(Redirected from Scottish politics)
The 'Politics of Scotland' forms a distinctive part of the wider
politics of the United Kingdom, with
Scotland one of the
constituent countries of the
United Kingdom.
Constitutionally, the United Kingdom is ''
de jure'' a
unitary state with one
sovereign parliament and government. However, under a system of
devolution (or home rule) adopted in the late 1990s three of the four constituent countries within the United Kingdom, Scotland,
Wales and
Northern Ireland, voted for limited
self-government, subject to the ability of the
UK Parliament in
Westminster, nominally at will, to amend, change, broaden or abolish the national governmental systems. As such the
Scottish Parliament is not ''de jure''
sovereign. However, it is thought unlikely that any UK parliament would try to unilaterally abolish the devolved parliament and government without consultation via a
referendum with the voters of the constituent country.
The
head of state in Scotland is the
British monarch, currently
Queen Elizabeth II (since
1952).
Executive power in the United Kingdom is vested in the
Queen-in-Council, while
legislative power is vested in the
Queen-in-Parliament (the Crown and the
Parliament of the United Kingdom at
Westminster in
London). Under devolution, executive and legislative powers in certain areas have been constitutionally delegated to the
Scottish Executive and the
Scottish Parliament, at
Holyrood in
Edinburgh, respectively.
The United Kingdom Parliament retains active power over Scotland's
taxes,
social security system, the
military,
international relations,
broadcasting, and some other areas explicitly specified in the
Scotland Act 1998 as
reserved matters. The Scottish Parliament has
legislative authority for all other areas relating to Scotland, and has limited power to vary
income tax (the so-called
Tartan Tax).
The Scottish Parliament is a
unicameral legislature comprised of 129
Members, 73 of whom represent individual
constituencies and are elected on a
first past the post system; 56 are elected in eight different
electoral regions by the
additional member system. The Queen appoints one of the members of the Parliament, on the nomination of the Parliament, to be
First Minister. Other Ministers are also appointed by the Queen on the nomination of the Parliament and together with the First Minister they make up
Scottish Executive, the
executive arm of
government.
Current situation
The largest party is the
Scottish National Party, which campaigns for
Scottish independence. The current First Minister is
Alex Salmond of the SNP. Before the
2007 election,
Jack McConnell of the
Labour Party was First Minister, whose government was formed on a
coalition basis with the
Liberal Democrats. Other parties include the
Conservative and Unionist Party, the
Scottish Green Party and the
Scottish Socialist Party.
Under devolution Scotland is represented by
59 MPs in the
British House of Commons elected from territory-based
Scottish constituencies. A
Secretary of State for Scotland, who prior to devolution headed the system of government in Scotland, sits in the
Cabinet of the United Kingdom and is responsible for the limited number of powers the office retains since devolution, as well as relations with other
Whitehall Ministers who have power over
reserved matters. The Scottish Parliament can refer devolved matters back to Westminster to be considered as part of United Kingdom-wide legislation by passing a
Legislative Consent Motion if United Kingdom-wide legislation is considered to be more appropriate for certain issues. The
Scotland Office is a department of the United Kingdom government, responsible for reserved Scottish affairs. The current Secretary of State for Scotland is
Des Browne. Until
1999,
Scottish peers were entitled to sit in the
House of Lords.
The main political debate in Scotland tends to revolve around attitudes to the constitutional question. Under the pressure of growing support for Scottish independence a policy of
devolution had been advocated by all three UK-wide parties to some degree during their history (although Labour and the Conservatives have also at times opposed it). This question dominated the Scottish political scene in the latter half of the
20th century. Now that devolution has occurred, the main argument about Scotland's constitutional status is over whether the Scottish Parliament should accrue additional powers (for example over
fiscal policy), or seek to obtain full
independence. Ultimately the long term question is: should the Scottish parliament continue to be a subsidiary assembly created and potentially abolished by the constitutionally dominant and sovereign parliament of the United Kingdom (as in devolution) or should it have an independent existence as of right, with full sovereign powers (either through independence, a
federal United Kingdom or a
confederal arrangement)? To clarify these issues, the SNP-led Scottish Executive published
Choosing Scotland's Future, a consultation document directed to the electorate under the
National Conversation exercise. The latest opinion polls show that support for Scottish independence with the Scottish people is currently at around 30%.
[1]
The programmes of legislation enacted by the Scottish Parliament have seen the divergence in the provision of
public services compared to the rest of the United Kingdom. While the costs of a
university education, and
care services for the elderly are free at point of use in Scotland, fees are paid in the rest of the UK. Scotland is the first country in the UK to
ban smoking in public places.
