Thepolitics of Scotland (Scottish Gaelic:Poilitigs na h-Alba) operate within theconstitution of the United Kingdom, of whichScotland is acountry. Scotland is a democracy, being represented in both theScottish Parliament and theParliament of the United Kingdom since theScotland Act 1998. Mostexecutive power is exercised by theScottish Government, led by thefirst minister of Scotland, thehead of government in amulti-party system. Thejudiciary of Scotland, dealing withScots law, is independent of the legislature and the Scottish Government, and is headed by theLord Advocate who is the principal legal adviser to the Scottish Government.[1] Scots law is primarily determined by the Scottish Parliament. The Scottish Government shares limited executive powers, notably over reserved matters, with theScotland Office, aBritish government department led by theSecretary of State for Scotland.
TheKingdom of Scotland entered a fiscal and political union with theKingdom of England with theActs of Union 1707, by which theParliament of Scotland was abolished along withits English counterpart to form theParliament of Great Britain, and from that time Scotland has been represented by members of theHouse of Commons in thePalace of Westminster. The Scottish Parliament was re–convened in 1999, as a result of theScotland Act 1998 and the preceding1997 Scottish devolution referendum, held under theReferendums (Scotland and Wales) Act 1997.
The issues ofScottish nationalism andScottish independence are prominent political issues in the early 21st century. When theScottish National Party formed amajority government after the2011 Scottish Parliament election and passed theScottish Independence Referendum Act 2013, the British parliament concluded theEdinburgh Agreement with the Scottish Government, enabling the2014 Scottish independence referendum. The referendum was held on 18 September 2014, with 55.3% voting to stay in the United Kingdom and 44.7% voting for independence.
The unified kingdoms ofDál Riata,Cat,Cé,Fortriu,Fib,Strathclyde,Galloway,Northumbria and theEarldom of Orkney became theKingdom of Scotland, an independentsovereign state which existed until the signing of theTreaty of Union in 1707 with theKingdom of England. The unified Kingdom of Scotland retained some of the ritual aspects of Pictish and Scottish kingship. These can be seen in the elaborate ritual coronation at theStone of Scone atScone Abbey.[2] While the Scottish monarchy in the Middle Ages was a largely itinerant institution,Scone remained one of its most important locations, with royal castles atStirling andPerth becoming significant in the later Middle Ages beforeEdinburgh developed as a capital city in the second half of the 15th century.[3]
The Crown was the most important element of government in the Kingdom of Scotland despite the many royalminorities. In the late Middle Ages, it saw much of the aggrandisement associated with the New Monarchs elsewhere in Europe.[4] Theories ofconstitutional monarchy and resistance were articulated by Scots, particularlyGeorge Buchanan, in the 16th century, but James VI of Scotland advanced the theory of thedivine right of kings, and these debates were restated in subsequent reigns and crises. The court remained at the centre of political life, and in the 16th century emerged as a major centre of display and artistic patronage, until it was effectively dissolved with theUnion of the Crowns in 1603.[5]
TheParliament of Scotland also emerged as a major legal institution, gaining an oversight of taxation and policy.[6] By the end of the Middle Ages it was sitting almost every year, partly because of the frequent royal minorities and regencies of the period, which may have prevented it from being sidelined by the monarchy.[7] In the early modern era, Parliament was also vital to the running of the country, providing laws and taxation, but it had fluctuating fortunes and was never as central to the national life as its counterpart in England.[8]
The signing of theTreaty of Union in 1707 with theKingdom of England ended both Scotland and England's political independence, unifying both countries into a new state known as theKingdom of Great Britain. TheParliament of Scotland, the Kingdom of Scotland's legislature situated atParliament House, Edinburgh, was merged with theParliament of England to establish the newParliament of Great Britain which would be based inLondon.[9]
Following the ratification of the Treaty of Union, Parliament House became the seat of theSupreme Courts of Scotland in which it remains today. Under the terms of the Treaty of Union, various elements of independence from England was retained for Scotland, such as a separateeducation andlegal system (including the Scottish court system –Court of Session andHigh Court of Justiciary) as was the countrieschurch and religion. Additionally, theCrown of Scotland and theHonours of Scotland were to remain in Scotland, as were all parliamentary and other official records.[9]
Until 1832, Scottish politics remained very much in the control of landowners in the country, and of small cliques of merchants in theburghs. Agitation against this position through theFriends of the People Society in the 1790s met withLord Braxfield's explicit repression on behalf of the landed interests.[10] TheScottish Reform Act 1832 rearranged the constituencies and increased the electorate from under 5,000 to 65,000.[11] TheRepresentation of the People (Scotland) Act 1868 extended the electorate to 232,000 but with "residential qualifications peculiar to Scotland".[12] However, by 1885 around 50% of the male population had the vote, thesecret ballot had become established, and the modern political era had started.
