Current Situation
| Year | Labour | Conservative | Lib Dems/Liberals | SNP |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | 41 Seats 42.0% | 1 Seat 16.7% | 11 Seats 18.9% | 6 Seats 19.9% |
| 2005 | 41 Seats 39.5% | 1 Seat 15.8% | 11 Seats 22.6% | 6 Seats 17.7% |
| 2001 | 56 Seats 43.9% | 1 Seat 15.6% | 10 Seats 16.4% | 5 Seats 20.1% |
| 1997 | 56 Seats 41.0% | 0 Seats 17.5% | 10 Seats 13.0% | 6 Seats 22.0% |
| 1992 | 49 Seats 34.4% | 11 Seats 25.7% | 9 Seats 13.1% | 3 Seats 21.5% |
| 1987 | 50 Seats 38.7% | 10 Seats 24.0% | 9 Seats 19.3% | 3 Seats 14.0% |
| 1983 | 40 Seats 33.2% | 21 Seats 28.4% | 8 Seats 24.5% | 2 Seats 11.8% |
| 1979 | 44 Seats 38.6% | 22 Seats 31.4% | 3 Seats 9.0% | 2 Seats 17.3% |
| Oct 1974 | 41 Seats 33.1% | 16 Seats 24.7% | 3 Seats 8.3% | 11 Seats 30.4% |
| Feb 1974 | 40 Seats 34.6% | 21 Seats 32.9% | 3 Seats 7.9% | 7 Seats 21.9% |
| 1970 | 44 Seats 31.8% | 23 Seats 38.0% | 3 Seats 5.5% | 1 Seat 11.4% |
| 1966 | 46 Seats 47.7% | 20 Seats 37.6% | 5 Seats 6.7% | 0 Seats 5.0% |
| 1964 | 43 Seats 46.9% | 24 Seats 37.3% | 4 Seats 7.6% | 0 Seats 2.4% |
| 1959 | 38 Seats 46.7% | 31 Seats 47.3% | 1 Seat 4.8% | 0 Seats 0.8% |
| 1955 | 34 Seats 46.7% | 36 Seats 50.1% | 1 Seat 1.9% | 0 Seats 0.5% |
| 1951 | 35 Seats 48.0% | 35 Seats 48.6% | 1 Seat 2.8% | 0 Seats 0.3% |
The party with the largest number of seats in the Scottish Parliament is the Scottish National Party which campaigns for Scottish independence. The current First Minister is Alex Salmond of the SNP who leads a majority government as of the 5th May 2011 elections. 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 represented in the parliament are the Conservative and Unionist Party and the Scottish Green Party.
Under devolution Scotland is represented by 59 MPs in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom elected from territory-based Scottish constituencies, out of a total of 650 MPs in the House of Commons. 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 — usually referred to as a Sewel Motion. This has been done on a number of occasions where it has been seen as either more efficient, or more politically expedient to have the legislation considered by Westminster. The Scotland Office is a department of the United Kingdom government, responsible for reserved Scottish affairs. The current Secretary of State for Scotland is Michael Moore MP, a Liberal Democrat. 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 GB-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 with Labour leader John Smith describing the revival of a Scottish parliament as the "settled will of the Scottish people". 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 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 was the first country in the UK to ban smoking in public places.
Read more about this topic: Politics Of Scotland
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