The politics of devolution

5 Governance beyond Westminster: the politics of devolution

5.2 Devolution in Scotland

Scotland has endured a long and complicated process towards self-determination. In a 1979 referendum, the Scots voted in favour of the Labour government proposals to establish a Scottish Parliament, but, thanks to a special majority provision requiring at least 40 per cent of the registered electorate to vote in favour, devolution was rejected when only 32.9 per cent of the electorate voted in favour in the referendum.

Figure 4: Referendum campaigners for devolution in Scotland, 1997 © Sutton-Hibbert/Rex Features

Subsequently, after 1988, a Scottish Constitutional Convention comprising political parties (Labour and the Liberal Democrats, but not the Scottish National Party), churches, unions and other civic groups began campaigning for change. Once in government, Labour organised referendums on devolution, which were held on 11 September 1997; 74.3 per cent of the Scots who voted, voted for a Scottish Parliament and 63.5 per cent voted to give it tax-raising powers. Once the devolved institutions were established, Scotland's status within the UK was transformed. In domestic policy terms it is no longer governed by the Scottish Secretary of State based at Westminster, but by a Scottish Parliament elected by the Scottish people. The Westminster Parliament retains competence over foreign and defence policy, European matters and, crucially, macroeconomic policy. A First Minister heads the Scottish Executive, normally the leader of the party able to command the majority support of the Scottish Parliament.

The 1997 referendum result will not by itself entrench Scottish devolution (what the Westminster Parliament creates, it can still legally unmake), but it has certainly provided the Scottish Parliament with a moral and political legitimacy. Ultimately, the Scottish Parliament will secure its constitutional future by convincing the Scottish people of its relevance.

The absence of a UK written constitution able to respond to the above questions opens up a wide range of possibilities. The re-establishment of a devolved parliament in Edinburgh does not alter, in principle, the unitary character of the UK state since sovereignty continues to reside in Westminster. A Scottish National Party (SNP) majority in the Scottish Parliament could, of course, call for further autonomy and even for a referendum on Scottish independence.

The Scottish Parliament is composed of 129 members, 73 elected from single member constituencies and 56 additional members. Elections are held every four years. The first election to the Scottish Parliament took place in 1999, when turn-out was 58 per cent, but in the 2003 election, turn-out fell to 41.45 per cent. Table 1 shows the results for the 1999 and 2003 elections.

The establishment of the Scottish Parliament provides an asymmetric picture of the UK. It is based on the recognition of Scotland as being different from the rest of the UK in terms of having a specific culture, tradition and way of life, all of which stem from its past as an independent territory. To some extent, then, devolution has weakened the image of Scotland as a periphery within the wider UK. It remains to be seen, however, if devolution has merely empowered an Edinburgh-Glasgow ‘centre’, leaving other, more remote areas of Scotland to be redefined as a new ‘periphery’.

Scotland's place as a proud historic nation in the UK clearly acknowledges the multinational character of the UK state. Of course, post-devolution Scotland remains an integral part of the UK and the Queen continues to be the UK's Head of State, embracing Scotland and Wales as well as England. The Westminster Parliament is and will remain sovereign even though it has devolved law-making powers over a wide range of matters concerning Scotland to the Scottish Parliament. As a result, as we shall see, Westminster retains many key powers and responsibilities over Scotland.