• Final polls before Scotland votes
• SNP on course to be largest party - but can they form a government?
• Reform tipped for a major breakthrough
• Could Reform become the main opposition?
• Polls say Labour facing a potentially disastrous night but how will electoral quirks effect this?
• What a bad result means for Anas Sarwar
• Conservatives under pressure as support falls
• Turnout fears and the “don’t know” voters
• Why the campaign failed to inspire
• Greens and Lib Dems eye influence at Holyrood
• What happens if the SNP fall short of a majority
• Could Scottish results deepen Keir Starmer’s crisis?

Focussing on UK, Scottish and Global politics, if you like other great political podcasts like The Rest is Politics, The News Agents, Newscast, Questions Time, Holyrood Sources, Planet Holyrood, The Stooshie, The Steamie, Scotcast, Americast etc etc then The Ponsonby and Massie Podcast could be a great show to add to your list of favourites.

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• SCOTTISH PARLIAMENT ELECTIONS 2026
• Why boundary changes make election-night swings harder to read
• Prof Chris Hanretty explains “notional results” — the hidden baseline for 2026
• Reform’s zero-start problem: easy for notionals, difficult for interpretation
• Could a split unionist vote hand the SNP a majority on a third of the vote?
• Knife-edge seats: Edinburgh South, Glasgow list battles and the local-factor problem
• Is Holyrood’s voting system still proportional enough for a six-party Scotland?

Focussing on UK, Scottish and Global politics, if you like other great political podcasts like The Rest is Politics, The News Agents, Newscast, Questions Time, Holyrood Sources, Planet Holyrood, The Stooshie, The Steamie, Scotcast, Americast etc etc then The Ponsonby and Massie Podcast could be a great show to add to your list of favourites.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

• Scottish election campaign is being eclipsed by Westminster politics and feels flat:
• Starmer’s Mandelson/Olly Robbins row is deepening:
• Labour MPs appear to be losing faith in Starmer:
• The real damage is about competence and cronyism:
• Low turnout could be the big story of the Scottish election:
• SNP still look best placed despite a lacklustre campaign:

Focussing on UK, Scottish and Global politics, if you like other great political podcasts like The Rest is Politics, The News Agents, Newscast, Questions Time, Holyrood Sources, Planet Holyrood, The Stooshie, The Steamie, Scotcast, Americast etc etc then The Ponsonby and Massie Podcast could be a great show to add to your list of favourites.

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With 3 weeks until the Scottish Parliament Elections 2026, leading pollster, Mark Diffley, joins Bernard and Alex with the latest insights.

• What are the latest polls saying?
• Why there is much to play for in marginal seats?
• How vote share translates to seats and the big changes that can come from small margins
• Which seats to watch for upsets?

Focussing on UK, Scottish and Global politics, if you like other great political podcasts like The Rest is Politics, The News Agents, Newscast, Questions Time, Holyrood Sources, Planet Holyrood, The Stooshie, The Steamie, Scotcast, Americast etc etc then The Ponsonby and Massie Podcast could be a great show to add to your list of favourites.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

• New polls suggest the SNP remains on course to win comfortably, but key questions remain over whether John Swinney secures a majority or must rely on support from other parties.
• Is Reform UK Scotland losing some momentum, with recent polling and campaign controversies raising doubts about whether it can sustain earlier advances.
• Sunday’s televised leaders’ debate is especially high-stakes for Malcolm Offord, while Anas Sarwar, John Swinney and Russell Findlay each face different political and performance pressures.
• After the election the real challenge may be Scotland’s fiscal crunch, with all parties accused of avoiding hard truths about spending, deficits and the affordability of manifesto promises.

Focussing on UK, Scottish and Global politics, if you like other great political podcasts like The Rest is Politics, The News Agents, Newscast, Questions Time, Holyrood Sources, Planet Holyrood, The Stooshie, The Steamie, Scotcast, Americast etc etc then The Ponsonby and Massie Podcast could be a great show to add to your list of favourites.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Scottish Parliament is winding up ahead of the election in May. Is there any chance of a real upset ofr is it another SNP shoo-in?

Focussing on UK, Scottish and Global politics, if you like other great political podcasts like The Rest is Politics, The News Agents, Newscast, Questions Time, Holyrood Sources, Planet Holyrood, The Stooshie, The Steamie, Scotcast, Americast etc etc then The Ponsonby and Massie Podcast could be a great show to add to your list of favourites.

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• Reform UK Scotland manifesto launch
• Presented as the first major manifesto of the 2026 election campaign
• Framed as more about political messaging than a detailed governing programme
• Tax cuts versus reality
• Big promises on cutting income tax
• Strong scepticism about whether the sums add up or the savings are deliverable
• Manifestos as political branding
• Discussion that modern manifestos are often just headline documents
• Costings are often vague once properly examined
• Law and order agenda
• Reform proposals on tougher sentencing, more prisons, ending early release, and scrapping hate crime laws
• Argument that these policies are popular-sounding but very expensive
• Pressure on Scottish public finances
• Wider discussion that all parties face a difficult fiscal backdrop
• Concerns about long-term affordability of spending promises and welfare growth
• Reform’s electoral strategy and vulnerabilities
• Reform portrayed as a home for angry or disillusioned voters
• But also as vulnerable to scrutiny, weak candidates, and campaign mistakes
• Candidate controversy
• Mention of a Reform candidate being suspended over alleged Covid loan misuse
• Used as an example of how election campaigns expose candidate problems
• Assisted dying vote at Holyrood
• Review of the bill being defeated
• Focus on lobbying, safeguards, and why MSPs may have changed position
• Parliament doing its job
• Argument that rejecting a bill after detailed scrutiny is part of how democracy should work
• Emphasis on lawmakers judging the actual legislation, not just the principle
• War in Iran and economic fallout
• The conflict presented as the biggest external event shaping politics
• Concern about its effects on oil, gas, inflation, and wider economic stability
• Risk of a new cost-of-living crisis
• Discussion of rising energy bills, persistent mortgage pressure, and fewer hopes of interest-rate cuts
• Question of whether the UK is heading into “cost of living crisis part two”
• Keir Starmer, Rachel Reeves and Labour instability
• Discussion of shrinking fiscal headroom and pressure on the government
• Speculation about Starmer’s future and Angela Rayner positioning herself for a leadership move
• A broader failure of political honesty
• Final theme that politicians are not being frank with voters about the scale of the economic problems
• Suggestion that leadership across politics is avoiding hard truths

Focussing on UK, Scottish and Global politics, if you like other great political podcasts like The Rest is Politics, The News Agents, Newscast, Questions Time, Holyrood Sources, Planet Holyrood, The Stooshie, The Steamie, Scotcast, Americast etc etc then The Ponsonby and Massie Podcast could be a great show to add to your list of favourites.

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On the eve of the SNP's one day conference ahead of the Scottish Parliament elections in May, the party looks like winning on around a third of the vote but with little talk of Independence. What now for the SNP? Bernard Ponsonby and Alex Massie discuss.

Focussing on UK, Scottish and Global politics, if you like other great political podcasts like The Rest is Politics, The News Agents, Newscast, Questions Time, Holyrood Sources, Planet Holyrood, The Stooshie, The Steamie, Scotcast, Americast etc etc then The Ponsonby and Massie Podcast could be a great show to add to your list of favourites.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.