Scottish Liberal Democrats

Scottish Liberal Democrats
Libearalaich Deamocratach na h-Alba
Scots Leeberal Democrats
Leader Willie Rennie MSP
Deputy Leader Alistair Carmichael MP
President Cllr Eileen McCartin
Founded 8 March 1988 (1988-03-08)
Headquarters 4 Clifton Terrace
Edinburgh
EH12 5DR
Youth wing Scottish Young Liberals
Membership (Dec. 2016) 3,903 [1]
Ideology Liberalism[2][3]
Social liberalism[3][4]
Classical liberalism[5]
British unionism[6]
Pro-Europeanism
British federalism[7][8]
Political position Centre to centre-left
European affiliation Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe
International affiliation Liberal International
European Parliament group Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe
Colours Gold
Scottish seats in the House of Commons
4 / 59
Scottish seats in the European Parliament
0 / 6
Scottish Parliament
5 / 129
Local government in Scotland
66 / 1,227
Website
www.scotlibdems.org.uk

The Scottish Liberal Democrats (Scottish Gaelic: Libearal Deamocratach na h-Alba, Scots: Scots Leeberal Democrats) is a liberal and social-liberal political party in Scotland.

The Scottish Liberal Democrats hold 5 of 129 seats in the Scottish Parliament and 4 of 59 Scottish seats in the UK Parliament.

Organisation

The Scottish Liberal Democrats are one of the three state parties[9] within the federal[10] Liberal Democrats, the others being the Welsh Liberal Democrats and the English Liberal Democrats. The Liberal Democrats do not contest elections in Northern Ireland.

Leaders

Deputy Leaders

Structure

In keeping with its basis as a federation of organisations, the Scottish party also consists of a number of local parties (which mostly follow the boundaries of the Scottish Council Areas), which are each distinct accounting units under the Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000. Local parties are predominantly responsible for the party's political campaigning and for selecting candidates for parliamentary and local authority elections.

There are also eight regional parties (based on the boundaries of the eight Scottish Parliament electoral regions).

Administration

The party's headquarters are located in Edinburgh.

The conference is the highest decision-making body of the party on both policy and strategic issues. The day-to-day organisation of the party is the responsibility of the party's Executive Committee, which is chaired by the Convener of the party and includes the Leader, the Depute Leader and the President of the party, as well as the party Treasurer and the three Vice-Conveners. See below for the current office-bearers and all other members of the Party's three management committees (Executive Committee, Policy Committee and Conference Committee). All party members vote every two years in internal elections to elect people to all the below positions, except Leader & Depute Leader.

Current Party Leadership, Office Bearers and Committee Members

  • Leader: Willie Rennie MSP
  • Depute Leader: Alistair Carmichael MP
  • President: Cllr Willie Cooper
  • Convener: Sheila Ritchie
  • Executive Committee Members: Jacquie Bell, Emma Farthing-Sykes, Graham Garvie, David Green, James Harrison, Allan Heron, Dawud Islam, Christine Jardine, Jenny Marr, Paul McGarry, Galen Milne, Alan Reid.
  • Vice-Convener, Policy: Isobel Davidson
  • Policy Committee Members: Jacquie Bell, Barbara Mills, Euan Robson, Elisabeth Wilson.
  • Vice-Convener, Conference: Paul McGarry
  • Conference Committee Members: David Green, Callum Leslie, Sandy Leslie, Paul McGarry, Ross Stalker.
  • Vice-Convener, Campaigns & Candidates: Alan Reid
  • Treasurer: Caron Lindsay

Scottish Headquarters Staff

The party employs a small team of staff at their HQ in Edinburgh.

  • Party Manager: Jenny Wilson
  • Campaigns Director: Adam Stachura
  • Campaigns Officer: Paul Moat

Conferences

Like the Federal party, the Scottish party holds two conferences per year; a Spring Conference, and an Autumn Conference.

