Scottish Parliament election, 1999
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The left side shows constituency winners of the election by their party colours. The right side shows regional winners of the election for the additional members by their party colours . | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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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.
The Scottish Parliament was created after a referendum on devolution took place on 11 September 1997 in which 74.3% of those who voted approved the idea. The Scotland Act (1998) was then passed by the UK Parliament which established the devolved Scottish Parliament and Scottish Executive. The parliament was elected using Mixed member proportional representation, combining 73 (First-past-the-post) constituencies[note 1] and proportional representation with the 73 constituencies being grouped together to make eight regions each electing seven additional members to make a total of 129. This meant that it would be unlikely for any party to gain a majority of seats in the new parliament and either minority or coalition Scottish Executives would have to be formed.
The first general election to the Scottish Parliament overall produced few surprises with the Labour Party still enjoying high popularity following their landslide victory in the 1997 UK general election as widely expected was the largest party winning 56 seats, mostly in their traditional Central Belt heartlands, which was nine seats short of an overall majority. Labour formed a coalition government with the Liberal Democrats, who won 17 seats. The Scottish National Party (SNP) had done well in opinion polls running up to the election, gaining 40% in some approval ratings, but this level of support was not maintained. The SNP were the second largest party with 35 seats, which still represented their best performance since the October 1974 UK general election. The Conservative Party, still recovering from their wipeout in the 1997 UK general election across Scotland, failed to win a single constituency seat but did manage to win 18 seats through the Additional Member System.
The Scottish Socialist Party (SSP) and the Greens picked up unexpected additional member seats. Robin Harper became the first ever elected Green parliamentarian in the history of the United Kingdom. Dennis Canavan, who had failed to become an approved Labour candidate, won the Falkirk West constituency as an independent candidate.
Following the election the new parliament met in the General Assembly Hall of the Church of Scotland in Edinburgh for the very first time on Wednesday 12 May 1999 although the actual devolution of powers from Westminster to the Scottish Parliament did not take place until midnight on Thursday 1 July 1999, almost two months later.
For a full list of MSPs elected, see Members of the Scottish Parliament, 1999-2003. For lists of constituencies and regions, see Scottish Parliament constituencies and regions.
National vote
This article is part of a series on the politics and government of Scotland |
Scotland in the EU |
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Parties | Additional member system | Total seats | ||||||||||||||
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Constituency | Region | |||||||||||||||
Votes | % | +/− | Seats | +/− | Votes | % | +/− | Seats | +/− | Total | +/− | % | ||||
Labour | 908,392 | 38.81 | N/A | 53 | N/A | 786,818 | 33.64 | N/A | 3 | N/A | 56 | N/A | 43 | |||