From 1885 to 1918 theLiberal Party almost totally dominated Scottish politics. Only in thegeneral election of 1931 and thegeneral election of 1955 did theUnionist Party, together with theirNational Liberal andConservative Party (UK) allies, win a majority of votes.
Following thecoupon election of 1918,1922 saw the emergence of theLabour Party as a major force, and replacing the Liberals as one of the two dominant parties.Red Clydeside elected a number of Labour MPs. ACommunist was elected forMotherwell in1924, but in essence the 1920s saw a 3-way fight between Labour, the Liberals and the Unionists. TheNational Party of Scotland contested their first seat in 1929. It merged with the centre-rightScottish Party in 1934 to form theScottish National Party, but the SNP remained a peripheral force until the watershedHamilton by-election of 1967.
The Communists wonWest Fife in1935 and again in1945 (Willie Gallacher) and severalGlasgow Labour MPs joined theIndependent Labour Party in the 1930s, often defeating the official Labour candidates by wide margins.
TheNational Government won the vast majority of Scottish seats in1931 and1935. TheLiberal Party, banished to theHighlands and Islands, no longer functioned as a significant force incentral Scotland.
In 1945, theSNP saw its first MP (Robert McIntyre) elected at theMotherwell by-election, but had little success during the following decade. TheILP members rejoined the Labour Party, and Scotland now had in effect a two-party system.
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Devolution refers the process by which powers to legislate and govern are transferred from the UK Parliament in Westminster to a range of sub-UK level bodies, such asmetro areas and thecountries of the United Kingdom. Since the re–establishment of theScottish Parliament, all matters have been devolved to that body by default, except those matters explicitly reserved to Westminster, and Westminster does not by convention legislate on devolved matters which are the responsibility of both the Scottish Parliament andScottish Government, except by consent.
In Scotland, matters devolved to the Scottish Parliament exclusively includejustice and law,police and prisons,local government,health,education, housing and student support, social welfare,the economy, food safety and standards, planning policy, economic development, agriculture and rural affairs,culture,tourism, the arts andsport. A number of other matters are shared such as some elements of transport (the Scottish Government is responsible for the majority of Scotland's transportation network), public pension and taxation.[13] The Scottish Government receives a funding allocation from the UK Government, calculated under theBarnett Formula, but it does also have its own tax resources.
Subsequently, the Scotland Acts of2012 and2016 transferred powers oversome taxation includingIncome Tax,Land and Buildings Transaction Tax,Landfill Tax, Aggregates Levy andAir Departure Tax,drink driving limits,Scottish Parliament and local authority elections, somesocial security powers, theCrown Estate of Scotland, some aspects of the benefits system, some aspects of theenergy network in Scotland includingrenewable energy, energy efficiency and onshoreoil and gas licensing, some aspects of equality legislation in Scotland and gaming machine licensing.[14][15]
The programmes of legislation enacted by the Scottish Parliament have seen the divergence in the provision ofpublic services compared to the rest of the United Kingdom.[16] While the costs of auniversity education, andcare services for the elderly are free at point of use in Scotland, fees are paid in the rest of the UK. Scotland was the first country in the UK toban smoking in public places, with the ban effective from 26 March 2006.[17] Also, on 19 October 2017, the Scottish government announced that smacking children as punishment was to be banned in Scotland, the first nation of the UK to do so.
