Some mumblings.
I had originally planned to write just one article briefly outlining and explaining recent Scottish politics to help give you an overview of Scottish politics today. However, as I was writing the words just kept creeping upwards and chronologically, I was barely moving. I attempted to cut some bits out, but each major bit I tried to cut just seemed too important to remove. So, in the end, I realised I would have to break this up into separate articles, allowing me to go into more detail and fully explain and expand upon what I’m writing about.
I don’t know how many people will actually read this or find it interesting. Scotland isn’t exactly a large country; it doesn’t have a major role in international relations nor is it even an independent state. However, I find Scottish politics interesting and for a country so small I think we have a pretty excitable and unusually active political scene. I have enjoyed writing this out and if someone else finds it interesting and informative I’ll be happy enough. I want this to be informative and I hope that someone will learn something new from it. Occasionally I will provide my own anecdotal feelings or comments about a particular moment or issue, but on the whole, this should be mostly factual and informative.
I hope you enjoy and learn something new!
Scottish Politics Today: Devolution and the Early Years. 1997 – 2000.
Scottish Parliament Debating Chamber
Scottish politics has seen cosmic shifts in the past few decades, particularly in the last 10 years. Scotland was until very recently Labour red: they didn’t count Labour votes in Scotland they weighed them. But today Scotland is a very different colour, with the Scottish National Party (SNP) painting the country yellow. To understand why this is you need to look at the beginning of modern Scottish politics with devolution in the late 1990s.
The UK is a heavily majoritarian and unitary country, but it has recently started to become less so. The best example of this is devolution. In 1997 Tony Blair’s New Labour swept the country in a landslide victory and during the election, he promised the nations of Scotland and Wales that they would be given a referendum on devolution if Labour won power. Following their election win, a double vote in Scotland was held in 1998 where Scots were asked if they believed that there should be a Scottish Parliament and if they believed said Parliament should have tax-raising powers, Scots voted overwhelmingly in favour of both. In 1999 the first Scottish Parliamentary elections were held resulting in Labour winning 56 seats, 9 short of a majority and the SNP coming in second with 35 seats. The Scottish Conservatives who had opposed devolution and had just recently lost all their MPs in Scotland two years earlier won 18, while the Liberal Democrats (Lib Dems) won 17. The Green Party also won a seat, along with one Scottish Socialist and one independent. Labour and the Lib Dems formed a coalition to create the first Scottish Executive and following the election, the Scottish Parliament met for the first time since 1707 and Parliament was officially reconvened after 292 years. This is where politics in Scotland changed forever.
The Parliament did as would be expected, face hiccups in its early days. There were major cost increases and delays surrounding the construction of a new building for Parliament to be held in (it’s also universally agreed to be an extremely ugly building……) and some of the first legislation passed by the Scottish Parliament proved to be highly controversial. The repeal of Section 28, which stated that local authorities could not “promote homosexuality” or “promote the acceptance of homosexuality” within schools should have been an easy progressive piece of legislation for a modern country like Scotland to pass. However, the move saw opposition with a millionaire Scottish businessman even conducting his own “postal referendum” on the issue which returned an apparent result of 86% of roughly a third of the Scottish electorate in favour of keeping the clause. Along with his own referendum, he would bankroll the campaign to keep the clause. Religious groups also opposed the move, particularly Catholics, with Cardinal Thomas Winning the leader of Roman Catholics in Scotland, leading the criticism. Section 28 was eventually repealed with a large majority with 99 Members of the Scottish Parliament (MSPs) in favour of repeal and 17 MSPs opposed.
