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 first election to the devolved Scottish Parliament,to fill 129 seats,took place on 6 May 1999. Following the election,the Labour Party and the Liberal Democrats formed the Scottish Executive,with Labour Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) Donald Dewar becoming First Minister.
James Alexander Stewart Stevenson is a Scottish politician who served as Minister for Transport,Infrastructure and Climate Change from 2007 to 2010 and Minister for Environment and Climate Change from 2011 to 2012. A member of the Scottish National Party (SNP),he was Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for Banffshire and Buchan Coast,formerly Banff and Buchan,from 2001 to 2021.
Glasgow is one of the eight electoral regions of the Scottish Parliament. Nine of the parliament's 73 first past the post constituencies are sub-divisions of the region and it elects seven of the 56 additional-member Members of the Scottish Parliament (MSPs). Thus it elects a total of 16 MSPs.
Kenneth Donald Macintosh is a Scottish politician who served as the Presiding Officer of the Scottish Parliament from 2016 to 2021. Elected as a member of Scottish Labour,he suspended his party membership on becoming Presiding Officer. Macintosh was a Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) from 1999 to 2021,representing the Eastwood constituency from 1999 to 2016,and then the West Scotland region from 2016 to 2021.
Philip Roy Gallie was a British Conservative Party politician. He served in the British House of Commons as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Ayr from 1992 to 1997,and then as a Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for the South of Scotland region from 1999 to 2007. He also held prominent offices within the Scottish Conservative Party.
Berwickshire,Roxburgh and Selkirk is a constituency of the British House of Commons,located in the south of Scotland within the Scottish Borders council area. It elects one Member of Parliament (MP) at least once every five years using the first-past-the-post system of voting.
Ayr is a burgh constituency of the Scottish Parliament (Holyrood) covering the town of Ayr in the council area of South Ayrshire. It elects one Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) via the plurality electoral system. It is also one of nine constituencies in the South Scotland electoral region which elects seven additional members to the Scottish Parliament via a proportional electoral system known as the Additional Members System which allows for greater accuracy in representation for the region as a whole.
The Scottish Conservative &Unionist Party,often known simply as the Scottish Conservatives and colloquially as the Scottish Tories,is a centre-right political party in Scotland. It is the second-largest party in the Scottish Parliament and the third-largest in Scottish local government. The party has the second-largest number of Scottish MPs in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom and the seventh overall.
Scotland has elections to several bodies:the Scottish Parliament,the United Kingdom Parliament,local councils and community councils. Before the United Kingdom left the European Union,Scotland elected members to the European Parliament.
John Robert Lamont is a Scottish Conservative Party politician and solicitor who has served in the British House of Commons as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Berwickshire,Roxburgh and Selkirk since 2017. Lamont previously served as the Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for Roxburgh and Berwickshire,later Ettrick,Roxburgh and Berwickshire after boundary changes,from 2007 to 2017. He has been serving as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Scotland since October 2022.
The 2011 Scottish Parliament election was held on Thursday,5 May 2011 to elect 129 members to the Scottish Parliament.
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.
Michael Bruce Crockart is a Scottish Liberal Democrat politician. He was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Edinburgh West from 2010 to 2015.
Ettrick,Roxburgh and Berwickshire is a constituency of the Scottish Parliament (Holyrood) covering part of the council area of Scottish Borders. 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.
The 2016 Scottish parliament election was held on Thursday,5 May 2016 to elect 129 members to the Scottish Parliament. It was the fifth election held since the devolved parliament was established in 1999. It was the first parliamentary election in Scotland in which 16 and 17 year olds were eligible to vote,under the provisions of the Scottish Elections Act. It was also the first time the three largest parties were led by women.
Paul Richard William Wheelhouse is a former Scottish National Party (SNP) politician who served as Minister for Energy,Connectivity and the Islands from 2018 to 2021. He was a Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for the South Scotland region from 2011 until 2021 and Minister for Business,Innovation and Energy in the Scottish Government from May 2016 to June 2018.
Rachael Georgina Hamilton is a Scottish Conservative Party politician,who has served as the Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for Ettrick,Roxburgh and Berwickshire since 2017.
The 2017 Ettrick,Roxburgh and Berwickshire by-election was a by-election held on 8 June 2017 for the Scottish Parliament constituency of Ettrick,Roxburgh and Berwickshire. It was triggered by the resignation of John Lamont.
