Home rule is the government of a colony, dependent country, or region by its own citizens. It is thus the power of a part of a state or an external dependent country to exercise such of the state's powers of governance within its own administrative area that have been decentralized to it by the central government. Home rule may govern in an autonomous administrative division; in contrast, though, there is no sovereignty separate from that of the parent state, and thus no separate chief military command nor separate foreign policy and diplomacy.
Scottish independence is the idea of Scotland regaining its independence and once again becoming a sovereign state, independent from the United Kingdom. The term Scottish independence refers to the political movement that is campaigning to bring it about.
The Northern Ireland Labour Party (NILP) was a political party in Northern Ireland which operated from 1924 until 1987.
Tavish Hamilton Scott is a former Scottish politician. He was the Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for Shetland from 1999 to 2019, and Leader of the Scottish Liberal Democrats from 2008 to 2011. He stepped down as Leader after the 2011 Scottish Parliament election, in which the Liberal Democrats were reduced to five seats, down from 16 in the previous parliament.
Comhairle nan Eilean Siar is the local authority for Na h-Eileanan an Iar, one of the 32 council areas of Scotland. It is based in Stornoway on the Isle of Lewis.
Skaw is a settlement in the Scottish archipelago of Shetland, located on the island of Unst. It is located north of Haroldswick on a peninsula in the northeast corner of the island, and is the most northerly settlement in the United Kingdom. It is currently inhabited by a single inhabitant whose business is sheep farming.
The Orkney and Shetland Movement was an electoral coalition formed for the 1987 general election comprising the Orkney Movement and Shetland Movement, political parties which advocated autonomy for Orkney and Shetland. They agreed on selecting John Goodlad, the secretary of the Shetland Fishermen's Association, as a joint candidate for the Orkney and Shetland constituency. The Scottish National Party agreed to stand aside in favour of the coalition.
The Shetland is a small, hardy Scottish breed of cattle from the Shetland Islands to the north of mainland Scotland. The cattle are normally black and white in colour but there are smaller numbers in grey, red and dun.
The Shetland Islands Council is the local authority for the Shetland Islands, one of the 32 council areas of Scotland. It was established in 1975 by the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973 and was largely unaffected by the Scottish local government changes of 1996.
Separatism in the United Kingdom may refer to the secession of any of the countries of the United Kingdom from the union. Less significant movements for separatism exist such as Cornwall within England.
In the United Kingdom, devolution is the Parliament of the United Kingdom's statutory granting of a greater level of self-government to the Scottish Parliament, the Senedd, the Northern Ireland Assembly and the London Assembly and to their associated executive bodies: the Scottish Government, the Welsh Government, the Northern Ireland Executive and in England, the Greater London Authority and combined authorities.
The Shetland Movement was a pressure group and political party created in 1978 to advocate for greater autonomy in Shetland. The group called for the creation of a Shetland Assembly or 'Althing' with limited legislative powers and control over direct taxation. The group's membership included several key public figures in Shetland, including local author, politician and compiler of the Shetland Dictionary, John Graham and Shetland Islands Council Convener from 1986 to 1994, Edward Thomason.
The island groups of Orkney, Shetland and the Western Isles are all currently regions of Scotland. Their constitutional status has periodically been discussed, for example during the Scottish independence referendum campaign. Currently, they are council areas with the same constitutional status as the other 29 local government areas. The three island councils are the only local authorities among the 32 in the country where independent councillors form a majority.
An election to Shetland Islands Council was held on 6 May 1982 as part of the 1982 Scottish regional elections and yielded a swing to candidates supportive of Home Rule for the islands. Whilst no candidates appeared on the ballot as members of the Shetland Movement, the Shetland Movement did publish a list of candidates supportive of Shetland Home Rule. Ultimately of the 25 members of the Shetland council, 14 were supporters of the movement.
In March 1978 a referendum was held in Shetland regarding the position of the isles within a potential Scottish Assembly. The isles' MP Jo Grimond had submitted an amendment to the Scotland Bill seeking to establish a commission in the event of a successful vote for a Scottish Assembly. This amendment faced opposition from the Secretary of State for Scotland, Bruce Millan. With Jo Grimond's support, the Shetland Islands Council held the referendum to gauge the electorate's support for its position in the hope that it would give the council a mandate to push for separate consideration for Shetland in the Bill.
Elections to Shetland Islands Council were held on 4 May 2017 on the same day as the other Scottish local government elections. The election was the third using seven wards created as a result of the Local Governance (Scotland) Act 2004, each ward electing three or four Councillors using the single transferable vote system form of proportional representation, with 22 Councillors elected.
Northern England devolution is the broad term used to describe the wish for devolved governmental powers that would give more autonomy to the Northern Counties.
Ariane Claire Burgess is a Scottish politician who has been a Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for Highlands and Islands since 2021. A member of the Scottish Greens, she has served as the Scottish Parliament's Convener of the Local Government, Housing and Planning Committee since 2021.
Elections to Shetland Islands Council took place on 5 May 2022 on the same day as the 31 other Scottish local government elections. As with other Scottish council elections, it was held using single transferable vote (STV) – a form of proportional representation – in which multiple candidates are elected in each ward and voters rank candidates in order of preference.
Elections to the Zetland County Council were held on 8 May 1973 as part of Scottish local elections. This was the last election for the County Council before its incorporation along with the Lerwick Town Council into the Shetland Islands Council in 1975. Elections were held in every part of Shetland except Lerwick to elect 24 landward members to the County Council, who would be joined by six nominated members from the Lerwick Town Council.
