We need your support to help us win the award.  Please follow this link bit.ly/rqsT15 and in the Digital Campaign section vote for ScotlandVotes.  Feel free to vote for entries in the other categories, but you don’t have to.

This nomination is a great accolade for ScotlandVotes and Weber Shandwick and follows hot on the heels of our win at the Chartered Institute of Public Relations Scottish PRide Awards, where we picked up Gold for the Best Website.

Here is what the judges said about our nomination for the PRide Awards:

“Weber Shandwick Scotland started with a bold objective- to become the authority on the Scottish elections. With this highly usable website and supportive media campaign which saw their team grab hold of the issue, they’ve succeeded admirably. The interactivity of the website gave it the feel of an online version of Peter Snow’s infamous ‘swingometer’. The involvement of politicians and respected bloggers gave the site much-needed gravitas.”

Thanks to you the users of ScotlandVotes, whether on the website, Facebook, Twitter or those who attended our hustings online or in person.  We had a great time covering the 2011 Scottish Parliament election and we are already working on setting up the new boundaries for the next Westminster election!

Taking place throughout March, leading up to the election campaign, each of the parties has put forward its main spokesperson for debates on education, justice, health and the economy.

The lively debates will be chaired by Kenny Farquharson, Deputy Editor Scotland on Sunday.  Each candidate will be given a few minutes to present an opening statement.  The candidates will be given an opportunity to cross-examine each other and then the audience are invited to grill them.

The debates will take place in Edinburgh at the Scotsman headquarters across the road from the Scottish Parliament.  However, as an election first, the debates will also be broadcast live on the internet through scotlandvotes.com.   Wherever you are in Scotland, or indeed anywhere, you can log on to view the debate and participate by asking questions which will be fed through the Chair.

Each debate is open to the public to attend in person but you must register using the buttons below as tickets are limited.

Make sure you check out each edition of Scotland on Sunday in advance of the debates for a preview and commentary of the issue up for discussion that week.

Please use the buttons below and follow the link to register your attendance.   If you want to participate online, then simply visit www.scotlandvotes.com on the day.

Education – in association with University of the Highlands & Islands
Monday 7 March, 3.00pm

• Michael Russell MSP, SNP
• Des McNulty MSP, Scottish Labour
• Margaret Smith, Scottish Liberal Democrats
• Elizabeth Smith MSP, Scottish Conservatives

Justice – in association with Quarriers
Monday 14th March, 3.30pm

• Kenny MacAskill MSP, SNP
• Richard Baker MSP, Scottish Labour
• Robert Brown MSP, Scottish Liberal Democrats
• Bill Aitken MSP, Scottish Conservatives

Health – in association with Abbott
Monday 21st March, 12.30pm

• Nicola Sturgeon MSP, SNP
• Jackie Baillie MSP, Scottish Labour
• Ross Finnie MSP, Scottish Liberal Democrats
• Murdo Fraser MSP, Scottish Conservatives

Economy – in association with Serco
Monday 28th March, 12.30pm

• John Swinney MSP, SNP
• Andy Kerr MSP, Scottish Labour
• Jeremy Purvis MSP, Scottish Liberal Democrats
• Derek Brownlee MSP, Scottish Conservatives

Weber Shandwick, in partnership with Scotland on Sunday, is pleased to announce a series of election hustings.

Taking place throughout March, leading up to the election campaign, each of the parties has put forward its main spokespeople for debates on education, justice, health and the economy.

As an election first the hustings will also be broadcast live on the internet allowing anyone across Scotland to view and ask questions.

The third event will focus on health which we are holding in association with Abbott.

The four key spokespeople will go head-to-head to explain their party policies on health and why they should be trusted with the Scottish NHS.

The current Cabinet Secretary for Health, Nicola Sturgeon MSP, will be joined by the three main opposition spokespeople who are all vying to replace her at the Cabinet table after the election.

• Nicola Sturgeon MSP, SNP
• Jackie Baillie MSP, Scottish Labour
• Ross Finnie MSP, Scottish Liberal Democrats
• Murdo Fraser MSP, Scottish Conservatives

The lively debate will be chaired by Kenny Farquharson, Deputy Editor Scotland on Sunday. Each candidate will be given a few minutes to present an opening statement. The candidates will be given an opportunity to cross-examine each other and then the audience is invited to grill them.

Date: Monday 21 March 2011, 12.30pm
Venue: The Scotsman, Holyrood Road, Edinburgh

If you aren’t able to join us in person you can log on to scotlandvotes.com from 12.30pm on Monday 21 March to view the debate.  www.scotlandvotes.com

Attendance is by ticket only and you can book your ticket for free by clicking the link below:

Weber Shandwick, in partnership with Scotland on Sunday, is organising a series of election hustings.

Taking place throughout March, leading up to the election campaign, each of the parties has put forward its main spokespeople for debates on education, justice, health and the economy.

As an election first the hustings will also be broadcast live on the internet allowing anyone across Scotland to view and ask questions.

The second event will focus on justice which we are holding in association with Quarriers.

The four key spokespeople will go head-to-head to explain their party policies on justice and why they should be trusted to tackle crime youth justice, plans for Police Forces, the judicial system and prisons.  in fact, the audience can ask anything related to the justice portfolio.

The current Cabinet Secretary for Justice, Kenny MacAskill MSP, will be joined by the three main opposition spokespeople who are all vying to replace him at the Cabinet table after the election.

• Kenny MacAskill MSP, SNP
• Richard Baker MSP, Scottish Labour
• Robert Brown MSP, Scottish Liberal Democrats
• Bill Aitken MSP, Scottish Conservatives

The lively debates will be chaired by Kenny Farquharson, Deputy Editor Scotland on Sunday. Each candidate will be given a few minutes to present an opening statement. The candidates will be given an opportunity to cross-examine each other and then the audience is invited to grill them.

