2001 United Kingdom general election in Scotland

Last updated

2001 United Kingdom general election
Flag of Scotland.svg
  1997 7 June 2001 (2001-06-07) 2005  

All 72 Scottish seats to the House of Commons
Turnout58.2%, Decrease2.svg13.1%
 First partySecond party
  Tony Blair in 2002.jpg Charles Kennedy MP (cropped).jpg
Leader Tony Blair Charles Kennedy
Party Labour Liberal Democrats
Leader since 21 July 1994 9 August 1999
Seats before5610
Seats won5610
Seat changeSteady2.svgSteady2.svg
Popular vote1,017,226380,034
Percentage43.9%16.4%
SwingDecrease2.svg1.7%Increase2.svg3.4%
UK seats41352

 Third partyFourth party
  John Swinney, Cabinet Secretary for Sustainable Growth (1).jpg William Hague 2010 cropped.jpg
Leader John Swinney William Hague
Party SNP Conservative
Leader since26 September 2000 19 June 1997
Seats before60
Seats won51
Seat changeDecrease2.svg1Increase2.svg1
Popular vote464,314360,658
Percentage20.1%15.6%
SwingDecrease2.svg2.0%Decrease2.svg1.9%
UK seats5166

2001 UK General election in Scotland.svg
Coloured according to the winning party's vote share in each constituency

A general election was held in the United Kingdom on Thursday, 7 June 2001 and all 72 seats in Scotland were contested. There was only one Scottish seat which changed parties during the election; that of Galloway and Upper Nithsdale which Peter Duncan of the Conservative Party gained from Alisdair Morgan of the SNP, by just 74 votes. Apart from the Conservatives increasing their representation to a single seat, the election was essentially a repeat of the previous result four years earlier; with Labour still the largest party in terms of seats won.

Contents

Results

Below is a table summarising the results of the 2001 general election in Scotland. [1]

PartySeatsSeats
change
Votes % %
change
Labour 5601,017,22643.9-1.7
SNP 5-1464,31420.1-2.0
Liberal Democrats 100380,03416.4+3.4
Conservative 1+1360,65815.6-1.9
Scottish Socialist 0072,5183.1
Scottish Green 004,5510.2+0.1
UKIP 003,2360.10.0
Socialist Labour 003,1840.10.0
Scottish Unionist 002,7280.1
Legalise Cannabis 009550.0
ProLife Alliance 007860.0-0.2
Monster Raving Loony 004050.0
Liberal 003830.00.0
Countryside 002650.0
Scottish Freedom Referendum Party002500.0
Rock 'n' Roll Loony 002110.0
Communist 001740.0
Independent 003,8250.2
Turnout2,315,70358.2-13.1

Votes summary

Popular vote
Labour
43.92%
SNP
20.05%
Liberal Democrats
16.41%
Conservative
15.57%
Socialist
3.13%
Other
0.92%
Parliament seats
Labour
77.78%
Liberal Democrats
13.89%
SNP
6.94%
Conservative
1.39%

Outcome

The result saw very little change from the last contest in 1997, though after being wiped out in Scotland four years earlier, this time the Conservatives managed to win one seat. A notable feature of the election was that turnout fell to 58%, which reportedly caused all of Scotland's political parties to be "worried about voter apathy". [2]

Although Conservatives once again a Scottish MP, their vote actually share fell compared with 1997 and in vote share terms the fell to fourth place. On top of this they failed to win several target seats including Edinburgh Pentlands where former MP Malcolm Rifkind failed to regain the seat and Eastwood where Labour incumbent Jim Murphy substantial increased his majority over the Scottish Conservative Chairman Raymond Robertson. [2] [3] The Conservatives did come close to gaining Perth where Liz Smith came within 50 votes of taking the seat from the SNP. David McLetchie, the Scottish Conservative leader, said that one seat was "better than nothing". [3]

As well as losing Galloway and Upper Nithsdale to the Conservatives the SNP failed to take any of their target seats and saw a decline in their share of the vote, though still had the second highest vote share in Scotland. [2] Nevertheless the former SNP leader Alex Salmond said "consolidating as the second party in Scotland is no mean achievement" and put the party in a good position for the 2003 Scottish Parliament election. [4]