Associated organisations

Associated organisations generally seek to influence the direction of the party on a specific issue or represent a section of the party membership. The party has five associated organisations:

  • Association of Scottish Liberal Democrat Councillors and Campaigners (ASLDC)
  • Liberal Democrats for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Equality (DELGA) (Scottish Board)
  • Scottish Young Liberals
  • Scottish Green Liberal Democrats
  • Scottish Women Liberal Democrats

Association of Scottish Liberal Democrat Councillors and Campaigners

The Association of Scottish Liberal Democrat Councillors (ASLDC)[11] is a network of Liberal Democrat councillors and local campaigners across Scotland which works to support and develop Liberal Democrat involvement in Scottish Local Government.

Following the Local Council Election of May 2012, under the Single Transferable Vote (STV) system, 71 Liberal Democrats were elected, a drop of 95 on Local Council Election of May 2007.

A voluntary Executive Committee meets several times a year to run the organisation.

  • Convener: Cllr Willie Wilson
  • Vice-Convener: John Elder
  • Secretary: Cllr Mags Kennedy
  • Treasurer: Simon Hutton
  • Members: Cllr Fraser Macpherson, Cllr Peter Barrett, Millie McLeod, Cllr Ian Yuill, Caron Lindsay

ASLDC works alongside Liberal Democrats in the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities (CoSLA) where Cllr Peter Barrett is leader of the Lib Dem Group.

History

The Scottish Liberal Democrat party was formed by the merger of the Scottish Liberal Party and the Social Democratic Party in Scotland, as part of the merger of the Liberal Party and Social Democratic Party parties on 3 March 1988.[12]

The party campaigned for the creation of a devolved Scottish Parliament as part of its wider policy of a federal United Kingdom. In the late 1980s and 1990s it and its representatives participated in the Scottish Constitutional Convention with the Scottish Labour Party, Scottish Green Party, trades unions and churches, and also campaigned for a "Yes-Yes" vote in the 1997 devolution referendum.

1999–2007: Coalition government with Labour

In the first elections to the Scottish Parliament in 1999, the party won 17 seats. Following this, the party formed a coalition government with the Scottish Labour Party in the Scottish Executive. The then party leader, Jim Wallace, became Deputy First Minister of Scotland and Minister for Justice. He also served as acting First Minister on three occasions, during the illness and then later, the death of the first First Minister Donald Dewar and the following resignation of his successor Henry McLeish. This partnership was renewed in 2003 and Wallace became Deputy First Minister and Minister for Enterprise and Lifelong Learning. On 23 June 2005, Nicol Stephen MSP succeeded Wallace as party leader and took over his positions in the Executive until the 2007 elections.

Prior to the partnership government being formed in 1999, the UK had only limited experience of coalition government. The party's participation attracted criticism for involving compromises to its preferred policies, although several of its manifesto pledges were adopted as government policy or legislation. These included changes to the arrangements for student contributions to higher education costs (although whether that amounted to the claimed achievement of having abolished tuition fees was hotly contested), free personal care for the elderly and (during the second coalition government) changing the system of elections for Scottish local authorities to the single transferable vote, a long-standing Liberal Democrat policy.

2007–present: Opposition, electoral decline and comeback

In the 2007 Scottish Parliament elections, the party won one fewer seat than in the two previous Scottish elections: this was the first parliamentary election for 28 years in which the party's parliamentary strength in Scotland was reduced. This experience led to some criticism of the party's election strategy and its leader. Although it was arithmetically possible to form a majority coalition with the Scottish National Party and the Scottish Green Party, the party refused to participate in coalition negotiations because of a disagreement over the SNP's policy of a referendum on Scottish independence, and sat as an opposition party in the Parliament.

On 2 July 2008, Nicol Stephen resigned as the party leader. The former deputy leader Michael Moore MP served as acting leader of the party until Tavish Scott MSP was elected party leader on 26 August 2008, winning 59% of the votes cast in a contest with parliamentary colleagues Ross Finnie and Mike Rumbles. (See also Scottish Liberal Democrats leadership election, 2008.)