In a further divergence from the rest of theUnited Kingdom from 1 January 2021 allScottish legislation will be legally required to keep in regulatory alignment in devolved competences with futureEuropean Union law following the end of the Brexit transition period which ended on 31 December 2020 after the Scottish Parliament passed theUK Withdrawal from the European Union (Continuity) (Scotland) Act 2020 despite the United Kingdom no longer being anEU member state.[18]
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A large debate in modern Scottish politics is over the constitutional status of Scotland. One common proposal is for theindependence of Scotland from the UK; this would mean Scotland would once again become asovereign state. There was anindependence referendum in 2014 in which Scottish residents voted to remain within the United Kingdom, however this debate has been reignited due to the Brexit process, with the Scottish Government calling for asecond independence referendum. This position is supported by the SNP and Scottish Greens, among other groupings. Independence advocates propose that independence would resolve a democratic deficit for Scottish voters and allow Scotland to rejoin the EU. Opponents argue that Scotland would be worse off economically after independence.
In 2022, theScottish Government underFirst Minister of ScotlandNicola Sturgeon launched the first paper in a series of independence prospectuses entitledBuilding a New Scotland. The publication is a series of papers published by the Scottish Government that seeks to lay out a prospectus forScottish independence.[19] The Scottish Government had previously proposed holding anindependence referendum on 19 October 2023.[20] On 7 September 2021, Nicola Sturgeon stated that she would resume the case for independence and restart work on a prospects for independence.[21] On 13 June 2022, Nicola Sturgeon published the first independence paper.[22] On 14 July 2022, Nicola Sturgeon published the second independence paper.[23] As of March 2024, a total of ten papers had been published.[24]
Other proposals include more devolution for Scotland, supported by the SNP in lieu of full independence. Under the pressure of growing support for Scottish independence, a policy ofdevolution had been advocated by all threeGB-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 twentieth century withLabour leaderJohn Smith describing the revival of a Scottish parliament as the "settled will of the Scottish people".[25]
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Scotland is governed under the framework of aconstitutional monarchy. Thehead of state in Scotland is theBritish monarch, currently KingCharles III (since 2022). Until the early 17th century, Scotland and England were entirely separate kingdoms ruled by different royal families. However, on the death ofElizabeth I of England in 1603, the then-King of ScotlandJames VI became James I of England, in what is known as theUnion of the Crowns. However, the two monarchies remained legally separate, albeit held by the same individual.[27]
Scotland is no longer an independent, sovereign country, nor is it akingdom in its own right. Under theUnion with England Act 1707, the Kingdoms of Scotland and England have been united into "One Kingdom" (Great Britain, later the United Kingdom). A unification of Scotland and England had been debated since the Union of the Crowns, however was initially met with little enthusiasm by the administrations of both countries.[27]
TheCrown of Scotland is still used during the monarchs first visit to Scotland following their coronation ceremony and is also present at thestate opening of theScottish Parliament alongside the remainingHonours of Scotland which the monarch attends.[28][29]
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There are two bodies with the power to legislate for Scotland: theScottish Parliament and theUK Parliament. Until 1999, the UK Parliament was the source of all legislation across the whole of the UK. Since then, devolution has meant that Scotland, as well as Wales and Northern Ireland, have had independent legislatures which pass laws on devolved responsibilities. The Scottish Parliament has had the power to passprimary legislation since 1999, and passed 282 Acts between then and the end of 2018. The Scottish Parliament can legislate on anything that is not reserved to the UK Parliament.[30] The UK Parliament retains the ability to legislate on any matter for any part of the UK, including in Scotland, however since 1999 the UK Parliament has followed a convention (theSewel convention) that means it will not normally legislate on devolved matters without the Scottish Parliament's consent.[31]
Opposition parties include theScottish Conservatives (centre-right toright-wing,conservative),Scottish Labour (centre-left,social democratic), theScottish Liberal Democrats (centre to centre-left,social liberal), and theScottish Greens (centre-left toleft-wing,green). TheScottish Socialist Party (left-wing,democratic socialist) won a seat in the first Scottish Parliament election in 1999 and increased their number of seats to 6 in the 2003 Scottish Parliament election, but then lost their seats in the 2007 election and haven't regained representation in the Scottish Parliament since. Elections were normally held once every four years from the inception of the Scottish Parliament in 1999 to 2016 (the election scheduled for 2015 wasdelayed for one year to 2016 after agreement by all of the main political parties). A Bill was passed by the Scottish Parliament on 25 February 2016 and received Royal Assent on 30 March 2016 increasing the term of the Parliament to five years.[32] 73 Members are elected to represent constituencies, and the remaining 56 elected via a system of proportional representation. At Westminster, Scotland is represented by 37 MPs from theLabour Party, 9 from theScottish National Party, six from theLiberal Democrats, and five from theConservative Party, elected in the2024 United Kingdom general election. The Secretary of State for Scotland—currentlyIan Murray MP, a member of Scottish Labour—is usually a member of the House of Commons representing a constituency in Scotland.
