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| See also: | List of years in Scotland Timeline of Scottish history 2013 in: The UK • England • Wales • Elsewhere Scottish football: 2012–13 • 2013–14 2013 in Scottish television | ||||
Events from the year 2013 in Scotland .
The Scottish National Party is a Scottish nationalist and social democratic political party in Scotland. The SNP supports and campaigns for Scottish independence from the United Kingdom and for membership of the European Union, with a platform based on civic nationalism. The SNP is the largest political party in Scotland, where it has the most seats in the Scottish Parliament and 45 out of the 59 Scottish seats in the House of Commons at Westminster, and it is the third-largest political party by membership in the United Kingdom, behind the Labour Party and the Conservative Party. The current Scottish National Party leader, Nicola Sturgeon, has served as First Minister of Scotland since 20 November 2014.
Scottish independence is the political movement for Scotland to become a sovereign state, independent from the United Kingdom.
Margo Symington MacDonald was a Scottish politician, teacher and broadcaster. She was the Scottish National Party (SNP) Member of Parliament (MP) for Glasgow Govan from 1973 to 1974 and was Deputy Leader of the Scottish National Party from 1974 to 1979. She later served as an SNP and then Independent Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for Lothian from 1999 until her death.
Angus Struan Carolus Robertson is a Scottish politician serving as the Cabinet Secretary for the Constitution, External Affairs and Culture since 2021. Former Depute Leader of the Scottish National Party (SNP) from 2016 to 2018, he has served as the Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for Edinburgh Central since 2021. Robertson previously served as a Westminster MP for Moray from 2001 to 2017, where he served from 2007 to 2017 as the Leader of the SNP in the House of Commons.
Nicola Ferguson Sturgeon is a Scottish politician serving as First Minister of Scotland and Leader of the Scottish National Party (SNP) since 2014. She is the first woman to hold either position. She has been a member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) since 1999, first as an additional member for the Glasgow electoral region, and as the member for Glasgow Southside from 2007.
Johann MacDougall Lamont is a Scottish Labour Co-operative politician who served as Leader of the Scottish Labour Party from 2011 to 2014. She was previously a junior Scottish Executive minister from 2004 to 2007 and Deputy Leader of the Scottish Labour Party from 2008 until her election to the leadership in 2011. In addition to her ministerial and leadership roles, she has been a campaigner on equality issues and violence against women throughout her political career.
Patrick Harvie is a Scottish politician who has served as Minister for Zero Carbon Buildings, Active Travel and Tenants’ Rights since 2021. He has served as one of two co-leaders of the Scottish Greens since 2008, and is one of the first Green politicians in the UK to serve as a government minister. Harvie has been a Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for the Glasgow region since 2003.
Angela Constance is a Scottish politician serving as Minister for Drug Policy since 2020, having previously served in the Scottish Cabinet from 2014 to 2018. A member of the Scottish National Party (SNP), she has been the Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for Almond Valley since 2007.
John Gordon Wilson is a Scottish politician. He was formerly a Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for the Central Scotland region from 2007 until 2016. He sat as a Scottish National Party (SNP) member and then as an independent after 2014. He stood unsuccessfully as a Green Party candidate in the Coatbridge and Chryston constituency at the 2016 Scottish Parliament election and then as an independent candidate in the 2017 Scottish local elections.
Keith James Brown is a Scottish politician serving as Deputy Leader of the Scottish National Party (SNP) since 2018 and Cabinet Secretary for Justice and Veterans since 2021. He is a former Royal Marines commando and has been a Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) since 2007, first representing the Ochil constituency from 2007 to 2011, then the Clackmannanshire and Dunblane constituency since 2011.
Alexander Elliot Anderson Salmond is a Scottish politician who served as First Minister of Scotland from 2007 to 2014, currently serving as leader of the Alba Party since 26 March 2021. He was previously the leader of the Scottish National Party (SNP), serving two terms, from 1990 to 2000 and from 2004 to 2014. He was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Banff and Buchan from 1987 to 2010, when he stood down to focus on his role as First Minister, and then for Gordon from 2015 to 2017. Salmond was the Depute Leader of the SNP from 1987 to 1990 and was a Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) from 1999 to 2001 and 2007 to 2016.
A referendum concerning Scottish independence from the United Kingdom was held September 18, 2014. The referendum question was, "Should Scotland be an independent country?", which voters answered with "Yes" or "No". The "No" side won with 2,001,926 (55.3%) voting against independence and 1,617,989 (44.7%) voting in favour. The turnout of 84.6% was the highest recorded for an election or referendum in the United Kingdom since the January 1910 general election, which was held before the introduction of universal suffrage.
Better Together was the principal campaign for a No vote in the 2014 Scottish independence referendum, advocating Scotland continuing to be part of the United Kingdom. The organisation was formed in June 2012, operating until winning the vote on the referendum's polling day on 18 September 2014 with 2,001,926 (55.3%) voting against independence and 1,617,989 (44.7%) voting in favour. In June 2014, the campaign adopted a No Thanks branding, in relation to the referendum question.
Events from the year 2014 in Scotland.
This page lists the public opinion polls that were conducted in relation to the 2014 Scottish independence referendum, that was held on 18 September 2014. Overall, polls showed that support for a "No" vote was dominant until the end of August 2014, when support for a "Yes" vote gained momentum and the gap closed significantly, with at least one poll placing the "Yes" vote ahead. In the final week of the campaign, polls showed the "No" vote to be consistently but somewhat narrowly ahead. There were no exit polls although a YouGov post-election poll was published shortly after the polls closed. For the history of the campaign itself see 2014 Scottish independence referendum, Yes Scotland, and Better Together (campaign).
Cybernat is a term used in the media of the United Kingdom to refer to online supporters of Scottish independence and the Scottish National Party.
There was a Scottish National Party leadership election to choose the new leader of the Scottish National Party at the SNP's conference on 14–15 November 2014. The election followed the announcement by SNP Leader and First Minister Alex Salmond, in the aftermath of the Scottish independence referendum, that he would not seek re-nomination as party leader and would resign as First Minister soon after the SNP elected a new leader. Given the SNP's absolute majority in the Scottish Parliament, the new leader was all but assured of becoming the next First Minister. Nicola Sturgeon, the SNP's deputy leader and the Deputy First Minister, was elected unopposed as his successor.
The premiership of Nicola Sturgeon began on 20 November 2014, when Nicola Sturgeon was formally sworn into office as First Minister of Scotland at the Court of Session. It followed the resignation of Alex Salmond, who stood down as first minister and Leader of the Scottish National Party following the defeat of the Yes campaign in the 2014 Scottish independence referendum. Sturgeon is the first woman to serve as First Minister. Her premiership has been dominated by Brexit, her government's proposals for a second referendum on Scottish independence, and the COVID-19 pandemic.
The premiership of Alex Salmond began on 17 May 2007, when Alex Salmond was formally sworn into office as First Minister of Scotland at the Court of Session. It followed his Scottish National Party's victory in the 2007 Scottish Parliament election, where his party defeated the incumbent Labour by just one seat. Salmond's premiership was dominated by the negotiations which led to the 2014 Scottish independence referendum. His premiership ended on 18 November 2014, following his resignation in the aftermath of the Yes campaign's defeat in the referendum.
