Misplaced Pages

1999 Scottish Parliament election

6 May 1999 (1999-05-06) 2003 →
elected members →
All 129 seats to the Scottish Parliament 65 seats were needed for a majority
Turnout	Constituency - 58.4% Regional - 58.3%
First party Second party Third party   Leader Donald Dewar Alex Salmond David McLetchie Party Labour SNP Conservative Leader's seat Glasgow Anniesland Banff and Buchan Lothians Seats won 56 35 18 Constituency vote 908,346 672,768 364,425 Percentage 38.8% 28.7% 15.6% Regional vote 786,818 638,644 359,109 Percentage 33.6% 27.3% 15.4%   Fourth party Fifth party Sixth party   Leader Jim Wallace Robin Harper Tommy Sheridan Party Liberal Democrats Scottish Green Scottish Socialist Leader's seat Orkney Lothians Glasgow Seats won 17 1 1 Constituency vote 333,179 – 23,654 Percentage 14.2% – 1.0% Regional vote 290,760 84,023 46,635 Percentage 12.4% 3.6% 2.0%
The map shows the election results in single-member constituencies. The additional member MSPs in the 8 regions are shown around the map.
First Minister after election Donald Dewar Labour

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) 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 manage to 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

This article is part of a series within the Politics of the United Kingdom on the
Politics of Scotland
The Crown The Monarch Charles III Heir apparent William, Duke of Rothesay Prerogative Royal family Succession Privy Council Union of the Crowns Balmoral Castle Holyrood Palace Scottish republicanism
Executive Scottish Government Swinney government First Minister The Rt Hon John Swinney MSP Keeper of the Great Seal The Rt Hon John Swinney MSP Deputy First Minister Kate Forbes MSP Cabinet Secretaries Junior Ministers Scottish budget Taxation Directorates Executive agencies Public bodies State-owned enterprises Bute House St Andrew's House International relations
Legislature Scottish Parliament Sixth session Presiding Officer Alison Johnstone MSP Primary legislation Statutory instrument Committees First Minister's Questions Standards Commission for Scotland Scotland Act 1998 2012 Act 2016 Act Scottish Adjacent Waters Boundaries Order 1999 EU Continuity Act 2020
Law and justice Cabinet Secretary for Justice Angela Constance MSP Lord Advocate Dorothy Bain KC Lord President The Rt Hon Lord Carloway KC PC Scots law Udal law Courts Judiciary Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service Police Scotland Scottish Prison Service Advocate General Solicitor General
Elections and referendumsScottish Parliament elections 1999 2003 2007 2011 2016 2021 Next United Kingdom Parliament elections 1801 co-option 1802 1806 1807 1812 1818 1820 1826 1830 1831 1832 1835 1837 1841 1847 1852 1857 1859 1865 1868 1874 1880 1885 1886 1892 1895 1900 1906 1910 (Jan) 1910 (Dec) 1918 1922 1923 1924 1929 1931 1935 1945 1950 1951 1955 1959 1964 1966 1970 1974 (Feb) 1974 (Oct) 1979 1983 1987 1992 1997 2001 2005 2010 2015 2017 2019 European Parliament elections 1979 1984 1989 1994 1999 2004 2009 2014 2019 Local elections 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1977 1980 1982 1984 1986 1988 1990 1992 1994 1995 1999 2003 2007 2012 2017 2022 Referendums 1975 1979 1994 1997 2005 2011 2014 2016 Scottish Parliament constituencies Scottish Parliament electoral regions Scottish Westminster constituencies Proposed second independence referendum Electoral system Political parties
Scotland and the United Kingdom United Kingdom Government Starmer ministry Prime Minister The Rt Hon Keir Starmer MP Secretary of State for Scotland The Rt Hon Ian Murray MP Scottish devolution Treaty of Union House of Commons House of Lords Scotland Office Scottish Affairs Committee Scottish Grand Committee Interministerial Standing Committee Barnett formula Reserved matters Sewel motion
Administration Council areas History Sheriffdoms Community councils Lieutenancy areas Convention of Scottish Local Authorities
Category Scotland portal Other countries
v t e

