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1999 Scottish Parliament election

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Field	Value
election_name	1999 Scottish Parliament election
country	Scotland
type	parliamentary
ongoing	no
seats_for_election	All 129 seats to the Scottish Parliament
65 seats were needed for a majority
election_date
elected_mps	1st Scottish Parliament
next_election	2003 Scottish Parliament election
next_year	2003
1blank	Constituency vote
2blank	Percentage
3blank	Regional vote
4blank	Percentage
opinion_polls	Opinion polling for the 1999 Scottish Parliament election
turnout	Constituency - 58.4%
Regional - 58.3%
image1
leader1	Donald Dewar
party1	Scottish Labour
leaders_seat1	Glasgow Anniesland
seats1	56
1data1	908,346
2data1	38.8%
3data1	786,818
4data1	33.6%
image2
leader2	Alex Salmond
party2	Scottish National Party
leaders_seat2	Banff and Buchan
seats2	35
1data2	672,768
2data2	28.7%
3data2	638,644
4data2	27.3%
image3
leader3	David McLetchie
party3	Scottish Conservatives
leaders_seat3	Lothians
seats3	18
1data3	364,425
2data3	15.6%
3data3	359,109
4data3	15.4%
image4
leader4	Jim Wallace
party4	Scottish Liberal Democrats
leaders_seat4	Orkney
seats4	17
1data4	333,179
2data4	14.2%
3data4	290,760
4data4	12.4%
image5
leader5	Robin Harper
party5	Scottish Greens
leaders_seat5	Lothians
seats5	1
1data5	Did not contest
2data5	Did not contest
3data5	84,023
4data5	3.6%
image6
leader6	Tommy Sheridan
party6	Scottish Socialist Party
leaders_seat6	Glasgow
seats6	1
1data6	23,654
2data6	1.0%
3data6	46,635
4data6	2.0%
map_image	Scottish Parliament election, 1999.svg
map_size	450px
map_caption	The map shows the election results in single-member constituencies. The additional-member MSPs in the 8 regions are shown around the map.
title	First Minister
posttitle	First Minister after election
after_election	Donald Dewar
after_party	Scottish Labour

65 seats were needed for a majority Regional - 58.3%

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) constituenciesThe same constituency boundaries were used as in the 1997 United Kingdom general election with the exception of Orkney and Shetland, which were made into separate constituencies. 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 general election. The Conservative Party, still recovering from their wipeout in the 1997 general election across Scotland, failed to win a single constituency seat but did 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 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 1st Scottish Parliament. For lists of constituencies and regions, see Scottish Parliament constituencies and electoral regions.

Results

Election result with constituency names labeled

-
! rowspan=2 colspan=2
! colspan=5
! colspan=5
! colspan=5
-
! Votes !! % !! ± !! Seats !! ± !! Votes !! % !! ± !! Seats !! ± !! Total !! ± !! %
-
votes % = 38.8
AMS votes % = 33.6
Seats % = 43.4
votes % = 28.7
AMS votes % = 27.3
Seats % = 27.1
votes % = 15.6
AMS votes % = 15.4
Seats % = 14.0
votes % = 14.2
AMS votes % = 12.4
Seats % = 13.2
votes % = –
AMS votes % = 3.6
Seats % = 0.8
votes % = 1.0
AMS votes % = 2.0
Seats % = 0.8
votes % = 0.8
AMS votes % = 1.2
Seats % = 0.8
votes % = 0.2
AMS votes % = 2.4
Seats % = 0.0
votes % = –
AMS votes % = 0.4
Seats % = 0.0
votes % = –
AMS votes % = 0.3
Seats % = 0.0
votes % = –
AMS votes % = 0.2
Seats % = 0.0
votes % = –
AMS votes % = 0.2
Seats % = 0.0
votes % = 0.1
AMS votes % = –
Seats % = 0.0
votes % = –
AMS votes % = 0.1
Seats % = 0.0
votes % = –
AMS votes % = 0.0
Seats % = 0.0
votes % = 0.0
AMS votes % = 0.0
Seats % = 0.0
votes % = –
AMS votes % = 0.0
Seats % = 0.0
votes % = –
AMS votes % = 0.0
Seats % = 0.0
votes % = 0.0
AMS votes % = –
Seats % = 0.0
votes % = 0.6
AMS votes % = 0.7
Seats % = 0.0
-
-
-
!style="text-align:left"; colspan="2"
-
}

Constituency and regional summary

Central Scotland

|- ! colspan=2 style="width: 200px"|Constituency ! style="width: 150px"|Elected member ! style="width: 300px"|Result

Glasgow

Highlands and Islands

Lothians

Mid Scotland and Fife

North East Scotland

South of Scotland

West of Scotland

Party representation

Labour – 56 Members of the Scottish Parliament (MSPs)
SNP – 35 MSPs
Conservative – 18 MSPs
Liberal Democrats – 17 MSPs
Green – 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
Green – Robin Harper

Opinion polls

Main article: Opinion polling for the 1999 Scottish Parliament election

Notes

References

Seenan, Gerard. (14 May 1999). "Angry Lib Dems finally agree coalition deal". The Guardian.
(6 May 1999). "The long rise of the SNP". The Guardian.
Aiton, Andrew. (6 May 2019). "It was 20 years ago today….".
(3 May 2016). "A short history of Scottish Parliament elections, 1999-2011". [[The Scotsman]].
Mackie, Andy. (18 March 2011). "Robin Harper looks back on twelve years in Parliament".
Election Maps UK. "Falkirk West elected Independent Dennis Canavan (grey constituency) whilst the Scottish Socialist Party got a seaton the top-ups (pink square on the second map).".
(1 July 1999). "Scottish Parliament opening {{!}} The Queen's speech".
Auer, Christian. (2019-09-19). "90. The Scottish Parliament Opening Ceremony, 1 July 1999". Presses universitaires de Strasbourg.
(10 July 2011). "Analysis of Results".

Info: Wikipedia Source

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