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Executive power in Scotland is exercised by the Sovereign (theMonarch). TheScottish Government is responsible for all devolved matters, including, but not limited to,education,transport,Scots law, Scottish Parliamentary and local government elections,health care, rural affairs,housing,the environment,taxation, theeconomy andlocal government, amongst other areas. TheGovernment of the United Kingdom retains some limited powers of Scotland, as is responsible for reserved matters, such as deference, foreign policy and security.[33]
The reigning monarch formally appoints thefirst minister according to a nomination by the Scottish Parliament. The first minister leads the Scottish Government and appoints members to and chairs meetings of theScottish Cabinet, which consists ofCabinet Secretaries, Junior Ministers, and Law Officers.[34] The Scottish Government governs throughScottish statutory instruments, a type ofsubordinate legislation, and is responsible for theDirectorates of the Scottish Government, theexecutive agencies of the Scottish Government, and the otherpublic bodies of the Scottish Government. The directorates include theScottish Exchequer, theEconomy Directorates, theHealth and Social Care Directorates, and theEducation, Communities and Justice Directorates.[35] Elected in the2021 Scottish Parliament election, thecentre-left pro-independenceScottish National Party (SNP) is the party which forms the devolved government; it currently holds a plurality of seats in the parliament (63 out of 129).
In August 2021, the SNP and theScottish Greens agreed terms which would see the Scottish Greens enter into apower sharing agreement with the SNP, known as theBute House Agreement. The agreement would see the Scottish Greens form part of the Scottish Government. The Agreement details the way in which theScottish Government and the Green Group in Parliament will work together, the appointment of Green ministers, excluded policy areas from the Agreement,confidence and supply and dispute resolution.[36] The agreement is accompanied by a shared policy programme, which sets out in detail where the two have decided to collaborate.[37] On 31 August 2021, the SNP andScottish Greens entered a power-sharing arrangement which resulted in the appointment of two Green MSPs as junior ministers in the government, delivery of a shared policy platform, and Green support for the government onvotes of confidence andsupply.[38][39] There was no agreement on oil and gas exploration, but the government now argued that it had a stronger case for a national independence referendum.[40] First Minister Humza Yousaf formally ended the Bute House Agreement on 25 April 2024, effectively removing the Scottish Greens from government. He claimed that the Bute House Agreement "had served its purpose" and would lead a minority Scottish Government.[41] As a consequence, Yousaf faced a vote of no confidence in the Scottish Parliament,[42] and resigned on 7 May 2024 amidst theresulting government crisis.[43]
The first minister is conventionally the leader of the political party with the most support in the Scottish Parliament, currentlyJohn Swinney who was appointed in May 2024.Nicola Sturgeon, the previous first minister, led the government since November 2014. Before Sturgeon,Alex Salmond led the SNP to an overall majority victory in theMay 2011 general election. The inaugural First Minister wasDonald Dewar, the leader of Scottish Labour at the time, who was Secretary of State for Scotland at its time of establishment.
