own www.thescottishsun.co.uk/news/1614660...

thescottishsun.co.ukSNP culture of secrecy & cover-up must come to an endAFTER just two full weeks of Holyrood’s election campaign proper, the SNP are already mired in controversy and scandal. Perhaps it’s not a shock a party with 20 years in power is struggling to cont…
Conor Matchett
@conormatchett.bsky.social

A squarely batshit poll that appears to live somewhere between total fantasy and outright delusion.

Mark McGeoghegan@markmcgeoghegan.bsky.social

Scotland polling by Lord Ashcroft in @holyroodmag.bsky.social today, which @devolvedelections.bsky.social projects the SNP falling two short of an outright majority, and the Greens as the 2nd largest party: SNP: 63 Greens: 18 Reform: 17 Labour: 12 Conservatives: 8 Lib Dems: 9 Other: 2

holyrood.comExclusive: Lord Ashcroft poll puts SNP ahead as Labour struggles before Holyrood voteExclusive polling for Holyrood shows John Swinney’s party remains in a strong position ahead of May’s vote, but there ar...
Conor Matchett
@conormatchett.bsky.social

EXCLUSIVE: MORE than a dozen Reform UK Holyrood candidates are part of campaign group where members spread racist conspiracy theories and branded Muslims a “cancer” and “invaders”. www.thescottishsun.co.uk/news/1607076...

thescottishsun.co.ukReform's Scots candidates exposed as members of racist conspiracy groupDOZENS of Reform UK Holyrood candidates are part of campaign group where members spread racist conspiracy theories and branded Muslims a “cancer” and “invaders”. We can reveal as many as 15 MSP-wan…