[2]
The Scottish Parliament
Main articles: Scottish Parliament
The election of the
Labour government in
1997 ensured that there would be a
referendum on establishing a devolved
Scottish Parliament. This was held in September, 1997 and 74% of those who voted said "Yes" to the formation of the parliament, while 60% of the electorate who voted said "Yes" to give the Scottish Parliament ability to vary taxes.
The Parliament was then created by the
Scotland Act 1998 of the
Parliament of the United Kingdom (Westminster Parliament). This act sets out the subjects still dealt at Westminster, referred to as ''
reserved matters'', including Defence, International Relations, Fiscal and Economic Policy, Drugs Law and Broadcasting. Anything ''not'' mentioned as a specific reserved matter is automatically devolved to Scotland, including
health,
education,
local government,
Scots law and all other issues. This is one of the key differences between the successful Scotland Act 1998 and the failed
Scotland Act 1978.
The Parliament is elected with a mixture of the
first past the post system and a
proportional representation electoral system, namely, the
additional members system. Thus the Parliament is unlike the Westminster Parliament, which is still elected solely by the
first past the post method. The Scottish Parliament is elected every four years and contains 129 members, referred to as
Members of the Scottish Parliament (MSPs). Of the 129 MSPs, 73 are elected to represent first past the post constituencies, whilst the remaining 56 are elected by the additional member system.
The proportional representation system has resulted in the election of a number of candidates from parties that would not have been expected to get representation through the first past the post system.
To replace the
Scottish Office, a devolved government called the
Scottish Executive was established, with the
First Minister of Scotland at its head. The secretariat of the Executive is part of the
UK Civil Service and the head of the Executive, the
Permanent Secretary (presently
John Elvidge), is the equivalent of the Permanent Secretary of a
Whitehall department.
Scotland in the Parliament of the United Kingdom
The House of Commons
Until the
2005 General Election, Scotland elected 72
MPs from 72 single-member constituencies to serve in the
House of Commons. As this over-represented Scotland in relation to the other components of the UK, Clause 81 of the
Scotland Act 1998 equalised the
English and Scottish electoral quota. As a result, the
Boundary Commission for Scotland's recommendations were adopted, reducing Scottish representation in the House of Commons to 59 MPs from the 2005 General Election. In order to facilitate this reduction in the number of MPs from Scottish constituencies, the necessary amendment to the
Scotland Act 1998, was passed by the
Parliament of the United Kingdom as the
Scottish Parliament (Constituencies) Act 2004. The previous over-representation was widely accepted before to allow for a greater Scottish voice in the Commons, but since the establishment of a Scottish Parliament it has been felt that this is not necessary.
Scottish MPs are elected at the same time as the rest of the UK's MPs.
Scotland was historically represented in the
UK government by the
Secretary of State for Scotland. This post was established in the 1880s but recently it has been the topic of much speculation. Many believe that since devolution there is no need for such a role to exist. The current Secretary of State is
Des Browne. His department, the
Scotland Office, created in 1999, liaises with other
Whitehall departments about devolution matters.
Current Scottish Representation in the Commons is:
The House of Lords
At one stage,
Scottish peers were entitled to elect sixteen
representative peers to the
House of Lords. In 1963, the
Peerage Act was passed, allowing every Scottish peer to sit in the House of Lords. However, since the current Labour government's reforms of that house this is no longer the case and hereditary Scottish peers have to stand for election from amongst all eligible peers to sit in the house as part of a group of 92 entitled to do so.
Scotland in Europe
Scotland constitutes a single
European Parliament constituency. See
Scotland (European Parliament constituency).
It is also represented in the
Committee of the Regions.
Local government
Local government in Scotland is organised into 32
unitary authorities. Each
local authority is
governed by a
council consisting of elected
councillors, who are elected every four years by registered voters in each of the
council areas.
Scottish councils co-operate through, and are represented collectively by, the
Convention of Scottish Local Authorities (COSLA).
There are currently 1,222 councillors in total, each paid a part-time salary for the undertaking of their duties. Each authority elects a
Convener or
Provost to chair meetings of the authority's council and act as a figurehead for the area. The four main cities of Scotland,
Glasgow,
Edinburgh,
Aberdeen and
Dundee have a
Lord Provost who is also, ''
ex officio'',
Lord Lieutenant for that city.
There are in total 32 councils, the largest being the
City of Glasgow with more than 600,000 inhabitants, the smallest,
Orkney, with fewer than 20,000 people. See
Subdivisions of Scotland for a list of the council areas.