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Scottish international relations and foreign affairs conducted by theScottish Government seek to promoteScotland and Scottish interests overseas by promoting itsculture,education and research,economy and promote Scotland as a place for trade and business. As of 2023, Scotland has a total of nine Scottish Government offices, with plans on opening a further office inWarsaw by the end of thecurrent parliamentary term.[44]
Thirty international offices of the Scottish Government currently operate in twenty countries globally.[44] Scottish offices in other countries act as a mechanism to promote collaboration and engagement between the Scottish Government and other international governments. The country has eight Scottish Government international offices, and over thirty Scottish Development International offices globally, with seven Scottish Government offices based inBritish embassies or British High Commission offices.[45]
Scotland has a network of nine international offices across the world, these are located in:
The Scottish Parliament is the national, unicameral legislature of Scotland. The election of aLabour government in the1997 general election was followed by theReferendums (Scotland and Wales) Act 1997, which legislated for the1997 Scottish devolution referendum, areferendum on establishing a devolvedScottish Parliament. 74.3% of voters agreed with the establishment of the Parliament and 63.5% agreed it should have tax-varying powers, which meant that it could adjustincome taxes by up to 3%.[48][49] The Parliament was then established by theScotland Act 1998.
The Scottish Parliament sits in theScottish Parliament Building at Holyrood inEdinburgh, giving it the informal name "Holyrood". In the Scottish Parliament, the inhabitants of Scotland are represented by 129members of the Scottish Parliament (MSPs), who are elected by theadditional member system, a form ofproportional representation, by theScottish Parliament constituencies and electoral regions. Thus the Parliament is unlike the UK Parliament, which is elected solely by thefirst past the post method. 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 from eight regional lists. In the present parliament, elected in the 2021 Scottish Parliament elections, all MSPs are members of a political party and noindependents.
It enactsprimary legislation throughActs of the Scottish Parliament, but cannot legislate on reserved matters, as set out by the Scotland Act 1998 and amended by theScotland Act 2012 and theScotland Act 2016; these include defence, international relations, fiscal and economic policy, drugs law and broadcasting. Anythingnot mentioned as a specific reserved matter is automatically devolved to Scotland, includinghealth,education,local government,Scots law and all other issues. This is one of the key differences between the successful Scotland Act 1998 and the failedScotland Act 1978.
ThePresiding Officer of the Scottish Parliament is thespeaker of the parliament and theex officio head of theScottish Parliamentary Corporate Body.[50] The Presiding Officers of the Scottish Parliament have been:
TheCourts of Scotland administer justice in Scots law, the legal system in Scotland. TheLord Advocate is the chief legal officer of the Scottish Government andthe Crown in Scotland for both civil and criminal matters for whichScottish Parliament has devolved responsibilities. The Lord Advocate is the chiefpublic prosecutor for Scotland and allprosecutions on indictment are conducted by theCrown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service, nominally in the Lord Advocate's name.
The Lord Advocate's deputy, theSolicitor General for Scotland, advises the Scottish Government on legal matters. TheAdvocate General for Scotland advises the British Government, and leads the Office of the Advocate General for Scotland, a British government department. TheHigh Court of Justiciary is the superior criminal court of Scotland. TheCourt of Session is the highest civil court and is both acourt of first instance and a court ofappeal. For judicial purposes, Scotland has been divided into sixsheriffdoms withsheriff courts since the reform of theLocal Government (Scotland) Act 1973. Appeals from the Court of Session are made to theSupreme Court of the United Kingdom, which is also the final authority for constitutional affairs.
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Scotland is one of the fourcountries of the United Kingdom. Scottish reserved affairs (powers not controlled by the Scottish Parliament and Scottish Government) are managed by theSecretary of State for Scotland, a role which aims to "promote the best interests of Scotland within a stronger United Kingdom" and represent Scottish interests within the UK government.[51] However, the Secretary of State is normally appointed by the UK Government and is from the government parties, not necessarily from the major party in Scotland. The current Secretary of State for Scotland isDouglas Alexander who was appointed to the role in September 2025.[52]
Statutory instruments made by the UK Government – within which the Secretary of State for Scotland is a member of theCabinet of the United Kingdom – may also apply to the whole ofGreat Britain. The Secretary of State for Scotland is appointed by thePrime Minister of the United Kingdom. The Secretary of State, who prior to devolution headed the system of government in Scotland, sits in theCabinet of the United Kingdom and is responsible for the limited number of powers the office retains since devolution, as well as relations with otherWhitehall Ministers who have power overreserved matters.
