In this essay I will explain the distinctive features of the Scottish political system, describe the voting behaviour in Scotland and the future constitutional relationship between Scotland and Westminster.
Unlike Wales, which was subdued by conquest in the thirteenth century, Scotland was never permanently incorporated into the United Kingdom by force of arms. In 1603 the succession of James I to the throne of England united the crowns of England and Scotland. However, the union was only a personal one and Scotland retained its own political and legal system and its own church. In this essay I will explain the distinctive features of the Scottish political system, describe the voting behaviour in Scotland and the future constitutional relationship between Scotland and Westminster.
The establishment of a common Parliament occurred as a result of the Treaty of Union of union of 1707, whereby the Scots gained political representation at Westminster but were guaranteed that certain features of their administrative system would remain inviolate and Scotland would retain for all time key institutions. The legal system, Church of Scotland, Education System and Royal Burghs.
Nationalism is an important element in Scottish politics. This reflects the belief in the nation being a group of people with shared values, customs, language, history and traditions. Nationalism as a concept is a political doctrine believing in the idea that the nation is the central principle for political organisation. Patriotism is different from nationalism and can be classed as "cultural" nationalism" in which there is a desire to maintain a distinctive culture or way of live. Scottish politics are shaped by very different cultural and social values from those in England.
Within the Treaty of Union the different national institutions would remain within the Scottish political system. The Church of Scotland, which is Presbyterian, would remain as the national Church, along with the Scottish legal system. In addition Scotland would maintain a separate education system and a different system of local government from that obtaining in England and Wales.
The Scottish legal system is the single most important factor explaining why Scotland has been accorded separate governmental treatment since the Act of Union. Unlike the English legal system, the Scottish system has depended more on the principles of continental jurisprudence derived from Roman law than on indigenous common law. Whenever a piece of legislation has been intended to apply to Scotland as well as to England and Wales this has had to be achieved either by a separate appendix to the measure of by a distinct Act for Scotland. In addition Scotland has a separate system of courts and its own legal profession. The independent legal system of Scotland is one of the strongest clues to the existence of a Scottish Political system. The Scottish people are subject to Laws exclusive to Scotland. Scottish national institutions are strong and constitutionally protected.
The political culture of Scotland has always been strong on its emphasis on democratic organisation and individualism and it is these principles which are applied to government. This concept is taken further through the education system which stresses equality of opportunity, a liberal education over a wide range of subjects and a didactic pedagogy. This difference reinforces the boundary between Scotland and England. However the Scottish system is both dependent and independent within the British system.
These Scottish institutions functions separately and they are based in Scotland. They thus provide a focus for another Scottish difference, the existence of a distinctive mass media. Scotland has its own independent television companies some of which, such as STV, have developed into media conglomerates.
The Scottish media face two ways, like other Scottish institutions. On the one hand, much of their comment and reporting is of British affairs, which differs little from the London based media. However, their location and particular audience mean that they have a particular interest in Scottish affairs, which then tend ...
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These Scottish institutions functions separately and they are based in Scotland. They thus provide a focus for another Scottish difference, the existence of a distinctive mass media. Scotland has its own independent television companies some of which, such as STV, have developed into media conglomerates.
The Scottish media face two ways, like other Scottish institutions. On the one hand, much of their comment and reporting is of British affairs, which differs little from the London based media. However, their location and particular audience mean that they have a particular interest in Scottish affairs, which then tend to get defined as news. They have little to do directly with politics but certainly support the idea that Scotland is different.
In recent elections Scotland has grown apart from England. Labour domination in Scottish Politics increased in 1987 the party held 50 out of 72 seats. The conservatives had declined to only 10 seats, with less than of the votes cast. Alternatively south of the border the Conservatives were becoming ever more dominant. The decision by the SNP to contest every seat in Scotland meant that Scotland had a 4 party political system.