1999 Scottish Parliament election →

Party		Constituencies					Regional additional members					Total seats
		Votes	%	±	Seats	±	Votes	%	±	Seats	±	Total	±	%
	Labour	908,346	38.8	new	53	new	786,818	33.6	new	3	new	56	new	43.4
	SNP	672,768	28.7	new	7	new	638,644	27.3	new	28	new	35	new	27.1
	Conservative	364,425	15.6	new	0	new	359,109	15.4	new	18	new	18	new	14.0
	Liberal Democrats	333,179	14.2	new	12	new	290,760	12.4	new	5	new	17	new	13.2
	Scottish Green	–	–	–	–	–	84,023	3.6	new	1	new	1	new	0.8
	Scottish Socialist	23,654	1.0	new	0	new	46,635	2.0	new	1	new	1	new	0.8
	MSP for Falkirk West	18,511	0.8	new	1	new	27,712	1.2	new	0	new	1	new	0.8
	Socialist Labour	5,268	0.2	new	0	new	55,153	2.4	new	0	new	0	new	0.0
	ProLife Alliance	–	–	–	–	–	9,784	0.4	new	0	new	0	new	0.0
	Scottish Unionist	–	–	–	–	–	7,011	0.3	new	0	new	0	new	0.0
	Liberal	–	–	–	–	–	5,534	0.2	new	0	new	0	new	0.0
	Natural Law	–	–	–	–	–	4,906	0.2	new	0	new	0	new	0.0
	Socialist Workers	2757	0.1	new	0	new	–	–	–	–	–	0	new	0.0
	Highlands and Islands Alliance	–	–	–	–	–	2,607	0.1	new	0	new	0	new	0.0
	Civil Rights Movement	–	–	–	–	–	806	0.0	new	0	new	0	new	0.0
	Communist	190	0.0	new	0	new	521	0.0	new	0	new	0	new	0.0
	Socialist (GB)	–	–	–	–	–	697	0.0	new	0	new	0	new	0.0
	Humanist	–	–	–	–	–	447	0.0	new	0	new	0	new	0.0
	Anti-drug	423	0.0	new	0	new	–	–	–	–	–	0	new	0.0
	Others	12,967	0.6	–	0	–	17,668	0.7	–	0	–	0	–	0.0
Valid votes		2,342,488	99.7	–			2,338,914	99.7	–
Spoilt votes		7,839	0.3	–			7,268	0.3	–
Total		2,350,327	100		73	–	2,346,182	100		56	–	129	–	100
Electorate/turnout		4,027,433	58.4	–			4,027,433	58.3	–

Constituency and regional summary

Central Scotland

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

See also

• Executive of the 1st Scottish Parliament
• Members elected to the 1st Scottish Parliament

Notes

1. The 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.

References

1. Seenan, Gerard; Macaskill, Ewen (14 May 1999). "Angry Lib Dems finally agree coalition deal". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 6 March 2023.
2. "The long rise of the SNP". The Guardian. 6 May 1999. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 6 March 2023.
3. Aiton, Andrew (6 May 2019). "It was 20 years ago today…". SPICe Spotlight. Retrieved 20 March 2023.
4. "A short history of Scottish Parliament elections, 1999-2011". The Scotsman. 3 May 2016. Archived from the original on 11 May 2021.
5. Mackie, Andy (18 March 2011). "Robin Harper looks back on twelve years in Parliament". The Edinburgh Reporter. Retrieved 6 March 2023.
6. Election Maps UK (7 May 2018). "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)" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
7. "Scottish Parliament opening | The Queen's speech". BBC News. 1 July 1999. Retrieved 6 March 2023.
8. Auer, Christian (19 September 2019), "90. The Scottish Parliament Opening Ceremony, 1 July 1999", Scotland and the Scots, 1707-2007 : A Reader, Études anglophones, Strasbourg: Presses universitaires de Strasbourg, pp. 272–275, ISBN 979-10-344-0480-3, retrieved 6 March 2023
9. "Analysis of Results". www.parliament.scot. 10 July 2011. Archived from the original on 17 July 2020. Retrieved 16 April 2020.

External links

• SourceForge.net

Manifestos

• Scotland First, Scottish Conservatives
• Caring for Scotland, Scottish Greens
• Raising the Standard, Scottish Liberal Democrats
• Scotland's Party, Scottish National Party

v t e Elections and referendums in Scotland
Scottish Parliament	1999 2003 2007 2011 2016 2021 Next
Parliament of Scotland	1612 1617 1621 1628 1639 1644 1648 1661 1669 1681 1685 1702
Convention of Estates	1617 1625 1630 1643 1665 1667 1678 1689
UK Parliament	1801 co-option 1802 1806 1807 1812 1818 1820 1826 1830 1831 1832 1835 1837 1841 1847 1852 1857 1859 1865 1868 1874 1880 1885 1886 1892 1895 1900 1906 1910 (Jan) 1910 (Dec) 1918 1922 1923 1924 1929 1931 1935 1945 1950 1951 1955 1959 1964 1966 1970 1974 (Feb) 1974 (Oct) 1979 1983 1987 1992 1997 2001 2005 2010 2015 2017 2019 2024
Local elections	1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1977 1978 1980 1982 1984 1986 1988 1990 1992 1994 1995 1999 2003 2007 2012 2017 2022
Referendums	1979 1997 2014
Scotland portal

