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The Politics of Scotland forms a distinctive part of the wider politics of the United Kingdom. Scotland is a constituent country of the United Kingdom which is a unitary, sovereign state where politics takes place in the framework of constitutional monarchy. Since 1999, a form of home rule, known as devolution, has statutorily transferred powers over a majority of Scotland's domestic affairs from the Parliament of the United Kingdom and UK Government to an elected Scottish Parliament and Scottish Executive. In Scotland, the Judiciary is independent of both Parliament and Executive.

There are a number of tiers of government administering Scotland. The United Kingdom Parliament retains active power over Scotland's taxes, social security system, the military, international relations, broadcasting, and some other areas explicitly specified in the Scotland Act 1998 as reserved matters. The Scottish Parliament has legislative competence for all other areas relating to Scotland, and has limited power to vary income tax by up to 3 pence in the pound. The Queen appoints one of the members of the Scottish Parliament, on the nomination of the Parliament, to be First Minister of Scotland. Other Ministers are also appointed by the Queen on the nomination of the Parliament and together with the First Minister they make up the Scottish Executive, which is the executive arm of the Scottish Government. In terms of the European Parliament, Scotland constitutes a single constituency and returns 7 members to represent it there.

For the purposes of local government, 32 council areas were instituted in 1996, by the Local Government etc. (Scotland) Act 1994</ref> and are administered by unitary authorities responsible for the provision of all local government services, such as roads, street lighting and sewerage.

The main political parties operating in Scotland are the Scottish National Party (SNP), Scottish Labour Party, Scottish Liberal Democrats and the Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party. Elections to the Scottish Parliament and Scottish local authorities take place every four years, starting from 1999. Elections to the United Kingdom Parliament take place every four or five years, with the last election occurring in May 2005.

Political background

The Royal High School building on Calton Hill

Constitution

Constitutionally, the United Kingdom is de jure a unitary state with one sovereign parliament and government. However, under a system of devolution (or home rule) adopted in the late 1990s three of the four constituent countries within the United Kingdom, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, voted for limited self-government, subject to the ability of the UK Parliament in Westminster, nominally at will, to amend, change, broaden or abolish the national governmental systems. As such the Scottish Parliament is not de jure sovereign. However, it is thought unlikely that any UK parliament would try to unilaterally abolish the devolved parliament and government without consultation via a referendum with the voters of the constituent country.

Executive power in the United Kingdom is vested in the Queen-in-Council, while legislative power is vested in the Queen-in-Parliament (the Crown and the Parliament of the United Kingdom at Westminster in London). Under devolution, executive and legislative powers in certain areas have been constitutionally delegated to the Scottish Executive and the Scottish Parliament, at Holyrood in Edinburgh, respectively.

The head of state in Scotland is the British monarch, currently Queen Elizabeth II (since 1952).

Government of Scotland

The largest party is the Scottish National Party, which campaigns for Scottish independence. The current First Minister is Alex Salmond of the SNP. Before the 2007 election, Jack McConnell of the Labour Party was First Minister, whose government was formed on a coalition basis with the Liberal Democrats. Other parties include the Conservative and Unionist Party, the Scottish Green Party and the Scottish Socialist Party.

Under devolution Scotland is represented by 59 MPs in the British House of Commons elected from territory-based Scottish constituencies. A Secretary of State for Scotland, who prior to devolution headed the system of government in Scotland, sits in the Cabinet of the United Kingdom and is responsible for the limited number of powers the office retains since devolution, as well as relations with other Whitehall Ministers who have power over reserved matters. The Scottish Parliament can refer devolved matters back to Westminster to be considered as part of United Kingdom-wide legislation by passing a Legislative Consent Motion if United Kingdom-wide legislation is considered to be more appropriate for certain issues. The Scotland Office is a department of the United Kingdom government, responsible for reserved Scottish affairs. The current Secretary of State for Scotland is Des Browne.

The programmes of legislation enacted by the Scottish Parliament have seen the divergence in the provision of public services compared to the rest of the United Kingdom. While the costs of a university education, and care services for the elderly are free at point of use in Scotland, fees are paid in the rest of the UK. Scotland is the first country in the UK to ban smoking in public places.

The Scottish Parliament

Main article: Scottish Parliament

The election of the Labour government in 1997 ensured that there would be a referendum on establishing a devolved Scottish Parliament. This was held in September, 1997 and 74% of those who voted said "Yes" to the formation of the parliament, while 60% of the electorate who voted said "Yes" to give the Scottish Parliament ability to vary taxes.

The Parliament was then created by the Scotland Act 1998 of the Parliament of the United Kingdom (Westminster Parliament). This act sets out the subjects still dealt at Westminster, referred to as reserved matters, including Defence, International Relations, Fiscal and Economic Policy, Drugs Law and Broadcasting. Anything not mentioned as a specific reserved matter is automatically devolved to Scotland, including health, education, local government, Scots law and all other issues. This is one of the key differences between the successful Scotland Act 1998 and the failed Scotland Act 1978.

The debating chamber of the Scottish Parliament Building.

