1999 Scottish Parliament election

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1999 Scottish Parliament election
6 May 1999 (1999-05-06) 2003 →
All 129 seats to the Scottish Parliament
65 seats were needed for a majority
TurnoutConstituency - 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[note 1] 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.[1]

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.[2] 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.[3] Robin Harper became the first ever elected Green parliamentarian in the history of the United Kingdom.[4][5] Dennis Canavan, who had failed to become an approved Labour candidate, won the Falkirk West constituency as an independent candidate.[6]

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.[7][8]

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[edit]

Election result with constituency names labeled
↓
56 17 35 18
Labour Lib Dems SNP Conservative
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Administration
1999 Scottish Parliament election[9] →
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 –  
Popular Vote (Constituency)
Labour
 
 38.77%
SNP
 
 28.72%
Conservative
 
 15.56%
Liberal Democrats
 
 14.22%
Scottish Socialist
 
 1.01%
Other
 
 1.72%
Popular Vote (Regional)
Labour
 
 33.64%
SNP
 
 27.26%
Conservative
 
 15.35%
Liberal Democrats
 
 12.43%
Green
 
 3.59%
Socialist Labour
 
 2.37%
Scottish Socialist
 
 1.99%
Other
 
 3.37%
Parliament seats
Labour
 
 43.41%
SNP
 
 27.13%
Conservative
 
 13.95%
Liberal Democrats
 
 13.18%
Green
 
 0.78%
Scottish Socialist
 
 0.78%
Other
 
 0.78%

Constituency and regional summary[edit]

Central Scotland[edit]

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

1999 Scottish Parliament election: Glasgow
Constituency Elected member Result
Glasgow Anniesland Donald Dewar Scottish Labour win (new seat)
Glasgow Baillieston Margaret Curran Scottish Labour win (new seat)
Glasgow Cathcart Mike Watson Scottish Labour win (new seat)
Glasgow Govan Gordon Jackson Scottish Labour win (new seat)
Glasgow Kelvin Pauline McNeill Scottish Labour win (new seat)
Glasgow Maryhill Patricia Ferguson Scottish Labour win (new seat)
Glasgow Pollok Johann Lamont Scottish Labour win (new seat)
Glasgow Rutherglen Janis Hughes Scottish Labour win (new seat)
Glasgow Shettleston Frank McAveety Scottish Labour win (new seat)
Glasgow Springburn Paul Martin Scottish Labour win (new seat)
1999 Scottish Parliament election: 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 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[edit]

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

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

1999 Scottish Parliament election: Mid Scotland and Fife
Constituency Elected member Result
Dunfermline East Helen Eadie Scottish Labour win (new seat)
Dunfermline West Scott Barrie Scottish Labour win (new seat)
Fife Central Henry McLeish Scottish Labour win (new seat)
Fife North East Iain Smith Scottish Liberal Democrats win (new seat)
Kirkcaldy Marilyn Livingstone Scottish Labour win (new seat)
North Tayside John Swinney Scottish National Party win (new seat)
Ochil Richard Simpson Scottish Labour win (new seat)
Perth Roseanna Cunningham Scottish National Party win (new seat)
Stirling Sylvia Jackson Scottish Labour win (new seat)
1999 Scottish Parliament election: 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[edit]

1999 Scottish Parliament election: North East Scotland
Constituency Elected member Result
Aberdeen Central Lewis Macdonald Scottish Labour win (new seat)
Aberdeen North Elaine Thomson Scottish Labour win (new seat)
Aberdeen South Nicol Stephen Scottish Liberal Democrats win (new seat)
Angus Andrew Welsh Scottish National Party win (new seat)
Banff and Buchan Alex Salmond Scottish National Party win (new seat)
Dundee East John McAllion Scottish Labour win (new seat)
Dundee West Kate Maclean Scottish Labour win (new seat)
Gordon Nora Radcliffe Scottish Liberal Democrats win (new seat)
West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine Mike Rumbles Scottish Liberal Democrats win (new seat)
1999 Scottish Parliament election: 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[edit]

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

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

  • 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[edit]

Opinion polls[edit]

Main article: Opinion polling for the 1999 Scottish Parliament election

See also[edit]

Notes[edit]

  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[edit]

  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. ^ The Newsroom (3 May 2016). "A short history of Scottish Parliament elections, 1999-2011". The Scotsman. 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 [@electionmapsuk] (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[edit]

Manifestos[edit]

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