v t e (1998 ←) 1999 United Kingdom local elections (→ 2000)
Metropolitan boroughs	Barnsley Birmingham Bradford Bolton Bury Calderdale Coventry Doncaster Dudley Gateshead Kirklees Knowsley Leeds Liverpool Manchester Newcastle North Tyneside Oldham Rochdale Rotherham Salford Sandwell Sefton Sheffield Solihull South Tyneside St Helens Stockport Sunderland Tameside Trafford Wakefield Walsall Wigan Wirral Wolverhampton
Unitary authorities	Bath and North East Somerset Blackburn with Darwen Bournemouth Bracknell Forest Brighton and Hove Bristol Darlington Derby East Riding of Yorkshire Halton Hartlepool Hull Leicester Luton Middlesbrough Milton Keynes North East Lincolnshire North Lincolnshire North Somerset Nottingham Peterborough Plymouth Poole Portsmouth Reading Redcar and Cleveland Rutland Slough South Gloucestershire Southampton Southend-on-Sea Stockton-on-Tees Stoke-on-Trent Swindon Telford and Wrekin Thurrock Torbay Warrington Windsor and Maidenhead Wokingham York
District councils (England)	Adur Allerdale Alnwick Amber Valley Arun Ashfield Ashford Aylesbury Vale Babergh Barrow-in-Furness Basildon Basingstoke and Deane Bassetlaw Bedford Berwick-upon-Tweed Blaby Blyth Valley Bolsover Boston Braintree Breckland Brentwood Bridgnorth Broadland Bromsgrove Broxbourne Broxtowe Burnley Cambridge Cannock Chase Canterbury Caradon Carlisle Carrick Castle Morpeth Castle Point Charnwood Chelmsford Cheltenham Cherwell Chesterfield Chester-le-Street Chester Chichester Chiltern Chorley Christchurch Colchester Congleton Copeland Corby Cotswold Craven Crawley Crewe and Nantwich Dacorum Dartford Daventry Derbyshire Dales Derwentside Dover Durham Easington East Cambridgeshire East Devon East Dorset East Hampshire East Hertfordshire East Lindsey East Northamptonshire East Staffordshire Eastbourne Eastleigh Eden Ellesmere Port and Neston Elmbridge Epping Forest Epsom and Ewell Erewash Exeter Fareham Fenland Forest Heath Forest of Dean Fylde Gedling Gloucester Gosport Gravesham Great Yarmouth Guildford Hambleton Harborough Harlow Harrogate Hart Hastings Havant Hertsmere High Peak Hinckley and Bosworth Horsham Huntingdonshire Hyndburn Ipswich Kennet Kerrier Kettering King's Lynn and West Norfolk Lancaster Lewes Lichfield Lincoln Macclesfield Maidstone Maldon Mansfield Melton Mendip Mid Bedfordshire Mid Devon Mid Suffolk Mid Sussex Mole Valley New Forest Newark and Sherwood Newcastle-under-Lyme North Cornwall North Devon North Dorset North East Derbyshire North Hertfordshire North Kesteven North Norfolk North Shropshire North Warwickshire North West Leicestershire North Wiltshire Northampton Norwich Nuneaton and Bedworth Oadby and Wigston Oswestry Oxford Pendle Penwith Preston Purbeck Redditch Reigate and Banstead Restormel Ribble Valley Richmondshire Rochford Rossendale Rother Rugby Runnymede Rushcliffe Rushmoor Ryedale Salisbury Scarborough Sedgefield Sedgemoor Selby Sevenoaks Shepway Shrewsbury and Atcham Spelthorne South Bedfordshire South Bucks South Cambridgeshire South Derbyshire South Hams South Holland South Lakeland South Kesteven South Norfolk South Northamptonshire South Oxfordshire South Ribble South Shropshire South Somerset South Staffordshire St Albans St Edmundsbury Stafford Staffordshire Moorlands Stevenage Stratford-on-Avon Stroud Suffolk Coastal Surrey Heath Swale Tamworth Tandridge Taunton Deane Teesdale Teignbridge Tendring Test Valley Tewkesbury Thanet Three Rivers Tonbridge and Malling Torridge Tunbridge Wells Tynedale Uttlesford Vale of White Horse Vale Royal Wansbeck Warwick Watford Waveney Waverley Wealden Wear Valley Wellingborough Welwyn Hatfield West Devon West Dorset West Lancashire West Lindsey West Oxfordshire West Somerset West Wiltshire Weymouth and Portland Winchester Woking Worcester Worthing Wychavon Wycombe Wyre Wyre Forest
Welsh councils	Blaenau Gwent Bridgend Caerphilly Cardiff Carmarthenshire Ceredigion Conwy Denbighshire Flintshire Gwynedd Isle of Anglesey Merthyr Tydfil Monmouthshire Neath Port Talbot Newport Pembrokeshire Powys Rhondda Cynon Taf Swansea Torfaen Vale of Glamorgan Wrexham
Scottish councils	Aberdeen Aberdeenshire Angus Argyll and Bute Clackmannanshire Dumfries and Galloway Dundee East Ayrshire East Dunbartonshire East Lothian East Renfrewshire Edinburgh Falkirk Fife Glasgow Highland Inverclyde Midlothian Moray Na h-Eileanan Siar North Ayrshire North Lanarkshire Orkney Perth and Kinross Renfrewshire Scottish Borders Shetland South Ayrshire South Lanarkshire Stirling West Dunbartonshire West Lothian
National Assembly and Parliament elections	Scotland Wales
See also: European Parliament election

• General elections to the Scottish Parliament
• 1999 elections in the United Kingdom
• 1999 in Scotland
• 1990s elections in Scotland
• May 1999 events in the United Kingdom