The Parliament is elected with a mixture of the first past the post system and a proportional representation electoral system, namely, the additional members system. Thus the Parliament is unlike the Westminster Parliament, which is still elected solely by the first past the post method. The Scottish Parliament is elected every four years and contains 129 members, referred to as Members of the Scottish Parliament (MSPs). Of the 129 MSPs, 73 are elected to represent first past the post constituencies, whilst the remaining 56 are elected by the additional member system.

The proportional representation system has resulted in the election of a number of candidates from parties that would not have been expected to get representation through the first past the post system.

To replace the Scottish Office, a devolved government called the Scottish Executive was established, with the First Minister of Scotland at its head. The secretariat of the Executive is part of the UK Civil Service and the head of the Executive, the Permanent Secretary (presently John Elvidge), is the equivalent of the Permanent Secretary of a Whitehall department.

Scotland in the Parliament of the United Kingdom

The House of Commons

The effect of the Boundary Commission's reform and the 2005 general election upon Scottish seats

Until the 2005 General Election, Scotland elected 72 MPs from 72 single-member constituencies to serve in the House of Commons. As this over-represented Scotland in relation to the other components of the UK, Clause 81 of the Scotland Act 1998 equalised the English and Scottish electoral quota. As a result, the Boundary Commission for Scotland's recommendations were adopted, reducing Scottish representation in the House of Commons to 59 MPs from the 2005 General Election. In order to facilitate this reduction in the number of MPs from Scottish constituencies, the necessary amendment to the Scotland Act 1998, was passed by the Parliament of the United Kingdom as the Scottish Parliament (Constituencies) Act 2004. The previous over-representation was widely accepted before to allow for a greater Scottish voice in the Commons, but since the establishment of a Scottish Parliament it has been felt that this is not necessary.

Scottish MPs are elected at the same time as the rest of the UK's MPs.

Scotland was historically represented in the UK government by the Secretary of State for Scotland. This post was established in the 1880s but recently it has been the topic of much speculation. Many believe that since devolution there is no need for such a role to exist. The current Secretary of State is Douglas Alexander. His department, the Scotland Office, created in 1999, liaises with other Whitehall departments about devolution matters.

Current Scottish Representation in the Commons is:

• Labour Party: 39
• Liberal Democrats: 12
• Scottish National Party: 6

• Conservative and Unionist Party: 1
• The Speaker of UK Parliament: 1

Local government

Further information: Local government in Scotland and Subdivisions of Scotland

For the purposes of local government, Scotland has been divided into 32 unitary authorities since 1 April 1996. The Local Government etc (Scotland) Act 1994 abolished the previous two-tier structure of regions and districts and replaced it with a single structure of 32 local authorities. Each local authority is governed by a council consisting of elected councillors, who are returned every four years by registered voters in each unitary authority. The Convention of Scottish Local Authorities (COSLA) collectively represents Scottish councils and also functions as a means of co-operation between them. With

There are currently a total of 1,222 councillors in Scotland, each paid a part-time salary for the undertaking of their duties. Each authority elects a Convener, or Provost, to chair meetings of the authority's council and act as a figurehead for the area. The four main cities of Scotland, Glasgow, Edinburgh, Aberdeen and Dundee have a Lord Provost who is also, ex officio, Lord Lieutenant for that city.

Within the local government framework of Scotland, community councils represent the interests of local communities. Local authorities have a statutory duty to consult community councils on planning, development and other issues directly affecting that local community. However, the community council has no direct say in the delivery of services.

Political issues

Political graffiti in Edinburgh. Questions over the constitutional status of Scotland have formed a major axis of political debate over the last 30 years.

The main political debate in Scotland tends to revolve around attitudes to the constitutional question. Under the pressure of growing support for Scottish independence a policy of devolution had been advocated by all three UK-wide parties to some degree during their history (although Labour and the Conservatives have also at times opposed it). This question dominated the Scottish political scene in the latter half of the 20th century. Now that devolution has occurred, the main argument about Scotland's constitutional status is over whether the Scottish Parliament should accrue additional powers (for example over fiscal policy), or seek to obtain full independence. Ultimately the long term question is: should the Scottish parliament continue to be a subsidiary assembly created and potentially abolished by the constitutionally dominant and sovereign parliament of the United Kingdom (as in devolution) or should it have an independent existence as of right, with full sovereign powers (either through independence, a federal United Kingdom or a confederal arrangement)? Finally, will the current devolution system satisfy Scottish demands for self-government or strengthen demands for full-blown independence?

Bias problems

There are some pretty series problems with the tone of parts of this article and the referencing with regard to some of the points raised. Just as it would be inappropriate to spread this. I'd possibly go as far as to say the arguments used by various sides on this political conundrum (both for and against Scottish independence) have no place on this article.

One of the major problems with the sources of references is the over reliance on one or two

"There are others who view a desire for independence as symptomatic of the so-called parochial "Scottish cringe" and assert that many nationalists are ultimately Bigoted or Anglophobic in their attitude towards the Union, particularly in the Highlands. "

Neither of these sources here qualify the statement made by the author, in the first instance - in fact they come nowhere near to doing so. One is defunct and the other represents a political and non partisan (ie non neutral) argument between 2 political parties(the Liberal Democrats and the SNP - and as I see it, not being with reference to the article at hand.