1st Scottish Parliament
This is a list of members (MSPs) returned to the first Scottish Parliament at the 1999 election. Of the 129 members, 73 were elected from first past the post constituencies with a further 56 members being returned from eight regions, each electing seven MSPs as a form of mixed member proportional representation .
The 1999 election produced a hung parliament, with the Labour MSPs forming the largest minority. Consequently, they formed a coalition government with the Liberal Democrats to form the first Scottish Executive. The Scottish National Party formed the official opposition.
Composition
| Party | May 1999 election | April 2003 dissolution | |
|---|---|---|---|
| • | Scottish Labour Party | 56 | 55 |
| Scottish National Party | 35 | 34 | |
| Scottish Conservative Party | 18 | 19 | |
| • | Scottish Liberal Democrats | 17 | 16 |
| Scottish Green Party | 1 | 1 | |
| Scottish Socialist Party | 1 | 1 | |
| Independents | 1 | 2 | |
| Presiding Officer | 0 | 1 | |
| Total | 129 | ||
Government coalition parties denoted with bullets (•)
Graphical representation
This is a graphical comparison of party strengths in the 1st session of the Scottish Parliament at the time of its dissolution in April 2003.
- Note this is not the official seating plan of the Scottish Parliament.
MSPs by party
This is a list MSPs elected in the 1999 election, sorted by party. The changes table below records all changes in party affiliation during the session.
 |
| This article is part of a series on the politics and government of Scotland |
|
Scotland in the EU |
|
British politics portal |
Replacement MSPs
| MSP | Party | Constituency or region | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bill Butler | Labour | Glasgow Anniesland | Elected at the Glasgow Anniesland by-election, 2000, 23 November Replaced Donald Dewar, who had been a Labour MSP Donald Dewar had died suddenly on 11 October 2000 |
| Brian Fitzpatrick | Labour | Strathkelvin and Bearsden | Elected at the Strathkelvin and Bearsden by-election, 2001, 7 June (the same day as the United Kingdom general election of 2001) Replaced Sam Galbraith, who had been a Labour MSP Sam Galbraith had had a lung transplant many years previously, and his health was the reason given for his resignation |
| Murdo Fraser | Conservative and Unionist | Mid Scotland and Fife | Replaced Nicholas Johnston who had resigned due to ill health on 10 August 2001 Murdo Fraser was the next person on the Conservative and Unionist additional members list |
| John Scott | Conservative and Unionist | Ayr | Elected at the Ayr by-election, 2000, 16 March Replaced Ian Welsh, who had been a Labour MSP Ian Welsh had resigned from the parliament on 21 December 1999, citing his reasons as being a desire to spend more time with his family |
| Stewart Stevenson | Scottish National Party | Banff and Buchan | Elected at the Banff and Buchan by-election, 2001, 7 June (the same day as the United Kingdom general election of 2001) Replaced Alex Salmond, who had been a Scottish National Party MSP Alex Salmond was elected the same day as Member of Parliament for the House of Commons constituency of Banff and Buchan |
Members by constituency and region
Constituency members
Regional members
Changes
During the 1999 to 2003 period there were one death and three resignations amongst constituency MSPs, and replacement MSPs were elected in by-elections. Also there was one resignation amongst the additional member MSPs, with that MSP being replaced by the candidate who was next on the additional members list at the time of the 1999 election.
| Date | Constituency/Region | Gain | Loss | Note | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 31 March 1999 | Lothians | Presiding Officer | Liberal Democrats | David Steel is elected as the Presiding Officer and had to take voluntary suspension from his party. | ||
| 21 December 1999 | Ayr | Labour | Ian Welsh resigns from Parliament, citing family reasons. | |||
| 16 March 2000 | Ayr | Conservative | John Scott wins the Ayr by-election. | |||
| 11 October 2000 | Glasgow Anniesland | Labour | Donald Dewar dies. | |||
| 23 November 2000 | Glasgow Anniesland | Labour | Bill Butler hold Dewar's seat at the by-election | |||
| 14 May 2001 | Banff and Buchan | SNP | Alex Salmond resigns from the Scottish Parliament to become SNP leader in the House of Commons at Westminster | |||
| 07 June 2001 | Banff and Buchan | SNP | Stewart Stevenson hold Salmond's seat at the by-election. | |||
| 01 May 2002 | Glasgow | Independent | SNP | Dorothy-Grace Elder resigns from the SNP and sits as an Independent. | ||
| 28 January 2003 | Lothians | Independent | SNP | Margo MacDonald is expelled from the SNP and sits as an Independent. | ||
See also
- Member of the Scottish Parliament
- Scottish Parliament election, 1999
- Executive of the 1st Scottish Parliament
- Scottish Parliament
External links
| ||||||||||||||||||