After the disappointing results of the 1987 election the Conservatives adopted a new strategy within Scotland. In 1989 Michael Forsyth was made chairman of the Scottish Conservative party and believed that Scotland required more Thatcherite polices and believed that Scotland was, over-governed, over taxed and over dependent upon public services/out of date industries.
The main political division inside Scotland is between the Glasgow conurbation (Strathclyde), which contains about half the population and is overwhelmingly Labour, and the rest of the country where Labour is challenged by Scottish Nationalists, Liberals and Conservatives in more or less that order. The votes and seats going to different parties in the various regions illustrate this point. Labour obtains most support in the areas around the cities of Glasgow and central Scotland. The "service" cities of Edinburgh (Lothian) and Aberdeen (Grampian) give less support to Labour and more to other parties. In the Highlands the Liberal Democrats tend to dominated. These political differences are based on considerable social disparities, which are not without some cultural reinforcement.
Scotland as a whole does not appear to differ significantly form South-East England in terms of most social indicators. The regional figures for Scottish regions in the General Elections in 1997 show that this is due to the relative wealth of Edinburgh and Aberdeen. This prosperity contrasts with severe deprivation in Glasgow and Dundee (Tayside), both of which have had to cope with the social legacy of early industrialisation, followed by later industrial collapse. It is this heritage, shared with others deprived peripheries such as Northern England and South Wales, which pushed them into fervent support for trade unions and the Labour Party.
An additional factor fostering such support in Scotland is religion. The core of Labour Party support is the Roman Catholic vote. Catholics in Scotland are descendants of immigrant groups, mostly Irish, who came in the nineteenth and early twentieth century to take the jobs nobody else wanted. Their poverty was compounded by the large families which the Church encouraged. Once the Church accepted that the Labour Party was not hostile to religion, the social circumstances of Catholics pushed them overwhelmingly into voting Labour. At the same time their religious ties made them less susceptible either to Conservative appeals to support the (Protestant) British state or to nationalists harking back to the traditions of a largely Presbyterian Scotland. The concentration of Catholics in the West of Scotland makes the habit of Labour voting hard to break and Labour is, as a result, the dominant party in Scotland.
Opinion polls indicated that one third of the electorate within Scotland favoured some form of independence and that over 40% wanted a devolved assembly with some taxation and spending power with support for the status quo rarely exceeding 20%. In the run up to the 1992 election opinion polls recorded an increase in constitutional change and one poll in the Scotsman showed that 50% of the population favoured independence. Psychologists estimated that the nationalists might increase their share of seats from 3 to 9 and the Conservatives to drop around 3. The main complaint from Scots was about the nature of policies being decided at Westminster which were being imposed upon them but were in fact not voted for by the Scottish MP's.
Opposition parties within Scotland at this time formed a campaign for a Scottish assembly (CSA) and in July 1988 published a report "a claim of right for Scotland", which recommended a constitutional convention to draw up plans for a Scottish parliament. The conservative Party made it clear that it would not participate in the convention, the SNP indicated its reservations and withdrew from the process.
The SNP subsequently put forward its own policy, "Independence in Europe", which involved severing all ties with London and Scotland being represented in its won right as a country. The upsurge in SNP victories at by elections seemed to be at the sacrifice of Labour candidates. The increase in SNP support was splitting labour support and not the Conservative party as expected.
The main plank of the SNP platform is that Scotland would do much better economically outside the United Kingdom than by staying inside, for example, by taking over the oil revenues in its sector of the North sea or securing direct subsidies from the European Union. This position is summarised in its slogans "it's Scotland's oil" and "Scotland in Europe".
Scottish cultural distinctiveness offers a focus and a basis for the SNP. Anyone with a strong sense of Scottish identity is likely to be susceptible to its appeals. To gain power in Scotland, however, the party needs to win over a substantial block of labour supporters. To gain their votes the SNP has to convince the voters that they are not just "Tartan Tories", but committed to social redistribution and welfare.