SNP | 672,757 | 28.74 | N/A | 7 | N/A | 638,644 | 27.26 | N/A | 28 | N/A | 35 | N/A | 27 | |||
Conservative | 364,225 | 15.56 | N/A | 0 | N/A | 359,109 | 15.35 | N/A | 18 | N/A | 18 | N/A | 14 | |||
Liberal Democrats | 331,279 | 14.15 | N/A | 12 | N/A | 225,774 | 12.43 | N/A | 5 | N/A | 17 | N/A | 13 | |||
Scottish Green | - | - | - | - | - | 84,024 | 3.59 | N/A | 1 | N/A | 1 | N/A | 1 | |||
Socialist Labour | 5,268 | 0.22 | N/A | - | - | 55,232 | 2.37 | N/A | - | N/A | - | N/A | - | |||
Scottish Socialist | 23,564 | 1.01 | N/A | 0 | N/A | 46,635 | 1.99 | N/A | 1 | N/A | 1 | N/A | 1 | |||
Independent - Dennis Canavan | 18,511 | 0.8 | N/A | 1 | N/A | 27,700 | 1.2 | N/A | 0 | N/A | 1 | N/A | 1 | |||
Others | 21,662 | 0.9 | N/A | 0 | N/A | 105,221 | 4.5 | N/A | 0 | N/A | 0 | N/A | 0 |
- Voter turnout: 59.1%
Constituency and regional summary
Central Scotland
Scottish Parliament election, 1999: Central Scotland | ||||||
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Constituency | Elected member | Result | ||||
Airdrie and Shotts | Karen Whitefield | Labour gain | ||||
Coatbridge and Chryston | Elaine Smith | Labour gain | ||||
Cumbernauld and Kilsyth | Cathie Craigie | Labour gain | ||||
East Kilbride | Andy Kerr | Labour gain | ||||
Falkirk East | Cathy Peattie | Labour gain | ||||
Falkirk West | Dennis Canavan | Independent gain | ||||
Hamilton North and Bellshill | Michael McMahon | Labour gain | ||||
Hamilton South | Tom McCabe | Labour gain | ||||
Kilmarnock and Loudoun | Margaret Jamieson | Labour gain | ||||
Motherwell and Wishaw | Jack McConnell | Labour gain | ||||
Scottish Parliament election, 1999: Central Scotland | |||||||
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Party | Elected candidates | Seats | +/− | Votes | % | +/−% | |
Labour | 0 | N/A | 129,822 | 39.28% | N/A | ||
SNP | Alex Neil Andrew Wilson Michael Matheson Gil Paterson Linda Fabiani |
5 | N/A | 91,802 | 27.78% | N/A | |
Conservative | Lyndsay McIntosh | 1 | N/A | 30,243 | 9.15% | N/A | |
Independent | 0 | N/A | 27,700 | 8.38% | N/A | ||
Liberal Democrats | Donald Gorrie | 1 | N/A | 20,505 | 6.20% | N/A | |
Socialist Labour | 0 | N/A | 10,956 | 3.32% | N/A | ||
Scottish Green | 0 | N/A | 5,926 | 3.32% | N/A | ||
Scottish Socialist | 0 | N/A | 5,739 | 1.74% | N/A | ||
Scottish Unionist | 0 | N/A | 2,888 | 0.87% | N/A | ||
ProLife Alliance | 0 | N/A | 2,567 | 0.78% | N/A | ||
Scottish Families and Pensioners Party | 0 | N/A | 1,373 | 0.42% | N/A | ||
Natural Law | 0 | N/A | 1,373 | 0.42% | N/A | ||
Independent Progressive | 0 | N/A | 248 | 0.08% | N/A | ||
Glasgow
Scottish Parliament election, 1999: Glasgow | ||||||
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Constituency | Elected member | Result | ||||
Glasgow Anniesland | Donald Dewar | Labour gain | ||||
Glasgow Baillieston | Margaret Curran | Labour gain | ||||
Glasgow Cathcart | Mike Watson | Labour gain | ||||
Glasgow Govan | Gordon Jackson | Labour gain | ||||
Glasgow Kelvin | Pauline McNeill | Labour gain | ||||
Glasgow Maryhill | Patricia Ferguson | Labour gain | ||||
Glasgow Pollok | Johann Lamont | Labour gain | ||||
Glasgow Rutherglen | Janis Hughes | Labour gain | ||||
Glasgow Shettleston | Frank McAveety | Labour gain | ||||
Glasgow Springburn | Paul Martin | Labour gain | ||||
Scottish Parliament election, 1999: Glasgow | |||||||
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Party | Elected candidates | Seats | +/− | Votes | % | +/−% | |
Labour | 0 | N/A | 112,588 | 43.9% | N/A | ||
SNP | Nicola Sturgeon Dorothy-Grace Elder Kenneth Gibson Sandra White |
4 | N/A | 65,360 | 25.5% | N/A | |
