Scottish Parliament general election, 1999

Scottish General election, 1999

members ← 6 May 1999 → 2003 members

All 129 seats to the Scottish Parliament 65 seats were needed for a majority   First party Second party   Leader Donald Dewar Alex Salmond Party Labour SNP Leader's seat Glasgow Anniesland Banff and Buchan Seats won 56 35 Seat change 56 35 Constituency votes 908,392 672,757 Constituency % 38.81% 28.74% List votes 786,818 638,644 List % 33.64% 27.26%   Third party Fourth party   Leader David McLetchie Jim Wallace Party Conservative Liberal Democrats Leader's seat Lothians Orkney Seats won 18 17 Seat change 18 17 Constituency votes 364,225 331,379 Constituency % 15.56% 14.15% List votes 359,109 225,774 List % 15.35% 12.43% (regional)

Map constituency winners of the election by their party colours.

First Minister-designate Donald Dewar Labour

The Scottish Parliament election, 1999 was the first general election of the Scottish Parliament, with voting taking place on 6 May 1999 to elect 129 members. 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 devoloution took place on September 11, 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 to be elected using Mixed member proportional representation which is a combination of 73 (First-past-the-post) constituencies using the same boundaries as was used in the 1997 UK General Election with the exception of Orkney and Shetland as they were made separate constituencies and proportional representation with the 73 constituencies being grouped together to make eight regions which would each elect seven additional members to make a total of 129 Members of Scottish Parliament (MSP's). 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 Executive's 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 UK general election win two years earlier 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 and a coalition was then formed 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, and the SNP were the second largest party with 35 seats, but this was at the time their best performance since October 1974. The Conservative Party, still recovering from their wipeout in 1997 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 meet in the General Assembly Hall of the Church of Scotland in Edinburgh for the very first time on Wednesday 12th May 1999 although the actual devolution of powers from Westminster to the Scottish Parliament did take place until midnight on Thursday 1st July 1999 almost two months later.

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 1 National vote 1.1 Constituency and regional summary 1.1.1 Central Scotland 1.1.2 Glasgow 1.1.3 Highlands and Islands 1.1.4 Lothians 1.1.5 Mid Scotland and Fife 1.1.6 North East Scotland 1.1.7 South of Scotland 1.1.8 West of Scotland 1.2 Party representation 2 Party leaders in 1999 3 See also 4 External links

National vote

Scotland

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e • d Scottish Parliament election, 1999

Parties		Additional member system										Total seats
		Constituency					Region
		Votes	%	+/−	Seats	+/−	Votes	%	+/−	Seats	+/−	Total	+/−	%
	Labour	908,392	38.81	N/A	53	N/A	786,818	33.64	N/A	3	N/A	56	N/A	43
	SNP	672,757	28.74	N/A	7	N/A	638,644	27.26	N/A	28	N/A	35	N/A	27
	Conservative	364,225	15.56	N/A	0	N/A	359,109	15.35	N/A	18	N/A	18	N/A	14
	Liberal Democrats	331,279	14.15	N/A	12	N/A	225,774	12.43	N/A	5	N/A	17	N/A	13
	Scottish Green	-	-	-	-	-	84,024	3.59	N/A	1	N/A	1	N/A	1
	Socialist Labour	5,268	0.22	N/A	-	-	55,232	2.37	N/A	-	N/A	-	N/A	-
	Scottish Socialist	23,564	1.01	N/A	0	N/A	46,635	1.99	N/A	1	N/A	1	N/A	1
	Independent - Dennis Canavan	18,511	0.8	N/A	1	N/A	27,700	1.2	N/A	0	N/A	1	N/A	1
	Others	21,662	0.9	N/A	0	N/A	105,221	4.5	N/A	0	N/A	0	N/A	0

• Voter turnout: 59.1%

Constituency and regional summary

Central Scotland

Scottish Parliament election, 1999: Central Scotland
Constituency		Elected member	Result
	Airdrie and Shotts	Karen Whitefield	Labour gain
	Coatbridge and Chryston	Elaine Smith	Labour gain
	Cumbernauld and Kilsyth	Cathie Craigie	Labour gain
	East Kilbride	Andy Kerr	Labour gain
	Falkirk East	Cathy Peattie	Labour gain
	Falkirk West	Dennis Canavan	Independent gain
	Hamilton North and Bellshill	Michael McMahon	Labour gain
	Hamilton South	Tom McCabe	Labour gain
	Kilmarnock and Loudoun	Margaret Jamieson	Labour gain
	Motherwell and Wishaw	Jack McConnell	Labour gain

