The Scottish National Party (SNP; Scottish Gaelic: Pàrtaidh Nàiseanta na h-Alba; Scots: Scots Naitional Pairty) is a social democratic political party in Scotland which campaigns for Scottish independence from the United Kingdom.
The SNP was founded in 1934, and has had continuous representation in the Parliament of the United Kingdom since Winnie Ewing's groundbreaking victory at the 1967 Hamilton by-election.
With the creation of the Scottish Parliament in 1999, the SNP became the second largest party in the devolved chamber, serving two terms as the main party of the Opposition. In the 2007 elections, the SNP won the most seats in the Scottish Parliament for the first time, governing as a minority administration, with party leader Alex Salmond as First Minister of Scotland. In the 2011 elections, the SNP won a landslide victory and became the first party to form a majority government in the Scottish Parliament since its resumption.
The SNP currently holds 6 of 59 Scottish seats in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom and 2 of 6 Scottish seats in the European Parliament. The SNP is also currently the largest group in Scottish local government and, in coalition, forms 12 out of 32 local administrations.
Read more about Scottish National Party: History, Party Leaders, Party Presidents, Scottish Parliamentary Leaders, Westminster Parliamentary Leaders, Party Organisation, Policy Platform, Party Ideology, European Affiliation, Electoral Performance
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“We’ll never know the worth of water till the well go dry.”
—18th-century Scottish proverb, collected in James Kelly, Complete Collection of Scottish Proverbs, no. 351 (1721)
“Any honest examination of the national life proves how far we are from the standard of human freedom with which we began. The recovery of this standard demands of everyone who loves this country a hard look at himself, for the greatest achievments must begin somewhere, and they always begin with the person. If we are not capable of this examination, we may yet become one of the most distinguished and monumental failures in the history of nations.”
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—Edward Lear (1812–1888)