The Scottish National Party is a social democratic political party in Scotland. The party holds 64 of the 129 seats in the Scottish Parliament and 44 out of the 59 Scottish seats in the House of Commons in Westminster It has 453 Local Councillors of 1,227.
Scottish independence is the notion of Scotland as a sovereign state,independent from the United Kingdom,and refers to the political movement that is campaigning to bring it about.
The politics of Scotland operate within the constitution of the United Kingdom,of which Scotland is a 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 Scottish Government. 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.
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.
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.
Stewart Hosie is a Scottish National Party (SNP) politician serving as Member of Parliament (MP) for Dundee East since 2005. He served as the SNP Treasury Spokesperson from 2022 to 2023,and previously from 2015 to 2017. He served as the SNP Shadow Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Shadow Minister for the Cabinet Office since 2021. He served as Deputy Leader of the SNP to Nicola Sturgeon from November 2014 to October 2016. He was also the SNP Deputy Westminster Leader and the SNP Treasury Spokesperson from May 2015,until he was succeeded in both positions by Kirsty Blackman in June 2017.
Glasgow East is a constituency of the House of Commons of the UK Parliament,located in the city of Glasgow,Scotland. It elects one Member of Parliament at least once every five years using the first-past-the-post system of voting. It is currently represented by David Linden of the Scottish National Party (SNP) who has been the MP since 2017.
Rutherglen and Hamilton West is a burgh constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom,which was created for the 2005 general election. It covers almost all of the former constituency of Glasgow Rutherglen and most of the former constituency of Hamilton South,and it elects one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first-past-the-post system of election.
Scottish Labour is the part of the UK Labour Party active in Scotland. Ideologically social democratic and unionist,it currently holds 22 of the 129 seats in the Scottish Parliament and one of the 59 Scottish seats in the House of Commons. It is represented by 262 of the 1,227 local councillors across Scotland.
Ian Graham Davidson is a Scottish politician who served as chair of the Scottish Affairs Select Committee from 2010 to 2015. A member of the Scottish Labour Party and Co-operative Party,he was Member of Parliament (MP) for Glasgow South West,formerly Glasgow Pollok,from 1992 to 2015.
Anas Sarwar is a Scottish politician who has served as Leader of the Scottish Labour Party since 2021. He has been a Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for the Glasgow region since 2016,having been Member of Parliament (MP) for Glasgow Central from 2010 to 2015.
Alexander Elliot Anderson Salmond is a Scottish politician,economist and television host,who served as First Minister of Scotland from 2007 to 2014. A prominent figure in the Scottish nationalist movement,he has served as Leader of the Alba Party since 2021. Salmond was leader of the Scottish National Party (SNP),on two occasions,from 1990 to 2000 and from 2004 to 2014. He served as the party's depute leader from 1987 to 1990. Salmond hosted The Alex Salmond Show (2017–2022) on RT UK. He currently hosts Scotland Speaks with Alex Salmond (2023–present).
Events from the year 2014 in Scotland.
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.
Joanna Catherine Cherry is a Scottish politician and lawyer serving as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Edinburgh South West since 2015. A member of the Scottish National Party (SNP),she was the party's Shadow Home Secretary and Shadow Secretary of State for Justice in the House of Commons from 2015 to 2021.
A second referendum on independence from the United Kingdom (UK) has been proposed by the Scottish Government. An independence referendum was first held on 18 September 2014,with 55% voting "No" to independence. The Scottish Government stated in its white paper for independence that voting Yes was a "once in a generation opportunity to follow a different path,and choose a new and better direction for our nation". Following the "No" vote,the cross party Smith Commission proposed areas that could be devolved to the Scottish Parliament;this led to the passing of the Scotland Act 2016,formalising new devolved policy areas in time for the 2016 Scottish Parliament election campaign.
There was a Scottish National Party leadership election to choose the new Depute leader of the Scottish National Party at the SNP's conference on 14–15 October 2016. The SNP's Westminster Group Leader Angus Robertson MP won the election.
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.
David Melvyn Linden is a Scottish National Party (SNP) politician serving as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Glasgow East since 2017. He served as the SNP Spokesperson for Work and Pensions from 2021 to 2022 and the Spokesperson for Housing,Communities and Local Government in the House of Commons from 2020 to 2021.
Paul Masterton is a Scottish Conservative Party politician. He was the Member of Parliament (MP) for East Renfrewshire from 2017 to 2019.