Scottish Parliament election, 1999: Central Scotland
Party		Elected candidates	Seats	+/−	Votes	%	+/−%
	Labour		0	N/A	129,822	39.28%	N/A
	SNP	Alex Neil Andrew Wilson Michael Matheson Gil Paterson Linda Fabiani	5	N/A	91,802	27.78%	N/A
	Conservative	Lyndsay McIntosh	1	N/A	30,243	9.15%	N/A
	Independent		0	N/A	27,700	8.38%	N/A
	Liberal Democrats	Donald Gorrie	1	N/A	20,505	6.20%	N/A
	Socialist Labour		0	N/A	10,956	3.32%	N/A
	Scottish Green		0	N/A	5,926	3.32%	N/A
	Scottish Socialist		0	N/A	5,739	1.74%	N/A
	Scottish Unionist		0	N/A	2,888	0.87%	N/A
	ProLife Alliance		0	N/A	2,567	0.78%	N/A
	Scottish Families and Pensioners Party		0	N/A	1,373	0.42%	N/A
	Natural Law		0	N/A	1,373	0.42%	N/A
	Independent Progressive		0	N/A	248	0.08%	N/A

Glasgow

Scottish Parliament election, 1999: Glasgow
Constituency		Elected member	Result
	Glasgow Anniesland	Donald Dewar	Labour gain
	Glasgow Baillieston	Margaret Curran	Labour gain
	Glasgow Cathcart	Mike Watson	Labour gain
	Glasgow Govan	Gordon Jackson	Labour gain
	Glasgow Kelvin	Pauline McNeill	Labour gain
	Glasgow Maryhill	Patricia Ferguson	Labour gain
	Glasgow Pollock	Johann Lamont	Labour gain
	Glasgow Rutherglen	Janis Hughes	Labour gain
	Glasgow Shettleston	Frank McAveety	Labour gain
	Glasgow Springburn	Paul Martin	Labour gain

Scottish Parliament election, 1999: Glasgow
Party		Elected candidates	Seats	+/−	Votes	%	+/−%
	Labour		0	N/A	112,588	43.9%	N/A
	SNP	Nicola Sturgeon Dorothy-Grace Elder Kenneth Gibson Sandra White	4	N/A	65,360	25.5%	N/A
	Conservative	Bill Aitken	1	N/A	20,239	7.9%	N/A
	Scottish Socialist	Tommy Sheridan	1	N/A	18,581	7.2%	N/A
	Liberal Democrats	Robert Brown	1	N/A	18,473	7.2%	N/A
	Scottish Green		0	N/A	10,159	4.0%	N/A
	Socialist Labour		0	N/A	4,391	1.7%	N/A
	ProLife Alliance		0	N/A	2,357	0.9%	N/A
	Scottish Unionist Party (modern)		0	N/A	2,283	0.9%	N/A
	Communist		0	N/A	521	0.2%	N/A
	Humanist		0	N/A	447	0.2%	N/A
	Natural Law		0	N/A	419	0.2%	N/A
	Socialist (GB)		0	N/A	309	0.1%	N/A
	People's Choice		0	N/A	221	0.1%	N/A

Highlands and Islands

Scottish Parliament election, 1999: Highlands and Islands
Constituency		Elected member	Result
	Argyll and Bute	George Lyon	Liberal Democrats gain
	Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross	Jamie Stone	Liberal Democrats gain
	Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber	Fergus Ewing	SNP gain
	Moray	Margaret Ewing	SNP gain
	Orkney	Jim Wallace	Liberal Democrats gain
	Ross, Skye and Inverness West	John Farquhar Munro	Liberal Democrats gain
	Shetland	Tavish Scott	Liberal Democrats gain
	Western Isles	Alasdair Morrison	Labour gain

Scottish Parliament election, 1999: Highlands and Islands
Party		Elected candidates	Seats	+/−	Votes	%	+/−%
	SNP	Winnie Ewing Duncan Hamilton	2	N/A	55,593	27.73%	N/A
	Labour	Peter Peacock Maureen Macmillan Rhoda Grant	3	N/A	51,371	25.47%	N/A
	Liberal Democrats		0	N/A	43,226	21.43%	N/A
	Conservative	Jamie McGrigor Mary Scanlon	2	N/A	30,122	14.94%	N/A
	Scottish Green		0	N/A	7,560	3.75%	N/A
	I Noble (Independent)		0	N/A	3,522	1.75%	N/A
	Socialist Labour		0	N/A	2,808	1.39%	N/A
	Highlands and Islands		0	N/A	2,607	1.29%	N/A
	Scottish Socialist Party		0	N/A	1,770	0.88%	N/A
	Robbie the Pict (Independent)		0	N/A	1,151	0.57%	N/A
	Independent		0	N/A	712	0.35%	N/A
	Natural Law		0	N/A	536	0.27%	N/A
	Independent		0	N/A	354	0.18%	N/A