Conservative | Bill Aitken | 1 | N/A | 20,239 | 7.9% | N/A | |
Scottish Socialist | Tommy Sheridan | 1 | N/A | 18,581 | 7.2% | N/A | |
Liberal Democrats | Robert Brown | 1 | N/A | 18,473 | 7.2% | N/A | |
Scottish Green | 0 | N/A | 10,159 | 4.0% | N/A | ||
Socialist Labour | 0 | N/A | 4,391 | 1.7% | N/A | ||
ProLife Alliance | 0 | N/A | 2,357 | 0.9% | N/A | ||
Scottish Unionist | 0 | N/A | 2,283 | 0.9% | N/A | ||
Communist | 0 | N/A | 521 | 0.2% | N/A | ||
Humanist | 0 | N/A | 447 | 0.2% | N/A | ||
Natural Law | 0 | N/A | 419 | 0.2% | N/A | ||
Socialist (GB) | 0 | N/A | 309 | 0.1% | N/A | ||
People's Choice | 0 | N/A | 221 | 0.1% | N/A | ||
Highlands and Islands
Scottish Parliament election, 1999: Highlands and Islands | ||||||
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Constituency | Elected member | Result | ||||
Argyll and Bute | George Lyon | Liberal Democrats gain | ||||
Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross | Jamie Stone | Liberal Democrats gain | ||||
Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber | Fergus Ewing | SNP gain | ||||
Moray | Margaret Ewing | SNP gain | ||||
Orkney | Jim Wallace | Liberal Democrats gain | ||||
Ross, Skye and Inverness West | John Farquhar Munro | Liberal Democrats gain | ||||
Shetland | Tavish Scott | Liberal Democrats gain | ||||
Western Isles | Alasdair Morrison | Labour gain | ||||
Scottish Parliament election, 1999: Highlands and Islands | |||||||
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Party | Elected candidates | Seats | +/− | Votes | % | +/−% | |
SNP | Winnie Ewing Duncan Hamilton |
2 | N/A | 55,593 | 27.73% | N/A | |
Labour | Peter Peacock Maureen Macmillan Rhoda Grant |
3 | N/A | 51,371 | 25.47% | N/A | |
Liberal Democrats | 0 | N/A | 43,226 | 21.43% | N/A | ||
Conservative | Jamie McGrigor Mary Scanlon |
2 | N/A | 30,122 | 14.94% | N/A | |
Scottish Green | 0 | N/A | 7,560 | 3.75% | N/A | ||
I Noble (Independent) | 0 | N/A | 3,522 | 1.75% | N/A | ||
Socialist Labour | 0 | N/A | 2,808 | 1.39% | N/A | ||
Highlands and Islands | 0 | N/A | 2,607 | 1.29% | N/A | ||
Scottish Socialist Party | 0 | N/A | 1,770 | 0.88% | N/A | ||
Robbie the Pict (Independent) | 0 | N/A | 1,151 | 0.57% | N/A | ||
Independent | 0 | N/A | 712 | 0.35% | N/A | ||
Natural Law | 0 | N/A | 536 | 0.27% | N/A | ||
Independent | 0 | N/A | 354 | 0.18% | N/A | ||
Lothians
Scottish Parliament election, 1999: Lothians | ||||||
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Constituency | Elected member | Result | ||||
Edinburgh Central | Sarah Boyack | Labour gain | ||||
Edinburgh East and Musselburgh | Susan Deacon | Labour gain | ||||
Edinburgh North and Leith | Malcolm Chisholm | Labour gain | ||||
Edinburgh Pentlands | Iain Gray | Labour gain | ||||
Edinburgh South | Angus Mackay | Labour gain | ||||
Edinburgh West | Margaret Smith | Liberal Democrats gain | ||||
Linlithgow | Mary Mulligan | Labour gain | ||||
Livingston | Bristow Muldoon | Labour gain | ||||
Midlothian | Rhona Brankin | Labour gain | ||||
Scottish Parliament election, 1999: Lothians | |||||||
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Party | Elected candidates | Seats | +/− | Votes | % | +/−% | |
Labour | 0 | N/A | 99,098 | 30.2% | N/A | ||
SNP | Margo MacDonald Kenny MacAskill Fiona Hyslop |
3 | N/A | 85,085 | 25.7% | N/A | |
Conservative | David McLetchie James Douglas-Hamilton |
2 | N/A | 52,067 | 15.7% | N/A | |
Liberal Democrats | David Steel | 1 | N/A | 47,565 | 14.4% | N/A | |
Scottish Green | Robin Harper | 1 | N/A | 22,848 | 6.9% | N/A | |
Socialist Labour | 0 | N/A | 10,895 | 3.3% | N/A | ||
