scholarly journals Whatever Happened to the Progressive Case for the Union? How Scottish Labour’s Failure to Subsume a Clearly Left of Centre Identity with a Pro-Union One Helps to Explain Its Decline

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kieran Wright
Keyword(s):  
Political Parties ◽  
National Party ◽  
Scottish National Party ◽  
Scottish Parliament ◽  
Multi Level ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Constitutional Issue

Abstract This article presents an original account of the tactical options available to political parties in multi-level settings. It applies that framework to the case of post-devolution Scotland via an analysis of First Minister’s Questions sessions in the Scottish Parliament. It shows how Scottish Labour adopted a less left-leaning justification for its stance on the constitutional issue in the years after the party lost power at Holyrood to the Scottish National Party. Consequently, the party failed to present itself as a clearly left of centre alternative to the SNP and downplayed the progressive case for Scotland remaining in the UK.

Scottish government launches fresh independence push

2019 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Intent To Stay ◽  
National Party ◽  
Single Issue ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Migrant Communities ◽  
Scottish National Party ◽  
Scottish Parliament ◽  
Scottish Government ◽  
Scottish Independence ◽  
European Family

Subject Scottish independence drive. Significance Scotland’s First Minister Nicola Sturgeon launched a fresh independence drive on April 28. Speaking at the spring conference of her Scottish National Party (SNP) in Edinburgh, she said it was “Scotland’s intent to stay part of the European family of nations”. The conference saw delegates back plans for an independent Scottish currency, the declaration of a climate emergency and the establishment of a non-party Citizens’ Assembly to generate debate about Scotland’s future. Impacts The SNP’s anti-Brexit stance and efforts to help EU citizens will bolster migrant communities’ support for both the party and independence. A major non-party, grassroots march in Glasgow on May 4 kicked off a new programme of demonstrations to raise independence support. The 20-year anniversary of the opening of the Scottish Parliament in July will drive further debate and reflection on Scotland’s future. Unionist parties will focus increasingly on the single issue of rejecting independence to galvanise their support.

Modified Rapture All Round: The First Elections to the Scottish Parliament

1999 ◽  
Vol 34 (3) ◽  
pp. 299-322 ◽  
Author(s):  
William L. Miller
Keyword(s):  
Electoral System ◽  
National Party ◽  
Popular Support ◽  
The Road ◽  
Coalition Partner ◽  
Liberal Democrats ◽  
Scottish National Party ◽  
Minority Government ◽  
Scottish Parliament

AS ELECTION DAY APPROACHED IT SEEMED CERTAIN THAT LABOUR would come out on top and the Scottish National Party (SNP) would come second. Thanks to the new German-style electoral system it also seemed certain that Labour could not win an overall majority in the new Scottish Parliament and that the Conservatives would get some parliamentary representation however low their vote. But each of the parties had hopes and ambitions as well as expectations. Labour hoped to get over 60 seats in the new parliament of 129, enough at least to have the option of forming a minority government. The SNP hoped to get well over 40 seats, enough to let it assume the undisputed role of the opposition, and to mark a further step along the road to independence. The Liberal Democrats hoped to be more than a small but useful coalition partner in the new parliament. Out in the country they hoped the new electoral system would end the traditional handicap of a Liberal Democrat vote being dismissed as a ‘wasted vote’ and so let their votes rise to equal their underlying level of popular support. ‘Other’ parties and candidates hoped that the new electoral system and the new inclusive politics would somehow include them.

scholarly journals Accommodation or political identity: Scottish members of the UK Parliament

2017 ◽  
Vol 29 (3) ◽  
pp. 341-363 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lauren Hall-Lew ◽  
Ruth Friskney ◽  
James M. Scobbie
Keyword(s):  
Political Party ◽  
Political Identity ◽  
Labour Party ◽  
National Party ◽  
Phonetic Variation ◽  
Scottish National Party ◽  
Political Speeches ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Vowel Height

AbstractPhonetic variation among Scottish members of the UK Parliament may be influenced by convergence to Southern English norms (Carr & Brulard, 2006) or political identity (e.g., Hall-Lew, Coppock, & Starr, 2010). Drawing on a year's worth of political speeches (2011–2012) from 10 Scottish members of the UK Parliament (MPs), we find no acoustic evidence for the adoption of a Southern English low vowel system; rather, we find that vowel height is significantly correlated with political party: Scottish Labour Party MPs produce a higher cat vowel (Johnston, 1997) than do Scottish National Party MPs. The results contradict claims that Scottish MPs acquire Anglo-English features while serving in the UK Parliament. Rather, we suggest that the variation indexes political meaning, with a subset of individuals drawing on that indexicality in production.

scholarly journals Internal political struggle in Scotland on the issue of the region status in 2007–2011

2021 ◽  
pp. 80-85
Author(s):  
Igor L. Kurs
Keyword(s):  
The Political ◽  
National Party ◽  
Political Struggle ◽  
Political Status ◽  
Scottish National Party ◽  
Scottish Parliament ◽  
National Conversation ◽  
Political Forces ◽  
First Time ◽  
Scottish Politics

For the first time in the national historiography, various aspects of the internal political struggle in Scotland regarding its political status in 2007–2011 are considered. The key actors in this struggle are identified, the forms and tools used by various political forces to realise their goals are highlighted, and the issue of the Scottish National Party as a government party is explored. The activity of two organisations – «National Conversation» and the Calman Commission, created at the initiative of two opposing camps of Scottish politics, is analysed. It is noted that as a result of their work, the discussion about the political future of the region was brought to a qualitatively new level, and all the main political forces in the region recognised the need to expand the powers of the Scottish Parliament.