Opinion polls and election results suggest that about a third of Scots consistently support total independence. Opposing them are about one fifth who support greater autonomy within Britain. The Scottish Convention of the early 1990's, convened by non-party figures but supported by the Liberal Democrats and Labour, represented these people. "Scotland's Claim of Rights, which it produced, promotes the kind of political reform they wish to see: the creation of the parliament now being put in place by Labour, with powers over Scottish home affairs.
The Scottish Referendum of 1979, called to vote on a proposal to set up a Scottish Assembly, approved it by 51.6 per cent. However parliament had required than tit be approved by at least 40 per cent of the total Scottish electorate, not a majority of those who actually vote, and as only 32.9 per cent of the Scottish electorate approved, it failed owing to a high rate of abstention. With a Stronger lead from the new Labour Government, the proposal for a much stronger Assembly with power to tax was approved by a convincing majority in September 1997 when two-third of Scottish voters voted for a parliament with powers of taxation, with a majority in all areas of the country.
The 1997 elections continued the demise of the Conservative Party with them gaining no seats at the general election. For the first time the Conservative party had no representation within Scotland and Scotland had continued its support for the Labour party as did the rest of the country with a landslide victory for Tony Blair and following this the Scotland Bill (Bill No: 104 of 1997/1998) was created which in turn would create a Scottish Parliament and Scottish Executive, devolution was granted to Scotland.
On 1st July 1999 the Scottish Parliament assumed its full powers and duties. Some powers, previously held by the UK parliament at Westminster were given to the Scottish Parliament.
The Scottish Parliament is designed to embody and reflect the sharing of power between the people of Scotland, the Members of the Scottish Parliament (MSPs) and the Scottish Executive. The Scottish Parliament is made up of all 129 MSPs. Like the UK Parliament, the Scottish Parliament passes laws. It also scrutinises the work and policies of the Scottish Executive.
One of the MSPs is elected by the Parliament to serve as the Presiding Officer. The Presiding Officer chairs meetings of the Parliament and maintains a stance of political neutrality. The Scottish Parliament is staffed by public servants who serve the Parliament as a whole. Like the Presiding Officer, they must also remain neutral.
After devolution in 1999 the powers and duties exercised by Ministers in the former Scottish Office were divided between the Scottish Executive and the Secretary of State for Scotland.
The ministerial powers and duties relating to devolved matters were transferred to the Scottish Ministers in the Scottish Executive while the responsibilities relating to reserved matters were retained by the Secretary of State for Scotland. The Secretary of State for Scotland is based within the Department for Constitutional Affairs and remains a member of the UK Cabinet.
The Scottish Parliament is not so intuitionally dominated by its executive as Westminster is, and there is no "leader of the House". While Westminster remains important in establishing the financial and policy frameworks within which Scottish local authorities and devolved government operate, 62 per cent of local councillors said Westminster had become less important to local government. One Scottish Executive Minister commented:
"Westminster has no impact on Scotland; the separation is quite astonishing [it is] much more so than anyone would have realised."
It is clear that many councillors still retain significant levels of contact with Westminster MPs. This indicates the continuing importance of UK party political contact within Scottish political networks.
Although the Scottish Parliament has many responsibilities the bank of England still decides Scotland's economic fate and the central UK government dictate how key policies should proceed and the UK parliament Prime Minister determines Scotland's future. The Scottish parliament deals with devolved matters and the UK Parliament with reserved matters.
The 1707 Act of Union did not create a unitary state as often assumed. The common Parliament was central to the union but its role was limited as much of Scotland's decisions were made through the separate institutions so therefore there were many reasons why Scotland should function as an independent country. Problems still exist however within a back lash from English Citizens claiming that Scottish MP's still vote in Westminster but English MP's have no say in Scottish affairs. While there are tensions in the complex relationship between the tiers of government, the general view is that things have improved for local government since devolution.
"Things are better than they were before devolution. They are not as good as they could be but I think that is a development issue; things will improve." (Councillor)
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