|
Over the last hundred years or so, a steady rise in Scottish nationalism has occurred. There has been a gradual trend of Scots demanding more say over their own affairs. The first instance of this came in 1885 when Scotland was granted occassional representation in the British Cabinet with the creation of the Scottish Secretary post. The fact that the Welsh Secretary of State job was created some 79 years after Scotland indicates how much more pressure there was for change in Scotland. From 1892 the Scottish Secretary was always guaranteed to be a member of the Cabinet, however the Scottish Secretary was paid less than other Cabinet members. In 1886 the Liberal Party was not satisfied with the way the Union was structured and it attempted to legislate for "home rule". The Labour Party also favoured Scottish home rule. At various times over the years Scottish Parliament Bills reached the second reading stage in the House of Commons. This happened in 1908, 1911, 1912 and 1913. These Bills were "talked out". Another attempt for home rule in 1920 was defeated as were the similar Bills in 1924, 1927 and 1928 - although the Labour Party was in power for some of that time their influential ministers failed to give enough backing to the Bills. In 1929 Labour decided to scrap its "commitment" to home rule and the Scottish Trade Union Congress did likewise two years later. The political movement for independence began with the National Party of Scotland (1928) and then the Scottish Party (1932). They merged in 1934 and the Scottish National Party was founded. It competed for a handful of seats in its early years. In 1945 Dr Robert McIntyre became the first ever SNP Member of Parliament when he won the Motherwell by-election. However, the SNP made a far greater impact many years later. In 1939 a Scottish Office (St Andrews House) was built with the intention of housing certain Scottish departments. It was responsible for administering the Scottish portfolios of agriculture, health, education and some other Scottish affairs. The number of departments in the Scottish Office gradually increased with the addition of fisheries, economic development and industry. Some politicians considered this to be partial devolution. In reality the important decision-making was still being carried out by the Westminster Parliament - even if certain departments appeared to be decentralised, they were still taking their orders from London. The first major wave of Scottish nationalism began in 1967. Nationalists won seats in local government and had even more success near the end of the year. The Scottish National Party candidate (Winnie Ewing) won the Hamilton by-election in November. The win was captured with a 46% swing of the vote to the SNP in what was supposed to be a "safe" Labour seat. In 1973, 41% swing also allowed the SNP to take the Glasgow Govan constituency form Labour. The had SNP had made great strides and with increased party membership, combined with a growth in public support, they managed to win 7 seats in the February '74 General Election and boosted it to 11 seats in the October re-run.
|
 Above: Scottish National Party Conference | This resurgence of national identity coupled with the growth in support for the SNP forced the Labour Party and the Conservatives to take notice. The Conservatives toyed with the idea of devolution. The Governing Labour Party backed devolution to satisfy nationalist feelings in one hand, and to try and keep the union intact in the other. They offered a Scottish Devolved Assembly if the idea was approved in a referendum. The issue was debated in parliament and a clause was inserted in the Scotland Bill(1978) which prevented the creation of a Scottish Assembly even though a majority voted for it! (a fuller explanation might appear here soon!). |
|
Support for devolution and independence fell in the early 80s after
the failed devolution attempt. However, for the next four elections in
a row the Scottish electorate voted for the Labour Party but had
to suffer under the Conservative governments which were imposed on Scotland
by the voting power of the South of England. Opposition leaders in Scotland
questioned the Conservatives right to govern in Scotland. In the 1990s
the constitutional question became a more frequently debated topic during
General Election campaigns. In the European Elections (1994) the SNP acheived its greatest success since the '70s when it acheived 32.6% of the votes. In December 1996, a System Three Opinion poll confirmed that constitutional change was demanded by a vast number of Scots aged 18-25. 52% of those surveyed favoured complete independence for Scotland and 31% backed plans for devolution - it was a sign that the political relationship between Scotland and the United Kingdom was going to change. |
| On the 1st of May 1997 the Scottish Labour Party won 56 out of 72 Scottish seats in the British General Election. Having gained enough seats elsewhere in Britain, the Labour Party was elected and Tony Blair became Prime Minister. With a massive majority in Scotland and in the House of Commons (179 overall majority) there was adequate backing for Labour's manifesto which included devolution for Scotland and Wales. Rather than carry out the policy of devolution for Scotland, the Labour Party had decided that a referendum would be required to make sure that enough Scottish people backed the plans. This time the Scottish Parliament (with some tax-varying powers) was overwhelmingly approved in the referendum. It was opened after the May 1999 elections (the first Scottish Parliament for 300 years). |  Above: Filmstar Sean Connery gave support to devolution and promotes Scottish independence. |
| The devolved parliament has provided the platform for the Scottish National Party to win its highest ever number of seats and to secure the status of being the official opposition party. If the opinion poll trends continue and the parliament is successful then it is quite possible that the Scottish electorate could go one step further and vote for outright independence in the future. |