At the 2011 Scottish Parliament elections, the party lost all its mainland constituencies, retaining only the two constituencies of Orkney and Shetland. It also secured three List MSPs. This was by far the party's worst electoral performance since the re-establishment of a Scottish parliament in 1999.

At the 2014 European Parliament elections, the party lost its only MEP.

At the 2015 general election, the party lost 10 of its 11 MPs with only Alistair Carmichael narrowly retaining Orkney and Shetland with a 3.6% majority.

At the 2016 Scottish Parliament elections, the party again had 5 MSPs elected but was pushed into 5th place by the Scottish Greens. While it gained the 2 constituency seats of Edinburgh Western and North East Fife from the SNP, its vote share fell slightly overall.

At the 2017 general election, the party held its only constituency of Orkney and Shetland with an increased majority, as well as gaining back three seats lost to the SNP in 2015. The Scottish Liberal Democrats almost gained the North East Fife constituency from SNP, but lost by two votes to Stephen Gethins.

Policy platform

The Scottish Party decides its policy on state matters independently from the federal party. State matters include not only currently devolved issues but also those reserved matters which the party considers should be devolved to the Scottish Parliament, including broadcasting, energy, drugs and abortion.[13] The party also believes that the Scottish Parliament should exercise greater responsibility on fiscal matters. A party commission chaired by former Liberal Party leader and Scottish Parliament Presiding Officer Sir David Steel set out the party's proposals on the constitutional issue.[14]

According to its constitution, the party believes in a "fair, free and open society ... in which no-one shall be enslaved by poverty, ignorance or conformity". It has traditionally argued for both positive and negative liberties, tolerance of social diversity, decentralisation of political authority, including proportional representation for public elections, internationalism and greater involvement in the European Union. In the 2007 elections it campaigned for reforms to public services and local taxation, and for more powers for the Scottish Parliament within a federal Britain.

In December 2007, the party (along with Scottish Labour and the Scottish Conservatives) supported the creation of a new Commission on Scottish Devolution, along similar lines to the earlier Scottish Constitutional Convention, to discuss further powers for the Scottish Parliament. The SNP Government had earlier in the same year launched a "National Conversation" which includes the option of independence for Scotland.

Elected representatives (current)

Scottish Parliament

Member of the Scottish ParliamentConstituency or RegionFirst electedSpokespersons[15]
Willie RennieNorth East Fife2011Leader of the Scottish Liberal Democrats
Liam McArthurOrkney2007Justice and Energy
Tavish ScottShetland1999Education
Alex Cole-HamiltonEdinburgh Western2016Health and housing
Mike RumblesNorth East Scotland2016Rural Affairs

House of Commons of the United Kingdom

Member of ParliamentConstituencyFirst electedNotes
Alistair CarmichaelOrkney and Shetland2001Only Lib Dem MP returned in the 2015 general election in Scotland.
Christine JardineEdinburgh West2017
Jamie StoneCaithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross2017Member of the Scottish Parliament for Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross between 1999 and 2011.
Jo SwinsonEast Dunbartonshire2005Defeated in 2015, re-elected in 2017.

Electoral performance

Scottish Parliament Elections

Election Constituency votes Regional votes Total seats Share of seats Position Outcome Notes
Share Seats Share Seats
1999 14% 12 12% 5
17 / 129
 13% 4th Coalition Government First election to the re-constituted Scottish Parliament. Formed a coalition with the Labour Party.
2003 15% 13 12% 4
17 / 129
 13% 4th Coalition Government Again formed a Coalition with Labour.
2007 16% 11 11% 5
16 / 129
 13% 4th Opposition
2011 7.9% 2 5.2% 3
5 / 129
 4% 4th Opposition
2016 7.8% 4 5.2% 1
5 / 129
 4% 5th Opposition

UK general elections

This chart shows the electoral results of the Scottish Liberal Democrats, from the first election the party contested in 1992. Total number of seats, and vote percentage, is for Scotland only. For results prior to 1992, see Scottish Liberal Party.

