Scottish Parliament election

Poor Tommy but he'll be back, still he couldn't help himself sticking the boot in to his old chums could he? Well the whole thing is coming to an end, at least for the telly coverage and my shift is nearly over. Just want to say thanks to the BBC for this blog and all the comments. Thanks too to Brian for keeping us informed through out the night. And hey when my grand kids ask me where I was when Scotland was shamed and embarrased by spoiled ballot papers, we'll all remember.

Tommy Sheridan managed to provide both personality and delivery in the Scottish Parliament and he's a real loss. Let's hope that a single force in socialism emerges before the 2011 election.

A very good result for the SNP in Glasgow, a net gain of three seats in all.

Congratulations to Bashir Ahmad for his historic achievement.

What a shame for Holyrood that one of the bigger characters is gone.

Why the lead on Sheridan out rather than Harvie in?

Sheridan is a joke & losing his seat is testament to that.

Nice to see the green party maintaining a voice in parliament, especially in light of the rejected vote fiasco.

Well, thats us been booted out of the webcast here in Oz. Sad as I was enjoying the coverage. Thanks very much to Brian for all the election coverage he has been involved with. It may be a disaster for Scotland tonight due to the voting, but the coverage compaired to the recent NSW State election was very exciting indeed. Haste me back!

Good Gods, this isn't even funny anymore...

This election MUST be re-held. The result in at least one constituency has already been scrapped for a recount. How many more will we hear? This cannot go on.

5.2% of the vote gets the Greens an MSP - the support of 1 in 19 voters.

The list system is a much of a joke as the rest of the election. Surely there should be a threshold (eg 10%) before a party gets a seat? This is how it works in other countries.

When you consider that Glasgow has 17 seats, then the Greens getting a seat is perfectly fair, particularly when you factor in Labour's over-representation.

'Surely there should be a threshold (eg 10%) before a party gets a seat?'

This is how it often works in countries that try and deny minority representation - for example Turkey, where the threshold is carefully caluculated to exclude kurdish parties. Not a great example to follow...

Besides, if there are twenty seats and they get a twentieth of the vote, why not give the greens a seat?

Thanks for your comments over the night Brian, even though sometimes it wasn't what we wanted to hear. Bedtime now...maybe I'll wake up and this will have been a dream...

I think gordon j may be mr sheridan, escaping his embarrassment in the murky depths of this blog!

Excellent coverage Brian!

As an IT Project Manager I am concerned that this system appears not to have been tested at realistic load levels. Heads should roll, the spokeswoman from the IT company was a disgrace.

An amateur hour mistake....

well done the snp this IS your time make sure you get it right the people of scotland have giving you the right to manage our affairs and put scotland back where she belongs best of luck to you HERES TAE US WHASE LIKE US

The List system is certainly a joke.... over 78,000 votes recorded in Glasgow for regional candidates yet this delivers no regional MSP.... 55,000 SNP votes and we get four MSPS, there is certaibly something wrong with the system....

Was Mr Sheridan and his like unable to SWING the voters?

Perhaps at last the Scottish people have seen this self obsessed publicist for what he is; if he was honest he should reform his presentation and present himself to the electorate unashamedly as the Tommy Sheridan Party.

Except that it looks like Labour will be the largest party and will continue to be in the government with the Liberal Democrats. Good news for Labour.

I am sorry Tommy Sheridan is going - he really believes what he stands for. He was discredited by MI5 or MI6 whoever does homeland security as his force was getting too powerful - just wind back the old Scottish Newsnight tape with the interview from the SSP guy who received the video tape to see the proof !

Oh and that woman form the IT company ... what a disgrace when she was asked about what was going wrong. She sounded just like Jack McC when you ask him a grown up question. Who's money does she think she is spending and when she risks the peoples election, she cant even sound in the least bit empathetic.

No whoever gets in must make them pay and not get off free like they did with the parliament building. It's called public accountability.

Regrdless... that woman needs sacked for her companies failure to deliver a quality product ! I bet it was not cheap!!

Very angry !!

Ta Brian for the coverage! STV(The other lot could not be bothered! Thought you should chaired the TV coverage.

He could always use some of his spare time now joining an airgun club with some level headed decent people

I hope that that 10,000 plus voters that "spolied" their papers in the Glasgow region get a revote for the List.
Tommy Sheridan we love you (lol)

"The List system is certainly a joke.... over 78,000 votes recorded in Glasgow for regional candidates yet this delivers no regional MSP.... 55,000 SNP votes and we get four MSPS, there is certaibly something wrong with the system...."

Labour get no list seat as they are grossly over-represented in the FPTP constituency seats.

The list serves to act as a top up for parties who are under-represented in the constituency vote.