Although Labour held all its seats it also saw a decline in its vote share. In contrast the Liberal Democrats increased their vote share, though they did not win any additional seats. The new Scottish Socialist Party had set themselves what leader Tommy Sheridan called an "ambitious" target of 100,000 votes they ultimately polled 70,000 votes. Sheridan attributed this to the significant drop in turnout compared with 1997. [2]

Related Research Articles

The Scottish National Party is a Scottish nationalist and social democratic political party. The party holds 63 of the 129 seats in the Scottish Parliament and 43 out of the 59 Scottish seats in the House of Commons in Westminster. It has 453 local councillors of 1,227.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Swinney</span> Deputy First Minister of Scotland from 2014 to 2023

John Ramsay Swinney is a Scottish politician who served as Deputy First Minister of Scotland from 2014 to 2023. He held various Scottish Cabinet roles under First Ministers Alex Salmond and Nicola Sturgeon from 2007 to 2023. Swinney has served as the Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for Perthshire North since 2011, having previously represented North Tayside from 1999 to 2011. He was the Leader of the Scottish National Party (SNP) from 2000 to 2004.

Douglas Henderson was a Scottish politician. He was Depute Leader of the Scottish National Party (SNP) from 1971 to 1973 and from 1979 to 1981. He served as a Scottish National Party Member of Parliament (MP) for East Aberdeenshire from 1974 to 1979, and held virtually every national office in the SNP, short of party leader. His political style has been described as "no-nonsense" and "very blunt and forthright". He was also known for his forceful public speaking, which former SNP leader Alex Salmond described as "messianic".

In Scotland, the Scottish National Party (SNP) is a left social democratic political party which campaigns for Scottish independence. The SNP has controlled Scotland's devolved legislature since the 2007 election as a minority government, and were a majority government from the 2011 election and have been a minority government, since the 2016 election.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dumfries and Galloway (UK Parliament constituency)</span> Parliamentary constituency in the United Kingdom, 2005 onwards

Dumfries and Galloway is a county constituency in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It was first used in the 2005 general election, and replaced Galloway and Upper Nithsdale and part of Dumfries. It elects one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post system of election however despite its name, It does not cover the whole of the Dumfries and Galloway Council Area

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale and Tweeddale (UK Parliament constituency)</span> Parliamentary constituency in the United Kingdom, 2005 onwards

Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale and Tweeddale is a constituency of the House of Commons, located in the South of Scotland, within the Dumfries and Galloway, South Lanarkshire and Scottish Borders council areas. It elects one Member of Parliament (MP) at least once every five years using the First-past-the-post system of voting. It is currently represented in Westminster by the former Secretary of State for Scotland, David Mundell, a Conservative, who has been the MP since 2005.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2005 United Kingdom general election</span>

The 2005 United Kingdom general election was held on Thursday 5 May 2005, to elect 646 members to the House of Commons. The governing Labour Party, led by Tony Blair, won its third consecutive victory, with Blair becoming the second Labour leader after Harold Wilson to form three majority governments. However, its majority fell to 66 seats; the majority it won four years earlier had been of 167 seats. This was the first time the Labour Party had won a third consecutive election, and as of 2024 remains the party's most recent general election victory.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Scottish Labour</span> The part of the UK Labour Party that operates in Scotland

Scottish Labour, officially the Scottish Labour Party, is the part of the UK Labour Party active in Scotland. Ideologically social democratic and unionist, it holds 22 of 129 seats in the Scottish Parliament and 2 of 59 Scottish seats in the House of Commons. It is represented by 262 of the 1,227 local councillors across Scotland. The Scottish Labour party has no separate Chief Whip at Westminster.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Scottish Conservatives</span> Part of the British Conservative Party

The Scottish Conservative & Unionist Party is part of the UK Conservative Party active in Scotland. It is a centre right party. The party holds 7 out of the 59 Scottish seats in the House of Commons and 31 of the 129 seats in the Scottish Parliament. It has 209 local councillors of 1,227.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2009 European Parliament election in the United Kingdom</span> European Parliament elections in the United Kingdom

The 2009 European Parliament election was the United Kingdom's component of the 2009 European Parliament election, the voting for which was held on Thursday 4 June 2009. The election was held concurrently with the 2009 local elections in England. In total, 72 Members of the European Parliament were elected from the United Kingdom using proportional representation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2011 Scottish Parliament election</span> Parliamentary election held in Scotland

The 2011 Scottish Parliament election was held on Thursday, 5 May 2011 to elect 129 members to the Scottish Parliament.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2007 Scottish Parliament election</span> Parliamentary election held in Scotland

The 2007 Scottish Parliament election was held on Thursday 3 May 2007 to elect members to the Scottish Parliament. It was the third general election to the devolved Scottish Parliament since it was created in 1999. Local elections in Scotland fell on the same day.