Lothians

Scottish Parliament election, 1999: Lothians
Constituency		Elected member	Result
	Edinburgh Central	Sarah Boyack	Labour gain
	Edinburgh East and Musselburgh	Susan Deacon	Labour gain
	Edinburgh North and Leith	Malcolm Chisholm	Labour gain
	Edinburgh Pentlands	Iain Gray	Labour gain
	Edinburgh South	Angus Mackay	Labour gain
	Edinburgh West	Margaret Smith	Liberal Democrats gain
	Linlithgow	Mary Mulligan	Labour gain
	Livingston	Bristow Muldoon	Labour gain
	Midlothian	Rhona Brankin	Labour gain

Scottish Parliament election, 1999: Lothians
Party		Elected candidates	Seats	+/−	Votes	%	+/−%
	Labour		0	N/A	99,098	30.2%	N/A
	SNP	Margo MacDonald Kenny MacAskill Fiona Hyslop	3	N/A	85,085	25.7%	N/A
	Conservative	David McLetchie James Douglas-Hamilton	2	N/A	52,067	15.7%	N/A
	Liberal Democrats	David Steel	1	N/A	47,565	14.4%	N/A
	Scottish Green	Robin Harper	1	N/A	22,848	6.9%	N/A
	Socialist Labour		0	N/A	10,895	3.3%	N/A
	Scottish Socialist		0	N/A	5,237	1.6%	N/A
	Liberal		0	N/A	2,056	0.6%	N/A
	Witchery Tour Party		0	N/A	1,184	0.4%	N/A
	ProLife Alliance		0	N/A	898	0.3%	N/A
	Civil Rights Movement		0	N/A	806	0.2%	N/A
	Natural Law		0	N/A	564	0.2%	N/A
	Independent		0	N/A	557	0.2%	N/A
	Socialist (GB)		0	N/A	388	0.1%	N/A
	Independent		0	N/A	256	0.1%	N/A
	Independent		0	N/A	145	0.04%	N/A
	Independent		0	N/A	54	0.02%	N/A

Mid Scotland and Fife

Scottish Parliament election, 1999: Mid Scotland and Fife
Constituency		Elected member	Result
	Dunfermline East	Helen Eadie	Labour
	Dunfermline West	Scott Barrie	Labour
	Fife Central	Henry McLeish	Labour
	Fife North East	Iain Smith	Liberal Democrats
	Kirkaldy	Marilyn Livingstone	Labour
	North Tayside	John Swinney	SNP
	Ochil	Richard Simpson	Labour
	Perth	Roseanna Cunningham	SNP
	Stirling	Sylvia Jackson	Labour

Scottish Parliament election, 1999: Mid Scotland and Fife
Party		Elected candidates	Seats	+/−	Votes	%	+/−%
	Labour		0	N/A	101,964	33.3%	N/A
	SNP	George Reid Bruce Crawford Tricia Marwick	3	N/A	87,659	28.7%	N/A
	Conservative	Keith Harding Nick Johnston Brian Monteith	3	N/A	56,719	18.6%	N/A
	Liberal Democrats	Keith Raffan	1	N/A	38,896	12.7%	N/A
	Scottish Green		0	N/A	11,821	3.9%	N/A
	Socialist Labour		0	N/A	4,266	1.4%	N/A
	Scottish Socialist		0	N/A	3,044	1.0%	N/A
	ProLife Alliance		0	N/A	735	0.2%	N/A
	Natural Law		0	N/A	558	0.2%	N/A

North East Scotland

Scottish Parliament election, 1999: North East Scotland
Constituency		Elected member	Result
	Aberdeen Central	Lewis Macdonald	Labour gain
	Aberdeen North	Elaine Thomson	Labour gain
	Aberdeen South	Nicol Stephen	Liberal Democrats gain
	Angus	Andrew Welsh	SNP gain
	Banff and Buchan	Alex Salmond	SNP gain
	Dundee East	John McAllion	Labour gain
	Dundee West	Kate Maclean	Labour gain
	Gordon	Nora Radcliffe	Liberal Democrats gain
	West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine	Mike Rumbles	Liberal Democrats gain