TheScotland Office is a department of the Government of the United Kingdom, responsible for reserved Scottish affairs. The Scotland Office, created in 1999, liaises with otherWhitehall departments about reserved matters. Before devolution and the Scotland Office, much of the role of the devolved Scottish Government was undertaken by theScottish Office, the previous British ministerial department led by Scottish Secretary.
Scotland is represented by57 MPs in theHouse of Commons of the United Kingdom elected from territory-basedScottish constituencies, out of a total of 650 MPs in the House of Commons. Various members of theHouse of Lords represent Scottish political parties.
The co-existence of devolution for Scotland and its continued representation in the UK Parliament, which retains full powers over matters relating to England, raised a debate known as theWest Lothian question. This questions whether Scottish (and other devolved nation) representatives should continue to have a vote on affairs that do not relate directly to Scotland. This issue was exemplified in the raise in tuition fees in England in 2004. If non-English MPs, who were mostly government MPs, had not been able to vote, then the tuition fee rise would not have been able to occur, due to a rebellion on the government benches.[53] This led to the creation in 2015 of theEnglish votes for English laws (EVEL) process, in which Scottish MPs were not included in parts of the lawmaking process for laws that did not apply in Scotland. EVEL was abolished 2021.
| Year | Scottish Conservatives[a] | Scottish Labour | Scottish National | Scottish Liberal Democrats[b] | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Seats | Votes | Seats | Votes | Seats | Votes | Seats | Votes | ||
| 2024 | 5 | 12.7% | 37 | 35.3% | 9 | 30.0% | 6 | 9.7% | |
| 2019 | 6 | 25.1% | 1 | 18.6% | 48 | 45.0% | 4 | 9.5% | |
| 2017 | 13 | 28.6% | 7 | 27.1% | 35 | 39.6% | 4 | 6.8% | |
| 2015 | 1 | 14.9% | 1 | 24.3% | 56 | 50.0% | 1 | 7.5% | |
| 2010 | 1 | 16.7% | 41 | 42.0% | 6 | 19.9% | 11 | 18.9% | |
| 2005 | 1 | 15.8% | 41 | 39.5% | 6 | 17.7% | 11 | 22.6% | |
| 2001 | 1 | 15.6% | 56 | 43.9% | 5 | 20.1% | 10 | 16.4% | |
| 1997 | 0 | 17.5% | 56 | 41.0% | 6 | 22.0% | 10 | 13.0% | |
| 1992 | 11 | 25.7% | 49 | 34.4% | 3 | 21.5% | 9 | 13.1% | |
| 1987 | 10 | 24.0% | 50 | 38.7% | 3 | 14.0% | 9 | 19.3% | |
| 1983 | 21 | 28.4% | 40 | 33.2% | 2 | 11.8% | 8 | 24.5% | |
| 1979 | 22 | 31.4% | 44 | 38.6% | 2 | 17.3% | 3 | 9.0% | |
| Oct 1974 | 16 | 24.7% | 41 | 33.1% | 11 | 30.4% | 3 | 8.3% | |
| Feb 1974 | 21 | 32.9% | 40 | 34.6% | 7 | 21.9% | 3 | 7.9% | |
| 1970 | 23 | 38.0% | 44 | 44.5% | 1 | 11.4% | 3 | 5.5% | |
| 1966 | 20 | 37.6% | 46 | 47.7% | 0 | 5.0% | 5 | 6.7% | |
| 1964 | 24 | 37.3% | 43 | 46.9% | 0 | 2.4% | 4 | 7.6% | |
| 1959 | 31 | 47.3% | 38 | 46.7% | 0 | 0.8% | 1 | 4.8% | |
| 1955 | 36 | 50.1% | 34 | 46.7% | 0 | 0.5% | 1 | 1.9% | |
| 1951 | 35 | 48.6% | 35 | 48.0% | 0 | 0.3% | 1 | 2.8% | |
| 1945 | 27 | 40.3% | 37 | 47.9% | 0 | 1.3% | 0 | 5.6% | |
| 1935 | 43 | 49.8% | 20 | 36.8% | 0 | 1.1% | 3 | 6.7% | |
| 1931 | 57 | 55.4% | 7 | 32.6% | 0 | 1.0% | 7 | 8.6% | |
| 1929 | 20 | 35.9% | 36 | 42.3% | 0 | 0.2% | 13 | 18.1% | |
| 1924 | 36 | 40.7% | 26 | 41.1% | – | – | 8 | 16.6% | |
| 1923 | 14 | 31.6% | 34 | 35.9% | – | – | 22 | 28.4% | |
| 1922 | 13 | 25.1% | 29 | 32.2% | – | – | 27 | 39.2% | |
| 1918 | 30 | 32.8% | 6 | 22.9% | – | – | 33 | 34.1% | |
For UK general elections, Scotland is divided into 59constituencies of broadly equal population by theScottish Boundary Commission. Each constituency elects a single Member of Parliament (MP), who represents the constituency in the House of Commons alongside representatives from the other countries of the UK. There are 650 MPs in total. The leader of the party or coalition that makes a majority or plurality in the Commons is typically invited by the reigning monarch to become thePrime Minister and to form a government.
