Thread by @themajorityscot

Alex Salmond's Alba party highlights that the only way to win in May is to vote for different parties on the constituencies and on the lists. Salmond's plan would result in a huge Separatist majority. So what can we do about it...?

On our side, if ordinary people are prepared to vote tactically to get rid of the SNP, why aren't the parties that are supposed to represent them not doing it? @DouglasRoss @AnasSarwar @WillieRennie need to STAND DOWN candidates that cannot win.

A ONE-TIME tactical voting alliance is a win-win for the major parties, and could result in up to 30 seats being taken from the SNP. Yet, the parties have given up. They are content to be the opposition. And, despite their claims, everyone knows they can't win on their own.

If the major parties don't have the courage to make an alliance to beat the SNP and Salmond, voters will be right to assume they are a bunch of weak vote-splitting losers who will NEVER do the right thing. Why then should voters keep rewarding them for failure?

You can talk all you like about vote splitting on the list, but the reality is that the main parties have been splitting the vote in the constituencies for YEARS. If they're not prepared to do what it takes to win in the constituencies, why give them an easy ride in the lists?

Sure, let's give some anonymous zzz-lister Tory/Labour/libDem a seat where they can do F-all for four years, supporting their timid and feeble leaders. Great plan.

Salmond's announcement just blew every vote model out of the water. The bare fact is that the variables are too complex to model. Instead, TRUST YOUR INSTINCTS and work to get a highly-motivated, fighting, opposition in place.

Do you really think some zzz-list Tory/Labour/LibDem will fight harder than the lead A4U candidates? No chance. Do you think George Galloway and his team won't hold Sturgeon and her cronies feet to the fire, when that's their sole reason for wanting your vote?

In my constituency, I'm going to tactical vote Labour for the first time in my life, and in Central Scotland I will vote A4U to get @MaryDevlin21 into Holyrood on the list. She's 1000 times more competent and motivated than any Tory/Labour/LibDem zzzz-lister.

She's out on the streets, organising billboards, getting planes to fly over Holyrood, sending out ad vans and getting the message across that our silent majority won't be silent any more. Meanwhile, the zzz-listers are barely awake.

The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result. If you want more of the same, keep voting the old way. If you want tired, weak and ineffective politicians, keep voting the old way.

But If you want CHANGE, you know what to do: Vote for the party most likely to beat the SNP in your constituency and for A4U in the lists.

It's not as if it won't be worth it: A4U will open the books, unredact the documents, reform our governance, find and stop the corruption and push back against the hideous Nationalism that has taken over Scotland.

It's easy to be cynical and think that elections don't change anything. So let's use this election to show that we - the people - actually do have power. Tell your friends and family that if the parties won't help, it's up to us. Vote smart to beat the SNP and Salmond.

Let's look back in six weeks, after we've been smart and done the best we can, knowing that even if the parties didn't act, at least WE did the right thing. #VoteSmart #GetThemOut