Scottish Parliament election, 1999: North East Scotland
Party		Elected candidates	Seats	+/−	Votes	%	+/−%
	SNP	Brian Adam Richard Lochhead Shona Robison Irene McGugan	4	N/A	93,329	32.3%	N/A
	Labour		0	N/A	72,666	25.5%	N/A
	Conservative	David Davidson Ben Wallace Alex Johnstone	3	N/A	52,149	18.3%	N/A
	Liberal Democrats		0	N/A	49,843	17.5%	N/A
	Scottish Green		0	N/A	8,067	2.8%	N/A
	Socialist Labour		0	N/A	3,557	1.2%	N/A
	Scottish Socialist		0	N/A	3,016	1.1%	N/A
	Independent		0	N/A	2,303	0.8%	N/A
	Independent		0	N/A	770	0.3%	N/A
	Natural Law		0	N/A	746	0.3%	N/A

South of Scotland

Scottish Parliament election, 1999: South of Scotland
Constituency		Elected member	Result
	Ayr	Ian Welsh	Labour
	Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley	Cathy Jamieson	Labour
	Clydesdale	Karen Turnbull	Labour
	Cunninghame South	Irene Oldfather	Labour
	Dumfries	Elaine Murray	Labour
	East Lothian	John Home Robertson	Labour
	Galloway and Upper Nithsdale	Alasdair Morgan	SNP
	Roxburgh and Berwickshire	Euan Robson	Liberal Democrats
	Tweeddale, Ettrick and Lauderdale	Ian Jenkins	Liberal Democrats

Scottish Parliament election, 1999: South of Scotland
Party		Elected candidates	Seats	+/−	Votes	%	+/−%
	Labour		0	N/A	98,836	31.0%	N/A
	SNP	Michael Russell Adam Ingram Christine Creech	3	N/A	80,059	25.1%	N/A
	Conservative	Phil Gallie Alex Fergusson Murray Tosh David Mundell	4	N/A	68,904	21.6%	N/A
	Liberal Democrats		0	N/A	38,157	12.0%	N/A
	Socialist Labour		0	N/A	13,887	4.4%	N/A
	Scottish Green		0	N/A	9,467	3.0%	N/A
	Liberal		0	N/A	3,478	1.1%	N/A
	Scottish Socialist		0	N/A	3,304	1.0%	N/A
	UKIP		0	N/A	1,502	0.5%	N/A
	Natural Law		0	N/A	755	0.2%	N/A

West of Scotland

Scottish Parliament election, 1999: West of Scotland
Constituency		Elected member	Result
	Clydebank and Milngavie	Des McNulty	Labour
	Cunninghame North	Allan Wilson	Labour
	Dumbarton	Jackie Baillie	Labour
	Eastwood	Kenneth Macintosh	Labour
	Greenock and Inverclyde	Duncan McNeil	Labour
	Paisley North	Wendy Alexander	Labour
	Paisley South	Hugh Henry	Labour
	Strathkelvin and Bearsden	Sam Galbraith	Labour
	West Renfrewshire	Patricia Godman	Labour

Scottish Parliament election, 1999: West of Scotland
Party		Elected candidates	Seats	+/−	Votes	%	+/−%
	Labour		0	N/A	119,663	38.5%	N/A
	SNP	Colin Campbell Kay Ullrich Lloyd Quinan Fiona McLeod	4	N/A	80,417	25.9%	N/A
	Conservative	Annabel Goldie John Young	2	N/A	48,666	15.7%	N/A
	Liberal Democrats	Ross Finnie	1	N/A	34,095	11.0%	N/A
	Scottish Green		0	N/A	8,174	2.6%	N/A
	Scottish Socialist		0	N/A	5,944	1.9%	N/A
	Socialist Labour		0	N/A	4,472	1.4%	N/A
	ProLife Alliance		0	N/A	3,227	1.0%	N/A
	Independent		0	N/A	2,761	0.9%	N/A
	Scottish Unionist		0	N/A	1,840	0.6%	N/A
	Natural Law Party		0	N/A	589	0.2%	N/A
	Independent		0	N/A	565	0.2%	N/A

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

Party leaders in 1999

• Labour - Donald Dewar
• SNP - Alex Salmond
• Conservative - David McLetchie
• Liberal Democrat - Jim Wallace
• SSP - Tommy Sheridan
• Scottish Green Party - Robin Harper

See also

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

External links

• SourceForge.net

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