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.

UK election will complicate Brexit process

2017 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Prime Minister ◽  
Conservative Party ◽  
Labour Party ◽  
General Election ◽  
National Party ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Modest Increase ◽  
Scottish National Party ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Theresa May

Significance The result is a stunning setback for Prime Minister Theresa May. The Conservative Party secured a notably larger share of the vote, but it was outpaced by the Labour Party, which achieved a much larger increase. The Scottish National Party (SNP) suffered substantial losses to both the Conservatives (which had been expected) and to Labour (which had not). The Liberal Democrats managed only a modest increase in their representation. Impacts If Sinn Fein once more refuses to take its seats at Westminster, a Conservative-DUP accord would command a slim but not unstable majority. If May survives she will be much less dominant and have to adopt a more collegial style. In different circumstances, the obvious solution might be a second general election in relatively short order. With the UK economy showing signs of slowing, however, the Conservative Party may be reluctant to risk that option.

scholarly journals Electoral Shocks

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Edward Fieldhouse ◽  
Jane Green ◽  
Geoffrey Evans ◽  
Jonathan Mellon ◽  
Christopher Prosser ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Global Financial Crisis ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Electoral Volatility ◽  
Liberal Democrats ◽  
Scottish National Party ◽  
Electoral Choice ◽  
General Elections ◽  
Scottish Independence ◽  
The Global Financial Crisis ◽  
The Uk

This book offers a novel perspective on British elections, focusing on the importance of increasing electoral volatility in British elections, and the role of electoral shocks in the context of increasing volatility. It demonstrates how shocks have contributed to the level of electoral volatility, and also which parties have benefited from the ensuing volatility. It follows in the tradition of British Election Study books, providing a comprehensive account of specific election outcomes—the General Elections of 2015 and 2017—and a more general approach to understanding electoral change.We examine five electoral shocks that affected the elections of 2015 and 2017: the rise in EU immigration after 2004, particularly from Eastern Europe; the Global Financial Crisis prior to 2010; the coalition government of the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats between 2010 and 2015; the Scottish Independence Referendum in 2014; and the European Union Referendum in 2016.Our focus on electoral shocks offers an overarching explanation for the volatility in British elections, alongside the long-term trends that have led us to this point. It offers a way to understand the rise and fall of the UK Independence Party (UKIP), Labour’s disappointing 2015 performance and its later unexpected gains, the collapse in support for the Liberal Democrats, the dramatic gains of the Scottish National Party (SNP) in 2015, and the continuing period of tumultuous politics that has followed the EU Referendum and the General Election of 2017. It provides a new way of understanding electoral choice in Britain, and beyond, and a better understanding of the outcomes of recent elections.

After the Scottish Independence Referendum

2019 ◽  
pp. 275-291 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephen Tierney
Keyword(s):  
United Kingdom ◽  
Constitutional Change ◽  
National Party ◽  
Constitutional Democracy ◽  
Parliamentary Elections ◽  
Scottish National Party ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
Scottish Independence ◽  
Independent Country

This chapter examines the independence referendum in Scotland, held on September 18, 2014, and its implications for the federal direction of the United Kingdom. The referendum saw 55 percent of Scots say “No” to the question: “Should Scotland be an Independent Country?”. Despite this result, the referendum has sparked a further process of decentralization. The chapter first describes the context that led to the Scottish independence referendum, focusing in particular on the success of the Scottish National Party (SNP) in the parliamentary elections of May 2011 and why the referendum emerged from—and was organized within—the normal contours of constitutional democracy. It then considers the period of constitutional engagement and the outcome of the referendum before concluding with an analysis of some of the lessons that can be drawn from it with regard to constitutional change and the issue of secession.

Idealism

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
T.L.S. Sprigge
Keyword(s):  
Twentieth Century ◽  
Physical World ◽  
Bertrand Russell ◽  
Spiritual Values ◽  
Western Thought ◽  
Founding Fathers ◽  
Absolute Idealism ◽  
The Us ◽  
Late Nineteenth ◽  
The Uk

Idealism is now usually understood in philosophy as the view that mind is the most basic reality and that the physical world exists only as an appearance to or expression of mind, or as somehow mental in its inner essence. However, a philosophy which makes the physical world dependent upon mind is usually also called idealist even if it postulates some further hidden, more basic reality behind the mental and physical scenes (for example, Kant’s things-in-themselves). There is also a certain tendency to restrict the term ‘idealism’ to systems for which what is basic is mind of a somewhat lofty nature, so that ‘spiritual values’ are the ultimate shapers of reality. (An older and broader use counts as idealist any view for which the physical world is somehow unreal compared with some more ultimate, not necessarily mental, reality conceived as the source of value, for example Platonic forms.) The founding fathers of idealism in Western thought are Berkeley (theistic idealism), Kant (transcendental idealism) and Hegel (absolute idealism). Although the precise sense in which Hegel was an idealist is problematic, his influence on subsequent absolute or monistic idealism was enormous. In the US and the UK idealism, especially of the absolute kind, was the dominating philosophy of the late nineteenth and early twentieth century, receiving its most forceful expression with F.H. Bradley. It declined, without dying, under the influence of G.E. Moore and Bertrand Russell, and later of the logical positivists. Not a few philosophers believe, however, that it has a future.

Support for Scottish independence is growing stronger

2020 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Prime Minister ◽  
Economic Impacts ◽  
Trade Agreement ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Uk Government ◽  
Scottish Independence ◽  
The Uk ◽  
First Time ◽  
The Eu ◽  
Sustained Increase

Significance For the first time, there is a sustained increase in support for Scottish independence. The main reasons include dislike of UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson and his cabinet north of the border, the UK government’s pursuit of a ‘hard’ Brexit and questions about its response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Impacts Soaring Scottish unemployment when the UK furlough schemes end would undermine London’s claim to be protecting Scottish jobs. Rising support for Scottish independence could prompt the UK government to seek a closer trade agreement with the EU. The UK government will be unable to conceal the economic impacts of Brexit under the economic fallout of COVID-19. A Scottish vote for independence would put huge pressure on the UK government to resign and call early elections.

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.

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.

The Scottish Conservative Party

2020 ◽  
pp. 236-254
Author(s):  
Alan Convery
Keyword(s):  
Twentieth Century ◽  
Economic Policy ◽  
Conservative Party ◽  
Separate Entity ◽  
High Point ◽  
Relative Autonomy ◽  
Margaret Thatcher ◽  
The 1960S ◽  
The Uk

The relative autonomy of the Scottish Conservative Party within the British Conservative Party can be traced to its beginnings as a separate entity that only merged with the UK party in the 1960s. The decline of the Scottish Conservatives since the high point of 1955 has been striking and was at its most marked during the Conservative Governments (1979–1997) when Margaret Thatcher became a potent symbol of a foreign Englishness. Scottish conservatism and, especially, Unionism is ideologically flexible, but it took its cue from the economically liberal direction of the British Conservative Party at the end of the twentieth century. Attitudes towards devolution have in general caused much more discord than its approach to economic policy. These debates pose fundamental questions about the Union and became intertwined in the 1990s with issues of Scottish distinctiveness and identity in a manner that was damaging for the Conservatives. The Scottish Conservatives’ recent revival under Ruth Davidson’s leadership poses the question of how far the party has changed its policies and approach since 1997.

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