Political system of Scotland

by Victoria Titova, Elizaveta Tudoran,

Oksana Sviridova, Anastasia Lebedeva
3rd year, ICC-1
  Devolution of power in Scotland
Public votes about devolution were held in
1997. This led to the creation of new elected
institution — the Scottish Parliament.
 Place and members
The Scottish
Parliament sits at
Holyrood in
Edinburgh. There
are 129 elected
Members of the
Scottish Parliament
(MSPs).
 It is responsible for many areas:
• Agriculture, forestry and fishing
• Education
• Environment
• Health
• Housing
• Justice, policing and courts
• Local government
• Fire service
• Economic development
• Some transport
• Taxes including income tax, stamp duty and air passenger
duty
• Some welfare powers
  Independence
The Scottish
National Party
(SNP), which has
formed the Scottish
government at
Holyrood since
2007, continues to
argue for full
independence.
 The Scottish Parliament
The Scottish Parliament which came in to power in 1999 after
devolution took place is situated just outside Edinburgh in a
place called Holyrood which the Scottish Government is often
referred to. The Scottish Parliament deal with legislation in
respect to developed matters however reserved matters are
always dealt with within the UK Parliament. Members of the
Scottish Parliament or as they are more broadly known as the
MSP's debate issues relevant to their constituencies. Currently
there are 129 Members of the Scottish Parliament and all have
equal standing in terms of statue.
 The Scottish Parliament
One of the major differences between the UK Parliament and the
Scottish Parliament is how MSP's are elected. They are elected by
using the Additional Member System which takes in to consideration
proportional representation. Scotland formed this system as they
thought it was a much fairer way to elect a representative rather than
the way the UK elect Members of Parliament. However when Scotland
are electing MSP's for constituency seats they use the 'first past the
post system' as the UK do. To elect regional seats the Scottish
Parliament use a formula known as d'Hondt, which means they take
two elements in to consideration, the number regional votes along with
the amount constituency seats before a person is elected. It is important
to note that candidates can stand on an individual and political party
basis.
 The Scottish Parliament
The Scottish Government is headed by the First
Minister rather than a Prime Minister with the overall
power resting with the Prime Minister however the
leader of the UK Government usually has little or no
say on developed matters concerned with Scotland.
Scottish MP's who operate in Westminster are not
always Members of the Scottish Parliament as both
roles are completely different to the other that said
both it is possible to hold a 'dual mandate' where
candidates can be a MP and a MSP.
 The issue of nationalism
Scottish nationalism promotes the idea that the
Scottish people form a cohesive nation and
national identity based on civic nationalism and
is closely linked to the cause of Scottish home
rule and Scottish independence.
 The issue of nationalism
The Acts of Union merged both the Parliaments
and Kingdoms of Scotland and England in 1707
to be "united into one Kingdom of Great
Britain", but a separate legal system and distinct
Scottish institutions continue to exist.
 The issue of nationalism
The languages of Scots and Gaelic play a key
role in nationalist identity. Linguistic
independence is primarily associated with the
poetry of Robert Burns, before experiencing a
resurgence in the Scottish Renaissance, as led by
Hugh MacDiarmid.
 The issue of nationalism
Within politics, Scottish nationalism was held as
a key ideology by the National Party of Scotland
which later became the Scottish National Party.
Their rise in popularity since the start of the 21st
century led to the 2014 Scottish independence
referendum.
 Scottish unionism
Unionism in Scotland (Scottish Gaelic: Aonachas) is
a political movement which favours the continuation
of political union between Scotland and the other
countries of the United Kingdom (England, Wales
and Northern Ireland), and hence is opposed to
Scottish independence. Scotland is one of four
countries of the United Kingdom which has its own
devolved government and Scottish Parliament, as
well as representation in the UK Parliament.
 Scottish unionism
Scottish unionism is politically opposed to Scottish
independence, which would mean Scotland leaving
the UK and becoming an independent state.

After the 2014 Scottish independence referendum, the

cross-party Better Together campaign ceased to be
active. In its place now exists Scotland in Union
(SIU), Scotland's largest and most active Pro UK
campaign.
 Scottish unionism
Scotland in Union launched in March 2015, with
the aim of promoting Scotland's place in the UK.
People who had supported Better Together in the
2014 referendum set up the campaign as a
response to the continued, high-profile push for
independence by Scottish nationalists after the
referendum result.
 BBC News, MSP mums want Holyrood to be more family friendly

Several MSPs claimed that they will not seek re-

election because they want to spend more time with
their children.

It was a struggle for them to combine work at Holyrood

with devoting enough attention to their young families.
Changes should be made to make it easier for parents to
serve, they said.
Ms Campbell, who serves as communities
secretary, was the first Scottish government
minister to take maternity leave.
She said: "The parliament when it was set up
was designed to be family friendly, but politics
and the life of an MSP isn't a nine to five job.
There are lots of other competing things that you
have to do."
There are more things that could be done to make
Holyrood more family friendly.
"The Scottish parliament doesn't have a full-time
nursery - but Westminster does.
"I have colleagues in Westminster who take their
children to London with them and put them into
nursery, because it's only a couple of hundred yards
away from the debating chamber and offices, then
take them back to the flat at night.
"That's not possible in Edinburgh - we've got a creche
but it's designed for visitors and witnesses.
"The limit there is four hours. I can't even chair
my committee then go to FMQs without the time
limit running out."
Ms Campbell added that Holyrood had been
forced to become more flexible because of the
pandemic - and it would be a pity not to take
some of these changes forward after Covid.
Jenny Marra said that voting was a crucial area
where flexibility had to be implemented.
When she was on maternity leave last year she
asked for a proxy vote - when a colleague casts
vote on an MSP's behalf - but it was refused.
The argument against it was that MSPs should
be in chamber to hear arguments if they were to
be allowed to vote.
Ms Marra said: "It's not me that lost that vote -
it's the people you represent."