Scottish Parliament election, 1999

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The Scottish Parliament election, 1999 was the first general election of the Scottish Parliament, with voting taking place on May 6, 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 National Party (SNP) had polled well in opinion polls running up to the election, gaining some 40% approval ratings and leading Labour, but this level of support was not maintained, and the SNP eventually polled behind Labour. The Conservatives failed to win a single constituency seat (as they had done in Scotland in the 1997 UK general election).

The Scottish Socialist Party (SSP) and the Greens picked up unexpected additional member seats. Robin Harper became the first ever 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.

For a full list of MSPs elected, see Members of the Scottish Parliament, 1999-2003. For lists of constituencies and regions, see Scottish Parliament constituencies and regions.

Contents

[edit] National vote

[edit] Constituency (First-Past-the-Post) results

Party Votes Seats Loss/Gain Share of Vote (%)
Labour 908,392 53 N/A 38.81
Scottish National Party 672,757 7 N/A 28.74
Conservative 364,225 0 N/A 15.56
Liberal Democrats 331,279 12 N/A 14.15
Scottish Socialist 23,564 0 N/A 1.01
Independent - Dennis Canavan 18,511 1 N/A 0.8
Others 21,662 0 N/A 0.9

[edit] Top up (Additional Member System) results

Party Votes Seats Loss/Gain Share of Vote (%)
Labour 786,818 3 N/A 33.64
Scottish National Party 638,644 28 N/A 27.26
Conservative 359,109 18 N/A 15.35
Liberal Democrats 290,760 5 N/A 12.43
Scottish Green 84,024 1 N/A 3.59
Scottish Socialist 46,635 1 N/A 1.99
Independent - Dennis Canavan 27,700 0 N/A 1.2
Others 105,221 0 N/A 4.5

[edit] Party representation

  • Labour - 56 Members of the Scottish Parliament (MSPs)
  • SNP - 35 MSPs
  • Conservative - 18 MSPs
  • Liberal Democrat - 17 MSPs
  • Scottish Green Party - 1 MSP
  • SSP - 1 MSP
  • Others (Dennis Canavan, Falkirk West) - 1 MSP

[edit] Party leaders in 1999

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

Preceded by
No previous election
Scottish Parliament election
1999 election
Succeeded by
2003 election