Election Vote % Seats Outcome of election
1992 13.1
9 / 72
 Conservative Overall Majority
1997 13.0
10 / 72
 Labour Overall Majority
2001 16.3
10 / 72
 Labour Overall Majority
2005 22.6
11 / 59
 Labour Overall Majority
2010 18.9
11 / 59
 Conservative & Liberal Democrat Coalition
2015 7.5
1 / 59
 Conservative Overall Majority
2017 6.8
4 / 59
 Hung Parliament

Liberal Democrat Scottish peers in the House of Lords

PeerEnnobledNotes
Patrick Boyle, 10th Earl of Glasgow1984Current chief of Clan Boyle
Elizabeth Barker, Baroness Barker1999
Malcolm Bruce, Baron Bruce of Bennachie2015
Menzies Campbell, Baron Campbell of Pittenweem2015
James Erskine, 14th Earl of Mar2000
Archy Kirkwood, Baron Kirkwood of Kirkhope2005MP for Roxburgh and Berwickshire from 1983 to 2005
Robert Maclennan, Baron Maclennan of Rogart2001Leader of the Social Democratic Party & Leader of the Social and Liberal Democrats (1987 to 1988)
Jeremy Purvis, Baron Purvis of Tweed2013MSP for Tweeddale, Ettrick and Lauderdale (2003 to 2011)
David Steel, Baron Steel of Aikwood1997Leader of the Liberal Party & Leader of the Social and Liberal Democrats (1976 to 1988)
Nicol Stephen, Baron Stephen2011Leader of the Scottish Liberal Democrats (2005 to 2008)
Alison Suttie, Baroness Suttie2013Deputy chief of staff to Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg (2010 to 2011)
John Sinclair, 3rd Viscount Thurso2016
Iain Vallance, Baron Vallance of Tummel2004
Jim Wallace, Baron Wallace of Tankerness2007Leader of the Scottish Liberal Democrats (1992 to 2005)

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Search - The Electoral Commission". electoralcommission.org.uk.
  2. ↑ Eve Hepburn (2010). Using Europe: Territorial Party Strategies in a Multi-level System. Oxford University Press. p. 228. ISBN 978-0-7190-8138-5.
  3. 1 2 Nordsieck, Wolfram (2016). "Scotland/UK". Retrieved 1 October 2018.
  4. ↑ Helma Gerritje Engelien de Vries (2007). Insiders and Outsiders: Global Social Movements, Party Politics, and Democracy in Europe and North America. ProQuest. p. 208. ISBN 978-0-549-45223-2.
  5. ↑ "Search - Orange Bookers. Social Liberalism. What's it all about?". www.markpack.org.uk.
  6. ↑ Foster, Greg (8 March 2016). "Where do the Scottish Lib Dems stand on independence?". Scottish Liberal Democrats. Retrieved 15 November 2016.
  7. ↑ https://www.libdems.org.uk/f41_towards_a_federal_uk
  8. ↑ http://www.scotlibdems.org.uk/scot_lib_dems_launch_federalism_drive
  9. ↑ "The party is led by Scotland's Deputy First Minister Nicol Stephen MSP and is a state party within the Liberal Democrats", scotlibdems.org.uk, accessed 23 September 2006 (Archived 2 October 2006 at the Wayback Machine.)
  10. ↑ "Party Structure" Archived 2 October 2006 at the Wayback Machine., scotlibdems.org.uk
  11. ↑ "Scotland and ASLDC - Association of Liberal Democrat Councillors". aldc.org.
  12. ↑ "Liberal Democrat History Group". Liberalhistory.org.uk. Archived from the original on 29 August 2014. Retrieved 2011-05-07.
  13. ↑ "Scottish policy responsibilities include all devolved matters plus matters that we believe should be the responsibility of the Scottish Parliament." Archived 2 October 2006 at the Wayback Machine., scotlibdems.org.uk
  14. ↑ "Microsoft Word - Steel Commission Report March 2006 formatted.doc" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 13 November 2013. Retrieved 2011-05-07.
  15. ↑ "Labour and Lib Dems reveal detail of reshuffles". scotsman.com.
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