The Scottish National Party

2020 ◽  
pp. 277-300
Author(s):  
Lynn Bennie ◽  
Craig McAngus
Keyword(s):  
First Century ◽  
Political Agenda ◽  
Political Organizations ◽  
Scottish National Party ◽  
Scottish Parliament ◽  
Scottish Independence ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Policy Problems ◽  
Scottish Politics

The SNP has moved from the fringes of Scottish politics to being a strikingly successful electoral force, keeping the constitutional status of Scotland at the top of the political agenda. In the twenty-first century, the SNP has been a long-term party of government but one of opposition in the UK, balancing the different facets of its identity as a political party seeking governmental office and as an important actor in a wider movement for Scottish independence. The SNP’s ability to adapt to devolution has been key to its success, and has involved transformation of the party on a scale few political organizations experience. Yet success brings new challenges and dilemmas, related to the straddling of governance and campaigning for Scottish independence. Enhanced powers for the Scottish Parliament increase the stakes for SNP governments—public policy problems cannot easily be blamed on state-wide governments—and being situated within a movement for change creates opportunities to build support for independence but the SNP’s vision of an independent Scotland is contested by others.

Scotland could pass new referendum powers

2019 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
National Party ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Scottish National Party ◽  
Scottish Parliament ◽  
Scottish Independence ◽  
The Impact

Subject The Scottish Referendums Bill. Significance The persistent risk of no-deal Brexit is strengthening the case for Scottish independence; now a majority of Scots want independence within two years, according to recent polls. If the Scottish Parliament passes the Referendums Bill, it could grant Scottish ministers the power to call a new independence referendum. Impacts Labour’s lack of clarity on a Scottish independence referendum could boost support for other pro-unionist parties in Scotland. A UK election before Brexit, with the threat of no deal remaining, will play into the hands of the ruling Scottish National Party (SNP). The push towards independence will likely be strongly influenced by the impact of Brexit, which is currently unpredictable.

The SNP and ‘Five Continuing Unions’

2020 ◽  
pp. 148-167
Author(s):  
David Torrance
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
British Empire ◽  
Monetary Union ◽  
National Party ◽  
The European Union ◽  
National Authority ◽  
Scottish National Party ◽  
Head Of State ◽  
Scottish Government ◽  
The Uk

This chapter flips the book’s analysis and looks at the ‘unionism’ of the Scottish National Party, which after 1942 supported the secession of Scotland from the UK. A speech made by Alex Salmond in 2013 is used as a means of examining different strands of the party’s unionism following its formation in 1934. First was the SNP’s attachment to some form of supra-national authority, initially the British Empire and later the European Union; second was defence co-operation via NATO; third was a form of monetary union as advocated by the Scottish Government during the 2012-14 referendum campaign; fourth was a long-standing SNP commitment to the 1603 Union of the Crowns, or retention of the Queen as head of state in an independent Scotland; and fifth was what Alex Salmond called a ‘social union’ between the ‘peoples of these islands’.

Political Participation

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robin Finlay ◽  
Peter Hopkins ◽  
Gurchathen Sanghera
Keyword(s):  
Young People ◽  
Refugee Crisis ◽  
National Party ◽  
Political Climate ◽  
Political Issues ◽  
Parliamentary Elections ◽  
Scottish National Party ◽  
Strong Representation ◽  
The Uk ◽  
The Right

At the time of writing, politics within Scotland and the UK is experiencing a period of uncertainty, with issues such as Brexit, Scottish nationalism, the ‘refugee crisis’ and continued economic insecurity creating a complicated and unprecedented political climate. Scotland, for many, is considered to be expressing a distinctive politics to the rest ofthe UK (Mooney, 2013; McAngus, 2015), with the Scottish National Party (SNP) having strong representation in both the Scottish and UK Parliaments. With regard to the electorate, there is a sense that youngpeople in Scotland have recently become more politicised (Baxter et al., 2015; Hopkins, 2015), with sixteen- and seventeen-year-olds having been given the right to vote in the Scottish parliamentary elections and the 2014 independence referendum. This contests the frequent narrative that young people are politically apathetic (Kimberlee, 2002), and adds to a growing body of work that seeks to examine and unearth the varied and complex ways in which young people engage with political issues (Brookes and Hodkinson, 2008; O’Toole and Gale, 2013; Pilkington and Pollock, 2015).

2015 and all that

2016 ◽  
Vol 25 (1) ◽  
pp. 103-121
Author(s):  
Owen Dudley Edwards
Keyword(s):  
Twentieth Century ◽  
Present Situation ◽  
Conservative Party ◽  
National Party ◽  
Scottish National Party ◽  
Late Nineteenth ◽  
Scottish Independence ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Scottish History ◽  
First Time

The UK General Election of 2015, in which the Scottish National Party won 56 of the 59 seats, is likely to be a landmark in Scottish history. Moreover, for the first time since 1886, the victor in the predominant country in the Union – the Conservative Party in England – seemed to gain electoral victory in part by hostility to one of the partners of the Union. The article discusses the origins of this electoral tsunami. The immediate origin of the SNP landslide commenced with the disillusion with Scottish Liberalism, but its main victim was the Scottish Labour Party, seemingly fatally damaged by its alliance with the Conservatives during the campaign for a No vote in the 2014 referendum on Scottish independence. But whoever lost the election of 2015, it was won by Nicola Sturgeon, setting an example of civil debate untarnished by Westminster politics. Analogies with the politics of Ireland in the late-nineteenth and early-twentieth century cast helpful light on the present situation.

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