Scottish Parliament Election, 6th May 2021

[Tintrlvr]

So what exactly are the policy differences between the SNP and Alba? Are there any substantial differences at all? Does Alba have any unique selling points that would actually motivate any SNP voters to defect besides the big ego of Salmond?

My understanding is that Salmond (i don’t know whether this is official Alba ‘party policy’), wants to push the SNP in the direction of adopting a new currency as soon as practicable after a putatively successful independence vote. At the moment, as far as I can make out, the SNP’s official policy is to continue using sterling after independence, but without remaining in monetary union with the UK (something ruled out by the British government years ago). The transition to a new currency will only take place once six economic ‘tests’ (fiscal sustainability, sufficient reserves, good economic environment etc) have been passed. This could take a long time and as far as I’m aware the SNP membership actually voted at conference for a much more rapid transition to a new currency along the lines proposed by Salmond. Needless to say, both of these options are fraught with risk (the former, so-called ‘sterlingisation’, has only been adopted historically by less developed countries when their own currencies have been devalued to almost nothing), but they’re the only options on the table if the UK government holds the line on saying no to monetary union.

Of course, if Scotland plans to rejoin the EU as an independent state then Euro membership will be a necessity, so the above won’t matter very much in the long run, although that depends on how long the application process for the EU takes.

And why did Salmond name the party Alba and Caledonia? Alba is whole of Britain

You might be thinking of "Albion".

They both come from the same root in Greek and meant the entire island of Britain originally, although I agree Scottish Gaelic has for a long time used "Alba" to mean only Scotland (and in some historical instances only the Highlands).

[Tintrlvr]

Lib Dems hold Shetland on a 19 point swing to the SNP.

Far and away the best result for the SNP in this seat with 41.9%. During regular elections they never got over 30%. Dissatisfaction over Brexit?

Not sure why dissatisfaction over Brexit would hurt the LDs. Longtime LD incumbent and former leader Tavish Scott retired a couple of years ago, and the incumbent LD MSP has only been there since a 2019 by-election (which also saw a big swing to the SNP, though not quite as large). Presumably the change is mainly caused by a loss of incumbency advantages.

[Tintrlvr]

Do the Greens not support a referendum? Otherwise it doesn't seem to matter much whether the SNP got a majority or not.