| Politics Of Scotland |
Article Index for Politics Of |
Website Links For Politics |
Information AboutPolitics Of Scotland |
|
Scotland is one of the four constituent nations of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland . The UK has no single written Constitution . Until the 1707 Acts Of Union Scotland was an independent nation state. However, upon these acts coming into effect both Scotland and England's parliaments were dissolved and reconstituted as a parliament for all of Great Britain using the former English parliament's buildings and executive institutions. The Scottish and English crowns were unified in 1603 when James VI Of Scotland became James I of England. In 1801 the Kingdom of Great Britain was unified with Ireland . Until 1999 Scotland had no Scottish specific legislature, although various attempts were made to secure some form of Home Rule over the years. THE SCOTTISH PARLIAMENT See Also: 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 the Scottish people voted 75% in favour of its establishment. 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 '', include Defence, International Relations, Fiscal and Economic Policy, Drugs Law and Broadcasting, to name but a few. 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 , the former UK government department who fought in Scotland's corner, a devolved administration 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. First Ministers
Presiding Officers
See Also: Scottish Parliamentary Election, 1999 Scottish Parliamentary Election, 2003 Members of the Scottish Parliament Campaign for a Scottish Assembly Scottish Constitutional Convention SCOTLAND IN THE PARLIAMENT OF THE UNITED KINGDOM The House of Commons 's reform and the 2005 General Election upon Scottish seats]] 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 MP's 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 less necessary. Scottish MPs are elected at the same time as the rest of the UK's MPs are. 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 Alastair Darling . 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 Peer s 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. See Also: Politics of the United Kingdom 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 covering the mainland and islands of Scotland . Each Local Authority is Governed by Council consiting of elected Councillor s, 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 around 1,200 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 Lord Lieutenant for that city. There are in total 32 Unitary Authorities, the largest being the City Of Glasgow with more than 600,000 inhabitants, the smallest, Orkney , with less than 20,000 people. See Subdivisions Of Scotland for a list of the Council Areas. Community Councils Community Council s 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 but the law does state 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 Khaki Election of 1900 did the Conservative Party -- known as the Unionists in Scotland -- win a majority of seats. In general the Unionists achieved their best results in the Glasgow area, almost certainly 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 Scottish National Party (founded in 1934 ) first contested a seat in 1929, but it remained a peripheral force for many years. 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, but had little success for the next decade. The ILP members rejoined the Labour Party, and Scotland now had in effect a two-party system.
POLITICAL PARTIES The largest political party operating in Scotland is the Labour Party . 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. They currently operate as the senior partners in a coalition Scottish Executive. The Scottish National Party (SNP) was formed in the 1930s with the aim of achieving Scottish Independence . They are broadly on the left-of-centre and are in the European Social-Democratic mould. As the second-largest party in the Scottish Parliament, they are the official opposition to Labour. The Liberal Democrats are currently junior partners in a coalition Scottish Executive. In the 2005 Westminster election they became the second strongest party (in terms of setas and votes) in Scotland. The have the third highest number of councillors, and are the fourth strongest party in the Scottish parliament. The Conservative And Unionist Party has declined in popularity in recent years. They are the only party ever to have achieved an outright majority of Scottish votes at any General Election, in 1951 . 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 on the right-of-centre, but many Scots used to vote for them simply because of their Unionist Credentials . The Scottish Green Party have won regional Additional Member seats in the Scottish Parliament, as a result of the Proportional Representation electoral system for the Scottish Parliament. In 1999 this gave the UK its first green parliamentarian, Robin Harper . The Greens are also for Scottish Independence The Scottish Socialist Party (SSP) were formed in 1998 and operate as the foremost political party of the far-left in Scotland. They are strongest in urban west central Scotland, the traditional heartland of the Labour Party. The Socialist party is also advocating Scottish Independence The Scottish Senior Citizens Unity Party (SSCUP) were formed just in time to contest the 2003 elections to the Scottish Parliament. Unsurprisingly they were formed to work for the rights of Scotland's senior citizens. More surprisingly, thanks to the Scottish Parliament's proportional electoral system, they managed to get one MSP elected, John Swinburne , their party founder and leader. SEE ALSO
|
|
|