Community councils
Main articles: Community council
Community councils represent the interests of local people. Local authorities have a statutory duty to consult community councils on planning, development and other issues directly affecting that local community. However, the community council has no direct say in the delivery of services. In many areas they do not function at all, but some work very effectively at improving their local area.
Elections for Community Councils are determined by the local authority and the law states that candidates cannot stand on a party-political ticket.
History
Until
1832 Scottish politics remained very much in the control of landowners in the country, and of small cliques of merchants in the
burghs. However by
1885 around 50% of the male population had the vote, the
secret ballot had become established, and the modern political era had started.
From 1885 to
1918 the
Liberal Party almost totally dominated Scottish politics. Only in the
general election of
1955 did the
Unionist Party, together with their
National Liberal and
Liberal Unionist allies, win a majority of votes.
In general the Unionists achieved their best results in the
Glasgow area, due to the
Orange vote.
After the confused election of
1918,
1922 saw the emergence of the
Labour Party as a major force.
Red Clydeside elected a number of Labour MPs. A
communist gained election for
Motherwell in
1924, but in essence the 1920s saw a 3-way fight between Labour, the Liberals and the Unionists. The
National Party of Scotland first contested a seat in 1929. It merged with the centre-right
Scottish Party in 1934 to form the
Scottish National Party, but the SNP remained a peripheral force until the watershed
Hamilton by-election of 1967.
The Communists won
West Fife in
1935 and again in
1945 (
Willie Gallacher) and several
Glasgow Labour MPs joined the
Independent Labour Party in the 1930s, often heavily defeating the official Labour candidates.
The
National Government won the vast majority of Scottish seats in
1931 and
1935: the Liberal Party, banished to the
Highlands and Islands, no longer functioned as a significant force in
central Scotland.
In
1945 the
SNP saw its first MP (
Robert McIntyre) elected at the
Motherwell by-election, but had little success during the following decade. The
ILP members rejoined the Labour Party, and Scotland now had in effect a two-party system.
★ 1950: The Liberals won 2 seats -
Jo Grimond winning
Orkney and Shetland.
★ 1951: Labour and the Unionists won 35 seats each, the Liberals losing one seat.
★ 1955: The Unionists won a majority of both seats and votes. The SNP managed to finish second in
Perth and Kinross.
★ 1959: In contrast to England, Scotland swung to Labour, which scored 4 gains at the expense of the Unionists. This marked the start of a process which in less than 40 years saw the Unionists' Scottish representation at Westminster reduced to zero. This was the last occasion when the Unionists won in Scotland: their merger with the Conservative Party of
England and
Wales in 1965, to become the
Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party, began a long, steady decline in their support.
★ 1964: A substantial swing to Labour occurred, giving them 44 of Scotland's 71 seats. The Liberals won 4 seats, all in the
Highlands.
★ 1965:
David Steel won the
Roxburgh, Selkirk and Peebles by-election for the Liberals.
★ 1966: Labour gained 2 more seats and the Liberals made a net gain of 1. The SNP garnered over 100,000 votes and finished second in 3 seats.
★ 1967: The SNP did well in the
Glasgow Pollok by-election, but this had the effect of allowing the Conservative and Unionist candidate to win. However in the subsequent
Hamilton by-election Winnie Ewing won a sensational victory.
★ 1968: The SNP made substantial gains in local elections.
★ 1970: The SNP performed poorly in local elections and in the
Ayrshire South by-election. The
General Election saw a small swing to the Conservative & Unionists, but Labour won a majority of seats in Scotland. The SNP made little progress in central Scotland, but took votes from the Liberals in the Highlands and in north east Scotland, and won the
Western Isles.
★ 1971-1973: The SNP did well in by-elections,
Margo MacDonald winning
Glasgow Govan.
★ 1974: In the two general elections of 1974 (in
February and
October) the SNP won 7 and then 11 seats, their share of the vote rising from 11% in 1970 to 22% and then 30%. With the Labour Party winning the latter election by a narrow margin the SNP appeared in a strong position.
★ 1974-1979: Devolution dominated this period: the Labour government attempted to steer through devolution legislation, based on the recommendations of the
Kilbrandon Commission, against strong opposition, not least from its own backbenchers. Finally a
referendum, whilst producing a small majority in favour of an elected
Scottish Assembly, failed to reach 40% of the total electorate, a target set in the legislation. In the
1979 general election the SNP fared poorly, falling to 17% of the vote and 2 seats. Labour did well in Scotland, but in the United Kingdom as a whole
Margaret Thatcher led the Conservatives to a decisive victory.