Undoubtedly however the biggest hiccup the Scottish Parliament faced was both completely unforeseen and indeed tragic. Donald Dewar the inaugural First Minister of Scotland was instrumental in campaigning for a Scottish Parliament and in creating The Scotland Act which would give the Scottish Parliament it’s sweeping powers. He had long campaigned for devolution before it was even widely supported within his own Labour Party let alone the country. His life’s ambition was to see the creation of a Scottish Parliament. He had served as Secretary of State for Scotland – the job he wanted the most in his life and was the obvious leader for Scottish Labour and indeed First Minister. However, he had suffered from ill health and took three months off due to this ill-health in mid-2000 while serving as First Minister. On October 10th after chairing a Cabinet meeting he took a fall outside Bute House, the First Minister’s official residence, and despite feeling fine afterwards even continuing with meetings, he later suffered a massive brain haemorrhage.
He was admitted to hospital but died the next day having never regained consciousness. He was 63 years old. His death was such a shock to the country and so soon after devolution. He was often called “the father of the nation” a term he never accepted in his typical self-deprecating manner. In scenes never before seen in Scotland for a politician, his funeral service attracted large groups of mourners and he was widely mourned around the country. A statue of him was erected in his home city of Glasgow (Scotland’s largest city) two years later inscribed with the opening words of The Scotland Act “There shall be a Scottish Parliament” a phrase Dewar famously added to saying “I like that.” He would have hated becoming a political legend and horrified at the outpouring of grief he received at his funeral. It’s probably why he was so well-liked in Scotland. Scots hate grandiosity and those who become too big for their boots, Dewar always remembered where he came from and always fought for his constituents and for Scotland, never for himself. Despite all that he achieved he was always self-deprecating and despite hating nationalism and being a staunch Unionist, he dedicated his life to Scotland and all things Scottish.
Dewar’s death undoubtedly had a major impact on the nation and on the Scottish Parliament. Everyone knew that Dewar would lead the Scottish Executive and Scottish Parliament, he would be there to guide the way in uncharted waters. Many had convinced themselves that Dewar would always be there, a reliable face to guide them. Now he was gone and so soon at the start of the journey. This was a Parliament still finding its feet, it was routinely mocked and belittled by the press and people had still yet to truly believe that this was their Parliament, different from Westminster and one which represented and worked for them. It would take time for Parliament to gain legitimacy in the eyes of voters.
Statue of Donald Dewar in Buchanan Street, Glasgow.
I had originally planned to write just one article briefly outlining and explaining recent Scottish politics to help give you an overview of Scottish politics today. However, as I was writing the words just kept creeping upwards and chronologically, I was barely moving. I attempted to cut some bits out, but each major bit I tried to cut just seemed too important to remove. So, in the end, I realised I would have to break this up into separate articles, allowing me to go into more detail and fully explain and expand upon what I’m writing about.
I don’t know how many people will actually read this or find it interesting. Scotland isn’t exactly a large country; it doesn’t have a major role in international relations nor is it even an independent state. However, I find Scottish politics interesting and for a country so small I think we have a pretty excitable and unusually active political scene. I have enjoyed writing this out and if someone else finds it interesting and informative I’ll be happy enough. I want this to be informative and I hope that someone will learn something new from it. Occasionally I will provide my own anecdotal feelings or comments about a particular moment or issue, but on the whole, this should be mostly factual and informative.
I hope you enjoy and learn something new!
Scottish Politics Today: Devolution and the Early Years. 1997 – 2000.
Scottish Parliament Debating Chamber
The UK is a heavily majoritarian and unitary country, but it has recently started to become less so. The best example of this is devolution. In 1997 Tony Blair’s New Labour swept the country in a landslide victory and during the election, he promised the nations of Scotland and Wales that they would be given a referendum on devolution if Labour won power. Following their election win, a double vote in Scotland was held in 1998 where Scots were asked if they believed that there should be a Scottish Parliament and if they believed said Parliament should have tax-raising powers, Scots voted overwhelmingly in favour of both. In 1999 the first Scottish Parliamentary elections were held resulting in Labour winning 56 seats, 9 short of a majority and the SNP coming in second with 35 seats. The Scottish Conservatives who had opposed devolution and had just recently lost all their MPs in Scotland two years earlier won 18, while the Liberal Democrats (Lib Dems) won 17. The Green Party also won a seat, along with one Scottish Socialist and one independent. Labour and the Lib Dems formed a coalition to create the first Scottish Executive and following the election, the Scottish Parliament met for the first time since 1707 and Parliament was officially reconvened after 292 years. This is where politics in Scotland changed forever.
