The politics of Scotland operate within the constitution of the United Kingdom, of which Scotland is a constituent country. Scotland is a democracy, being represented in both the Scottish Parliament and the Parliament of the United Kingdom since the Scotland Act 1998. Most executive power is exercised by the Scottish Government, led by the First Minister of Scotland, the head of government in a multi-party system. The judiciary of Scotland, dealing with Scots law, is independent of the legislature and the executive. Scots law is primarily determined by the Scottish Parliament. The Scottish Government shares some executive powers with the Government of the United Kingdom's Scotland Office, a British government department led by the Secretary of State for Scotland.
The history of the British peerage, a system of nobility found in the United Kingdom, stretches over the last thousand years. The current form of the British peerage has been a process of development. While the ranks of baron and earl predate the British peerage itself, the ranks of duke and marquess were introduced to England in the 14th century. The rank of viscount came later, in the mid-15th century. Peers were summoned to Parliament, forming the House of Lords.
Andrew Fletcher of Saltoun was a Scottish writer and politician, remembered as an advocate for the non-incorporation of Scotland, and an opponent of the 1707 Act of Union between Scotland and England. Fletcher became an exile in 1683 after being accused of promoting insurrection. He was appointed the cavalry commander of the Monmouth Rebellion, but shortly after landing in England, he killed another leading figure. He again went into exile, this time as a fugitive and with his estates forfeit. He returned with William of Orange, becoming Commissioner of the old Parliament of Scotland.
James Ogilvy, 4th Earl of Findlater and 1st Earl of Seafield, was a Scottish politician.
Peeblesshire was a Scottish county constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom (Westminster) from 1708 until 1868. It elected one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post voting system.
Knight of the shire was the formal title for a member of parliament (MP) representing a county constituency in the British House of Commons, from its origins in the medieval Parliament of England until the Redistribution of Seats Act 1885 ended the practice of each county forming a single constituency. The corresponding titles for other MPs were burgess in a borough constituency and baron for a Cinque Ports constituency. Knights of the shire had more prestige than burgesses, and sitting burgesses often stood for election for the shire in the hope of increasing their standing in Parliament.
The Scottish representatives to the first Parliament of Great Britain, serving from 1 May 1707 to 26 May 1708, were not elected like their colleagues from England and Wales, but rather hand-picked.
Colonel The Honourable John Edmund Erskine, of Cardross, was a Scottish soldier and politician. His journal was printed in the nineteenth century. He was nicknamed The Black Colonel.
Alexander Arbuthnot was appointed a Baron of the Court of Exchequer in Scotland after the Union of England and Scotland in 1707.
John Hope, 2nd Earl of Hopetoun was the son of Charles Hope, 1st Earl of Hopetoun and Lady Henrietta Johnstone.
Major Hon. Henry Balfour was Shire Commissioner for Fifeshire in the Parliament of Scotland prior to the Acts of Union 1707.
A commissioner was a legislator appointed or elected to represent a royal burgh or shire in the pre-Union Scottish Parliament and the associated Convention of the Estates. Member of Parliament (MP) and Deputy are equivalent terms in other countries.
Before the Acts of Union 1707, the barons of the shire of Fife elected commissioners to represent them in the Parliament of Scotland and in the Convention of the Estates. The number of commissioners was increased from two to four in 1690.
Before the Act of Union 1707, the barons of the shire or stewartry of Kirkcudbright elected commissioners to represent them in the unicameral Parliament of Scotland and in the Convention of Estates. The number of commissioners was increased from one to two in 1690.
Before the Acts of Union 1707, the barons of the shire of Elgin and Forres elected commissioners to represent them in the unicameral Parliament of Scotland and in the Convention of the Estates.
Before the Acts of Union 1707, the barons of the shire of Ross elected commissioners to represent them in the unicameral Parliament of Scotland and in the Convention of the Estates.
Before the Acts of Union 1707, the barons of the shire of Kinross elected commissioners to represent them in the unicameral Parliament of Scotland and in the Convention of the Estates.
James Brodie was a Scottish politician.
An Act for the division of Meath into two shires was an Act of the Parliament of Ireland passed in 1542 which resulted in the division of County Meath, shired in 1297, into the counties of Meath and Westmeath. The Act commenced on Saint Catherine's Day in 1542 and remains in effect.