★ 1979-1983: The SNP suffered severe splits as the result of the 1979 drop in support. Labour also was riven by internal strife as the
Social Democratic Party split away. Despite this, the
1983 election still saw Labour remain the majority party in Scotland, with a smaller swing to the Conservatives than in England. The SNP's vote declined further, to 11%, although it managed to win 2 seats.
★ 1987: The Labour Party did well in the
1987 election, mainly at the expense of the Conservative & Unionists, who were reduced to their smallest number of Scottish seats since before
World War I. The SNP made a small but significant advance.
★ 1988:
Jim Sillars won the
Glasgow Govan by-election for the SNP.
★ 1992: This election proved a disappointment for Labour and the SNP in Scotland. The SNP went from 14% to 21% of the vote but won only 3 seats. The Conservative and Unionist vote did not collapse, as had been widely predicted, leading to claims that their resolutely anti-devolution stance had paid dividends.
★ 1997: In common with England, a Labour landslide occurred in Scotland. The SNP doubled their number of MPs to 6, but the Conservative & Unionists failed to win a single seat. Unlike 1979, Scottish voters delivered a decisive "Yes" vote in the
referendum on establishing a
Scottish Parliament.
★ 1999: The Scottish Parliament is established. A coalition of Labour and
Liberal Democrats led by
Donald Dewar take power.
★ 2007: The SNP become Scotland's largest party in the
2007 Scottish Parliamentary election.
Political Parties
Main articles: List of political parties in Scotland
The largest political party operating in Scotland is the
Scottish National Party (SNP). The SNP was formed in 1934 with the aim of achieving
Scottish independence. They are broadly
centre-left and are in the
European social-democratic mould. They are the largest party in the Scottish Parliament.
The
Labour Party is the other large party in Scotland. In the course of the twentieth century, they gradually rose to prominence as Scotland's main political force. The party was established to represent the interests of workers and trade unionists. From 1999 to 2007, they operated as the senior partners in a coalition Scottish Executive.
The
Scottish Liberal Democrats were the junior partners in the 1999 to 2007 coalition Scottish Executive. In the
2005 Westminster election they became the second strongest party (in terms of seats and votes) in Scotland. They have the third highest number of councillors, and are the joint third-strongest party in the Scottish Parliament.
The
Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party has declined in popularity since their establishment in 1965. Their predecessor, the
Unionist Party, are the only party ever to have achieved an outright majority of Scottish votes at any General Election, in
1951 (they only won a majority if the votes of their
National Liberal and
Liberal Unionist allies are included). However at the
1997 General Election they failed to get a single Scottish MP elected and at the following
General Election they returned only one, as they did in 2005. They are a
centre-right party.
The
Scottish Green Party have won
regional additional member seats in the Scottish Parliament, as a result of the
proportional representation electoral system. They won one MSP in 1999, increased their total to seven at the 2003 election but saw this drop back to 2 at the 2007 election. The Greens support
Scottish independence.
The
Scottish Socialist Party (SSP) were formed in 1998 to operate as a political party that could unite the majority of the
far-left in Scotland. They won one MSP in 1999 and increased their total to six at the 2003 election. The SSP split in 2006 when two MSPs and a large number of activists left to form
Solidarity. Both parties lost all their seats at the 2007 election. Both the SSP and
Solidarity support
Scottish independence.
The
Scottish Senior Citizens Unity Party (SSCUP) were formed just in time to contest the
2003 elections to the Scottish Parliament. They were formed to work for the rights of Scotland's senior citizens. Thanks to the Scottish Parliament's proportional electoral system, they managed to get one MSP elected in 2003,
John Swinburne, their party founder and leader. In the 2007 election they lost their only seat.
References
1. BBC Scotland News Online "http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/6942352.stm Call for debate on independence]", ''BBC Scotland News'', 2007-08-12. Retrieved on 2007-08-19. (in English)
2. Scotland begins pub smoking ban BBC Online, 26 March 2006
See also
★
Elections in Scotland
★
Royal Commission on the Constitution (United Kingdom)
★
Scottish media
★
Scottish national identity
External links
★
Scotland Act 1998
★
Scottish Politics by Alba Publishing an archive of Scottish election results and other political data
★
Holyrood magazine a magazine covering the Scottish Parliament and Scottish politics
★
Devolution and Constitutional Change, a research programme funded by the
Economic and Social Research Council
★
Scotland Votes a Scottish election guide and swingometer
★
Scottish Roundup - Weekly Scottish political weblog roundup/summary
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