The Parliament did as would be expected, face hiccups in its early days. There were major cost increases and delays surrounding the construction of a new building for Parliament to be held in (it’s also universally agreed to be an extremely ugly building……) and some of the first legislation passed by the Scottish Parliament proved to be highly controversial. The repeal of Section 28, which stated that local authorities could not “promote homosexuality” or “promote the acceptance of homosexuality” within schools should have been an easy progressive piece of legislation for a modern country like Scotland to pass. However, the move saw opposition with a millionaire Scottish businessman even conducting his own “postal referendum” on the issue which returned an apparent result of 86% of roughly a third of the Scottish electorate in favour of keeping the clause. Along with his own referendum, he would bankroll the campaign to keep the clause. Religious groups also opposed the move, particularly Catholics, with Cardinal Thomas Winning the leader of Roman Catholics in Scotland, leading the criticism. Section 28 was eventually repealed with a large majority with 99 Members of the Scottish Parliament (MSPs) in favour of repeal and 17 MSPs opposed.
Undoubtedly however the biggest hiccup the Scottish Parliament faced was both completely unforeseen and indeed tragic. Donald Dewar the inaugural First Minister of Scotland was instrumental in campaigning for a Scottish Parliament and in creating The Scotland Act which would give the Scottish Parliament it’s sweeping powers. He had long campaigned for devolution before it was even widely supported within his own Labour Party let alone the country. His life’s ambition was to see the creation of a Scottish Parliament. He had served as Secretary of State for Scotland – the job he wanted the most in his life and was the obvious leader for Scottish Labour and indeed First Minister. However, he had suffered from ill health and took three months off due to this ill-health in mid-2000 while serving as First Minister. On October 10th after chairing a Cabinet meeting he took a fall outside Bute House, the First Minister’s official residence, and despite feeling fine afterwards even continuing with meetings, he later suffered a massive brain haemorrhage.
He was admitted to hospital but died the next day having never regained consciousness. He was 63 years old. His death was such a shock to the country and so soon after devolution. He was often called “the father of the nation” a term he never accepted in his typical self-deprecating manner. In scenes never before seen in Scotland for a politician, his funeral service attracted large groups of mourners and he was widely mourned around the country. A statue of him was erected in his home city of Glasgow (Scotland’s largest city) two years later inscribed with the opening words of The Scotland Act “There shall be a Scottish Parliament” a phrase Dewar famously added to saying “I like that.” He would have hated becoming a political legend and horrified at the outpouring of grief he received at his funeral. It’s probably why he was so well-liked in Scotland. Scots hate grandiosity and those who become too big for their boots, Dewar always remembered where he came from and always fought for his constituents and for Scotland, never for himself. Despite all that he achieved he was always self-deprecating and despite hating nationalism and being a staunch Unionist, he dedicated his life to Scotland and all things Scottish.
Dewar’s death undoubtedly had a major impact on the nation and on the Scottish Parliament. Everyone knew that Dewar would lead the Scottish Executive and Scottish Parliament, he would be there to guide the way in uncharted waters. Many had convinced themselves that Dewar would always be there, a reliable face to guide them. Now he was gone and so soon at the start of the journey. This was a Parliament still finding its feet, it was routinely mocked and belittled by the press and people had still yet to truly believe that this was their Parliament, different from Westminster and one which represented and worked for them. It would take time for Parliament to gain legitimacy in the eyes of voters.
Statue of Donald Dewar in Buchanan Street, Glasgow.