Date: Monday 14 March 2011, 3.30pm
Venue: The Scotsman, Holyrood Road, Edinburgh

If you aren’t able to join us in person you can log on to scotlandvotes.com from 3.30pm on Monday 14th March to view the debate.  www.scotlandvotes.com

Attendance is by ticket only and you can book your ticket for free by clicking the link below:

Quarriers is one of Scotland’s largest social care charities, providing services in 125 locations across Scotland and the south west of England. We challenge inequality of opportunity and choice to bring about positive change in people’s lives.

Visit their website http://www.quarriers.org.uk/

The Education Debate
Date: Monday 7 March 2011, 3pm
Venue: The Scotsman, Holyrood Road, Edinburgh
And live online at www.scotlandvotes.com

In association with:

Scotland’s leading election website, ScotlandVotes.com, in partnership with The Scotland on Sunday will host a series of hustings in the run up to the 2011 Scottish Parliament election.

The first event will focus on education and the four main party spokespeople have all agreed to take part.

The hustings will be chaired by Kenny Farquharson, Deputy Editor Scotland on Sunday. Each spokesperson will provide a short statement and this will be followed by questions from the other spokespeople and the audience.

Please join us at the event if you would like to take part and grill the politicians in advance of the Scottish Parliament elections. Please use the registration form below to apply for a ticket or click here

Monday 7 March – Education

• Michael Russell MSP, SNP
• Des McNulty MSP, Scottish Labour
• Margaret Smith, Scottish Lib Dems
• Elizabeth Smith MSP, Scottish Conservatives

As an election first in Scotland the hustings will also be broadcast live on the internet with anyone from across the country not only able to view the proceedings but also ask questions live online. If you aren’t able to join us in person then please on Monday 7th March at 3pm log on to www.scotlandvotes.com to view the event.

The University of the Highlands and Islands is a partnership of colleges, learning and research centres located throughout the Highlands and Islands of Scotland, and beyond. Visit their website http://www.uhi.ac.uk

ScotlandVotes is an election website created and run by Weber Shandwick. Since the 2007 election it has been the leading Scottish website for news and information about elections.

ScotlandVotes includes an election predictor, opinion poll database, candidate lists, photos and biographies, twitter feed from all candidates, a blog and video highlights. The website has just been updated to include the new constituency boundaries for 2011 making it the only portal where people can see the potential shape of the new Parliament.

Coming very soon … ground-breaking election hustings brought to you by Weber Shandwick and Scotland on Sunday.

We will feature four debates on education, justice, health and the economy with the spokespeople from each of the main parties.

Check back soon for dates and further details about what makes these hustings an election first in Scotland.

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/P2MVK3P

We will publish the results of the survey in early 2011 and send a copy to everyone who fills in the survey who provides us with their email address

The main change to the website is the addition of the new constituency boundaries and notional results based on the last election in 2007.  Now with this information uploaded to the site you can use our election predictor to enter potential results for the forthcoming election and see what the resulting Parliament might look like in terms of political representation.

The new data in ScotlandVotes.com is  based on the notional results produced by Professor David Denver of Lancaster University.  However, the website shows that the Tories look set to already lose one seat – before the election even begins.

Moray Macdonald, Deputy Managing Director of Weber Shandwick comments:  “Using the excellent work by Professor Denver as a base to the website we can now see how the next Scottish Parliament might look under the new constituency boundaries.

“Professor Denver’s work showed that the Tories would gain three seats in the new Parliament if votes were cast the same as in 2007.  Unfortunately for the Tories, according to Weber Shandwick, there was a minor error in the South of Scotland calculations and they now lose one seat to take their new notional number of MSPs to 19 rather than 20.

“Since we launched ScotlandVotes in 2007 for the previous Holyrood elections the site has become Scotland’s leading seat predictor tool giving everyone from parliamentarians to political pundits accurate analysis of what seats are changing hands and when.

“As Scotland’s leading public affairs agency Weber Shandwick has been at the cutting edge of politics and lobbying since devolution.  ScotlandVotes is another example of how we continue to lead the way with a more interactive format featuring regular blogs and video postings from an array of Scottish politicians and commentators.”

Background to the Changes

The May 2011 Scottish Parliament elections will be fought under new constituency and regional boundaries.  Many of the changes to constituency seats are substantial.  Different results in the constituencies have an impact on who gets elected off the regional lists – the boundaries for which are themselves altered for the 2011 election.

This means that the basis for the calculations that feed our seat predictor are notional results.  These figures are not predictions of what will happen in the next election, but rather calculations about what would have happened in 2007 if that election had been fought under the new boundaries.

The figures Weber Shandwick has used are those calculated by Professor David Denver of Lancaster University in his paper published by the BBC in September 2010.  Professor Denver is a renowned psephologist who takes a particular interest in the electoral politics of Scotland.

However, our calculation of the notional results does differ slightly from Professor Denver’s conclusions, with one seat allocated differently.

Professor Denver has the Conservatives winning 20 seats in total.  Breaking 20 would be significant for the Conservatives – which is why they might not want to look too closely at the figures behind that total.  We did, in order to guarantee that the Scotland Votes election predictor was based on the most credible calculations available.

Our recalculations using Professor Denver’s own figures show that he had mis-allocated a list seat to the Conservatives in the South of Scotland region.  This seat should have been allocated to the SNP, meaning that they would have won the 47 seats under the new boundaries that they did win in the actual election in 2007.  The Conservatives would still have had an increase in their haul, but only by two seats, taking them to a total of 19.

When you use the election predictor for the 2011 Holyrood election, the changes indicated, depending on the predicted results you enter, will be changes from these notional results, rather than the actual results in 2007.

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