Scottish Socialist | 0 | N/A | 5,237 | 1.6% | N/A | ||
Liberal | 0 | N/A | 2,056 | 0.6% | N/A | ||
Witchery Tour Party | 0 | N/A | 1,184 | 0.4% | N/A | ||
ProLife Alliance | 0 | N/A | 898 | 0.3% | N/A | ||
Civil Rights Movement | 0 | N/A | 806 | 0.2% | N/A | ||
Natural Law | 0 | N/A | 564 | 0.2% | N/A | ||
Independent | 0 | N/A | 557 | 0.2% | N/A | ||
Socialist (GB) | 0 | N/A | 388 | 0.1% | N/A | ||
Independent | 0 | N/A | 256 | 0.1% | N/A | ||
Independent | 0 | N/A | 145 | 0.04% | N/A | ||
Independent | 0 | N/A | 54 | 0.02% | N/A | ||
Mid Scotland and Fife
Scottish Parliament election, 1999: Mid Scotland and Fife | ||||||
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Constituency | Elected member | Result | ||||
Dunfermline East | Helen Eadie | Labour gain | ||||
Dunfermline West | Scott Barrie | Labour gain | ||||
Fife Central | Henry McLeish | Labour gain | ||||
Fife North East | Iain Smith | Liberal Democrats gain | ||||
Kirkaldy | Marilyn Livingstone | Labour gain | ||||
North Tayside | John Swinney | SNP gain | ||||
Ochil | Richard Simpson | Labour gain | ||||
Perth | Roseanna Cunningham | SNP gain | ||||
Stirling | Sylvia Jackson | Labour gain | ||||
Scottish Parliament election, 1999: Mid Scotland and Fife | |||||||
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Party | Elected candidates | Seats | +/− | Votes | % | +/−% | |
Labour | 0 | N/A | 101,964 | 33.3% | N/A | ||
SNP | George Reid Bruce Crawford Tricia Marwick |
3 | N/A | 87,659 | 28.7% | N/A | |
Conservative | Keith Harding Nick Johnston Brian Monteith |
3 | N/A | 56,719 | 18.6% | N/A | |
Liberal Democrats | Keith Raffan | 1 | N/A | 38,896 | 12.7% | N/A | |
Scottish Green | 0 | N/A | 11,821 | 3.9% | N/A | ||
Socialist Labour | 0 | N/A | 4,266 | 1.4% | N/A | ||
Scottish Socialist | 0 | N/A | 3,044 | 1.0% | N/A | ||
ProLife Alliance | 0 | N/A | 735 | 0.2% | N/A | ||
Natural Law | 0 | N/A | 558 | 0.2% | N/A | ||
North East Scotland
Scottish Parliament election, 1999: North East Scotland | ||||||
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Constituency | Elected member | Result | ||||
Aberdeen Central | Lewis Macdonald | Labour gain | ||||
Aberdeen North | Elaine Thomson | Labour gain | ||||
Aberdeen South | Nicol Stephen | Liberal Democrats gain | ||||
Angus | Andrew Welsh | SNP gain | ||||
Banff and Buchan | Alex Salmond | SNP gain | ||||
Dundee East | John McAllion | Labour gain | ||||
Dundee West | Kate Maclean | Labour gain | ||||
Gordon | Nora Radcliffe | Liberal Democrats gain | ||||
West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine | Mike Rumbles | Liberal Democrats gain | ||||
Scottish Parliament election, 1999: North East Scotland | |||||||
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Party | Elected candidates | Seats | +/− | Votes | % | +/−% | |
SNP | Brian Adam Richard Lochhead Shona Robison Irene McGugan |
4 | N/A | 93,329 | 32.3% | N/A | |
Labour | 0 | N/A | 72,666 | 25.5% | N/A | ||
Conservative | David Davidson Ben Wallace Alex Johnstone |
3 | N/A | 52,149 | 18.3% | N/A | |
Liberal Democrats | 0 | N/A | 49,843 | 17.5% | N/A | ||
Scottish Green | 0 | N/A | 8,067 | 2.8% | N/A | ||
Socialist Labour | 0 | N/A | 3,557 | 1.2% | N/A | ||
Scottish Socialist | 0 | N/A | 3,016 | 1.1% | N/A | ||
Independent | 0 | N/A | 2,303 | 0.8% | N/A | ||
Independent | 0 | N/A | 770 | 0.3% | N/A | ||
Natural Law | 0 | N/A | 746 | 0.3% | N/A | ||
South of Scotland
Scottish Parliament election, 1999: South of Scotland | ||||||
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Constituency | Elected member | Result | ||||