Since 1945, Scottish seats have altered the final result of a general election four times. Without Scottish seats: in1964, the Conservatives would have been the largest party rather than Labour; inFebruary 1974, the Conservatives would have been the largest party but without a majority rather than Labour; inOctober 1974, Labour would no longer have won its majority and in2010, the Conservatives would have won an outright majority and would not have needed to form acoalition with the Liberal Democrats.[55]
Until the2005 general election, Scotland elected 72MPs from 72 single-member constituencies to serve in theHouse of Commons. As this over-represented Scotland in comparison to the other parts of the UK, Clause 81 of theScotland Act 1998 equalised theEnglish and Scottish electoral quota. As a result, theBoundary Commission for Scotland's recommendations were adopted, reducing Scottish representation in the House of Commons to 59 MPs with effect from the 2005 general election. The necessary amendment to theScotland Act 1998, was passed by theParliament of the United Kingdom as theScottish Parliament (Constituencies) Act 2004.
As of the 2024, the current representation of Scottish seats in the Commons, according to party allegiance, is:
In 2015, twelve of the 92 hereditary peers with seats in theHouse of Lords to which they are elected (from among themselves) under theHouse of Lords Act 1999 were registered as living in Scotland, as were 49life peers appointed under theLife Peerages Act 1958, including five formerLords Advocate.[56]James Thorne Erskine, 14th Earl of Mar and 16th Earl of Kellie, retired in 2017 having lost his seat as a hereditary peer in 1999 but regained it in 2000 as a life peer;Charles Lyell, 3rd Baron Lyell (formerUnder-Secretary of State for Northern Ireland) died the same year. One of the former Lords Advocate,Kenneth Cameron, Baron Cameron of Lochbroom, retired from the Lords in 2016, while another,Donald Mackay, Baron Mackay of Drumadoon died in 2018. Besides these 61 peers listed in 2015 are hereditary members of the Lords living outwith Scotland, but who have titles in the Peerage of Scotland, such asMargaret of Mar, 31st Countess of Mar, or Scottish titles in the peeragesof Great Britain orof the United Kingdom.[56] Apart from these, there are also Scottish life peers with titles associated with places outside Scotland, such asMichelle Mone, Baroness Mone of Mayfair.[56]
Political appointees include:
Former Lords Advocate include:[56]
Scottish hereditary peers include:
Between the Acts of Union 1707 and the Peerage Act 1963, peers with titles in thePeerage of Scotland were entitled to elect sixteenrepresentative peers to theHouse of Lords. Between the 1963 Act and theHouse of Lords Act 1999 the entire hereditary Peerage of Scotland was entitled to sit in the House of Lords, alongside those with titles in the peeragesof England,of Ireland, of Great Britain, and of the UK.
For the purposes oflocal government in Scotland, the country has been divided into 32council areas since theLocal Government etc. (Scotland) Act 1994. Since theLocal Government (Scotland) Act 1973, which also abolished theshires of Scotland, the country has been subdivided intocommunity councils. Though retained for statistical purposes, thecivil parishes in Scotland were abolished for administrative purposes in theLocal Government (Scotland) Act 1929. Local government in Scotland is organised into 32unitary authorities. Eachlocal authority isgoverned by acouncil consisting of electedcouncillors, who are elected every five years by registered voters in each of thecouncil areas. Scottish councils co-operate through, and are represented collectively by, theConvention of Scottish Local Authorities (COSLA).