This is the results breakdown of the 2005 general election.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Galloway and West Dumfries (Scottish Parliament constituency)</span> Region or constituency of the Scottish Parliament

Galloway and West Dumfries is a constituency of the Scottish Parliament (Holyrood) covering part of the council area of Dumfries and Galloway. It elects one Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) by the plurality method of election. It is also one of nine constituencies in the South Scotland electoral region, which elects seven additional members, in addition to the nine constituency MSPs, to produce a form of proportional representation for the region as a whole.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2010 United Kingdom general election in Scotland</span>

A general election was held in the United Kingdom on 6 May 2010 and all 59 seats in Scotland were contested. The election result in Scotland was unusual in that there wasn't any change of seats from the 2005 general election, although the Labour Party took back two seats that it had lost in by-elections. This was the most recent general election at which the Labour Party won a majority of seats and plurality of votes in Scotland.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2021 Scottish Parliament election</span> General election in Scotland

The 2021 Scottish Parliament election took place on 6 May 2021, under the provisions of the Scotland Act 1998. All 129 Members of the Scottish Parliament were elected in the sixth election since the parliament was re-established in 1999. The election was held alongside the Senedd election, English local elections, London Assembly and mayoral election and the Hartlepool by-election.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1997 United Kingdom general election in Scotland</span>

A general election was held in the United Kingdom on 1 May 1997 and all 72 seats in Scotland were contested. This would be the last UK general election to be contested in Scotland before the Scottish Parliament was established on 1 July 1999 following overwhelming public approval in a referendum.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2015 United Kingdom general election in Scotland</span> List of election results

A general election was held in the United Kingdom on 7 May 2015 and all 59 seats in Scotland were contested under the first-past-the-post, single-member district electoral system. Unlike the 2010 general election, where no seats changed party, the Scottish National Party (SNP) won all but three seats in Scotland in an unprecedented landslide victory, gaining a total of 56 seats and taking the largest share of the Scottish vote in sixty years, at approximately 50 per cent. The Labour Party suffered its worst ever election defeat in Scotland, losing 40 of the 41 seats it was defending, including the seats of Scottish Labour leader Jim Murphy and the then Shadow Foreign Secretary Douglas Alexander. The Liberal Democrats lost ten of the eleven seats they were defending, with the then Chief Secretary to the Treasury Danny Alexander and former leader Charles Kennedy losing their seats. The election also saw the worst performance by the Scottish Conservative Party, which received its lowest share of the vote since its creation in 1965, although it retained the one seat that it previously held. In all, 50 of the 59 seats changed party, 49 of them being won by first-time MPs.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2017 Dumfries and Galloway Council election</span>

The 2017 Dumfries and Galloway Council election took place on 4 May 2017 to elect members of Dumfries and Galloway Council. The election used the twelve wards created as a result of the Local Governance (Scotland) Act 2004, with each ward electing three or four councillors using the single transferable vote system form of proportional representation, with 43 councillors being elected, a reduction of 4 members and 1 ward since 2012.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2017 United Kingdom general election in Scotland</span> United Kingdom general election held in Scotland

A general election was held in the United Kingdom on Thursday 8 June 2017; all 59 seats in Scotland were contested under the first-past-the-post electoral system.

References

  1. "Election 2001 | Results | Scotland". BBC News. 14 August 2001. Retrieved 3 November 2011.
  2. 1 2 3 4 "Scots parties reflect on historic election". BBC News Vote 2001. BBC. 8 June 2001. Retrieved 18 November 2021.
  3. 1 2 "Gain but still pain for Tories". BBC News Vote 2001. BBC. 8 June 2001. Retrieved 17 November 2021.
  4. "Salmond hails poll standing". BBC News Vote 2001. BBC. 8 June 2001. Retrieved 17 November 2021.