Ayr | Ian Welsh | Labour gain | ||||
Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley | Cathy Jamieson | Labour gain | ||||
Clydesdale | Karen Turnbull | Labour gain | ||||
Cunninghame South | Irene Oldfather | Labour gain | ||||
Dumfries | Elaine Murray | Labour gain | ||||
East Lothian | John Home Robertson | Labour gain | ||||
Galloway and Upper Nithsdale | Alasdair Morgan | SNP gain | ||||
Roxburgh and Berwickshire | Euan Robson | Liberal Democrats gain | ||||
Tweeddale, Ettrick and Lauderdale | Ian Jenkins | Liberal Democrats gain | ||||
Scottish Parliament election, 1999: South of Scotland | |||||||
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Party | Elected candidates | Seats | +/− | Votes | % | +/−% | |
Labour | 0 | N/A | 98,836 | 31.0% | N/A | ||
SNP | Michael Russell Adam Ingram Christine Creech |
3 | N/A | 80,059 | 25.1% | N/A | |
Conservative | Phil Gallie Alex Fergusson Murray Tosh David Mundell |
4 | N/A | 68,904 | 21.6% | N/A | |
Liberal Democrats | 0 | N/A | 38,157 | 12.0% | N/A | ||
Socialist Labour | 0 | N/A | 13,887 | 4.4% | N/A | ||
Scottish Green | 0 | N/A | 9,467 | 3.0% | N/A | ||
Liberal | 0 | N/A | 3,478 | 1.1% | N/A | ||
Scottish Socialist | 0 | N/A | 3,304 | 1.0% | N/A | ||
UKIP | 0 | N/A | 1,502 | 0.5% | N/A | ||
Natural Law | 0 | N/A | 755 | 0.2% | N/A | ||
West of Scotland
Scottish Parliament election, 1999: West of Scotland | ||||||
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Constituency | Elected member | Result | ||||
Clydebank and Milngavie | Des McNulty | Labour gain | ||||
Cunninghame North | Allan Wilson | Labour gain | ||||
Dumbarton | Jackie Baillie | Labour gain | ||||
Eastwood | Kenneth Macintosh | Labour gain | ||||
Greenock and Inverclyde | Duncan McNeil | Labour gain | ||||
Paisley North | Wendy Alexander | Labour gain | ||||
Paisley South | Hugh Henry | Labour gain | ||||
Strathkelvin and Bearsden | Sam Galbraith | Labour gain | ||||
West Renfrewshire | Patricia Godman | Labour gain | ||||
Scottish Parliament election, 1999: West of Scotland | |||||||
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Party | Elected candidates | Seats | +/− | Votes | % | +/−% | |
Labour | 0 | N/A | 119,663 | 38.5% | N/A | ||
SNP | Colin Campbell Kay Ullrich Lloyd Quinan Fiona McLeod |
4 | N/A | 80,417 | 25.9% | N/A | |
Conservative | Annabel Goldie John Young |
2 | N/A | 48,666 | 15.7% | N/A | |
Liberal Democrats | Ross Finnie | 1 | N/A | 34,095 | 11.0% | N/A | |
Scottish Green | 0 | N/A | 8,174 | 2.6% | N/A | ||
Scottish Socialist | 0 | N/A | 5,944 | 1.9% | N/A | ||
Socialist Labour | 0 | N/A | 4,472 | 1.4% | N/A | ||
ProLife Alliance | 0 | N/A | 3,227 | 1.0% | N/A | ||
Independent | 0 | N/A | 2,761 | 0.9% | N/A | ||
Scottish Unionist | 0 | N/A | 1,840 | 0.6% | N/A | ||
Natural Law Party | 0 | N/A | 589 | 0.2% | N/A | ||
Independent | 0 | N/A | 565 | 0.2% | N/A | ||
Party representation
- Labour - 56 Members of the Scottish Parliament (MSPs)
- SNP - 35 MSPs
- Conservative - 18 MSPs
- Liberal Democrat - 17 MSPs
- Scottish Green Party - 1 MSP
- SSP - 1 MSP
- Others (Dennis Canavan, Falkirk West) - 1 MSP
Party leaders in 1999
- Labour - Donald Dewar
- SNP - Alex Salmond
- Conservative - David McLetchie
- Liberal Democrat - Jim Wallace
- SSP - Tommy Sheridan
- Scottish Green Party - Robin Harper
Notes
- ↑ The same constituency boundaries were used as in the United Kingdom general election, 1997 with the exception of Orkney and Shetland, which were made into separate constituencies.
See also
External links
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