There are currently 1,227 councillors in total, each paid a part-time salary for the undertaking of their duties. Each authority elects aConvener orProvost 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 andDundee have aLord Provost who is also,ex officio,Lord Lieutenant for that city. There are in total 32 councils, the largest being theGlasgow City Council with more than 600,000 inhabitants, the smallest,Orkney Islands Council, with fewer than 20,000 people. SeeSubdivisions of Scotland for a list of the council areas.
The most recent local elections in Scotland were held in2022 and the next local elections are scheduled for 2027.
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.[57]
Scottish National Party (SNP): The current party forming theScottish Government is theScottish National Party (SNP), which won 64 of 129 seats available in the2021 Scottish Parliament election and 44.2% of the vote, one more seat than in 2016.[58] The SNP was formed in 1934 with the aim of restoringScottish independence.[59] They are broadlycentre-left and are in theEuropeansocial-democratic mould. They are the largest party in the Scottish Parliament and have formed the Scottish Government since the2007 Scottish Parliament election.
Scottish Conservatives and Unionist Party: The Unionist Party was allied with the UK Conservative Party until 1965, when theScottish Conservative and Unionist Party was formed. The Conservatives then entered a long-term decline in Scotland, culminating in their failure to win any Scottish seats in the1997 UK election.[60] At the four subsequent UK elections (2001,2005,2010 and2015) the Conservatives won only one Scottish seat.[61][62][63][64] The party enjoyed a revival of fortunes in the2016 Scottish Parliament election, winning 31 seats and finishing in second place. In the 2021 Scottish Parliament elections, they got 22.8% of the vote, winning 31 seats again.[65] The Conservatives are acentre-right party.
Scottish Labour Party: In the course of the twentieth century,Scottish Labour rose to prominence as Scotland's main political force.[66] 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. They lost power in 2007 when the SNP won a plurality of seats and entered a period of dramatic decline,[67] losing all but one of their seats in the2015 UK election[68] and falling to third place in the2016 Scottish election.[69] The2017 UK election produced a mixed result for the party as it gained six seat and increased its vote by 2.8% but the party came in third behind theSNP andScottish Conservatives. In the 2021 Scottish Parliament elections, they got 19.8% of the vote, winning 22 seats.[65]
Liberal Democrats: TheScottish Liberal Democrats were the junior partners in the 1999 to 2007 coalition Scottish Executive. The party has lost much of its electoral presence in Scotland since the UK Liberal Democrats entered into a coalition government with the UK Conservative Party in 2010. In the2015 UK election they were reduced from 12 seats to one seat, and since the 2016 Scottish Parliament election they have had the fifth highest number of MSPs (five), unchanged on2011.In the 2021 Scottish Parliament elections, they got 6% of the vote, winning 4 seats.[65]
Scottish Green Party: TheScottish Greens have wonregionaladditional member seats in every Scottish Parliament election, as a result of theproportional representation electoral system. They won one MSP in 1999, increased their total to seven at the 2003 election but saw this drop back to two at the 2007 election. They retained two seats at the 2011 election, then increased this total to six in the 2016 election. In the 2021 Scottish Parliament election they increased their representation by two seats to a total of eight members of the Scottish Parliament, however this was lowered to 7 a week later after Alison Johnson became Holyrood's Presiding Officer, a neutral role meaning she had to give up her position as a Green MSP).[65] The Greens supportScottish independence andScottish republicanism, and in 2021, entered into apower sharing agreement with the Scottish National Party.[70] Known as theBute House Agreement, it was agreed in August 2021 to support theThird Sturgeon government, and saw two Scottish Green politicians appointed tojunior ministerial posts within the Scottish Government. First was the first time any Green politician had served in government in Scotland and across the United Kingdom.[71] The Scottish Greens left the Scottish Government on 25 April 2024, following First Minister Humza Yousaf's announcement of the ending of the Bute House Agreement "with immediate effect".[72] The Scottish Green Party later confirmed it would "vote to oust" Yousaf as First Minister.[73]
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