1999 Scottish Parliament election

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.

1999 Scottish Parliament election
6 May 1999
All 129 seats to the Scottish Parliament
65 seats were needed for a majority
TurnoutFPTP - 58.4%
List - 58.3%
  First party Second party
 
Leader Donald Dewar Alex Salmond
Party Labour SNP
Leader's seat Glasgow Anniesland Banff & Buchan
Seats won 56 35
FPTP Vote 908,346 672,768
Percentage 38.8% 28.7%
List Vote 786,818 638,644
Percentage 33.6% 27.3%
  Third party Fourth party
 
Leader David McLetchie Jim Wallace
Party Conservative Liberal Democrats
Leader's seat Lothians Orkney
Seats won 18 17
FPTP Vote 364,425 333,179
Percentage 15.6% 14.2%
List Vote 359,109 290,760
Percentage 15.4% 12.4%
The left side shows constituency winners of the election by their party colours. The right side shows regional winners of the election for the additional members by their party colours. Constituency names are listed at the bottom.
First Minister-designate

Donald Dewar
Labour

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. 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 UK general election. The Conservative Party, still recovering from their wipeout in the 1997 UK 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. 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 met in the General Assembly Hall of the Church of Scotland in Edinburgh for the very 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.

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.

Results
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Scottish Parliament election, 1999[1]
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 votes2,342,48899.7– 2,338,91499.7– 
Spoilt votes7,8390.3– 7,2680.3– 
Total2,350,327100 73–2,346,182100 56–129–100
Electorate/Turnout4,027,43358.4– 4,027,43358.3– 
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

Central Scotland
Scottish Parliament election, 1999: Central Scotland
Constituency Elected member Result
Airdrie and Shotts Karen Whitefield Labour win (new seat)
Coatbridge and Chryston Elaine Smith Labour win (new seat)
Cumbernauld and Kilsyth Cathie Craigie Labour win (new seat)
East Kilbride Andy Kerr Labour win (new seat)
Falkirk East Cathy Peattie Labour win (new seat)
Falkirk West Dennis Canavan Independent win (new seat)
Hamilton North and Bellshill Michael McMahon Labour win (new seat)
Hamilton South Tom McCabe Labour win (new seat)
Kilmarnock and Loudoun Margaret Jamieson Labour win (new seat)
Motherwell and Wishaw Jack McConnell Labour win (new seat)
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 win (new seat)
Glasgow Baillieston Margaret Curran Labour win (new seat)
Glasgow Cathcart Mike Watson Labour win (new seat)
Glasgow Govan Gordon Jackson Labour win (new seat)
Glasgow Kelvin Pauline McNeill Labour win (new seat)
Glasgow Maryhill Patricia Ferguson Labour win (new seat)
Glasgow Pollok Johann Lamont Labour win (new seat)
Glasgow Rutherglen Janis Hughes Labour win (new seat)
Glasgow Shettleston Frank McAveety Labour win (new seat)
Glasgow Springburn Paul Martin Labour win (new seat)
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 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 win (new seat)
Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross Jamie Stone Liberal Democrats win (new seat)
Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber Fergus Ewing SNP win (new seat)
Moray Margaret Ewing SNP win (new seat)
Orkney Jim Wallace Liberal Democrats win (new seat)
Ross, Skye and Inverness West John Farquhar Munro Liberal Democrats win (new seat)
Shetland Tavish Scott Liberal Democrats win (new seat)
Western Isles Alasdair Morrison Labour win (new seat)
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 win (new seat)
Edinburgh East and Musselburgh Susan Deacon Labour win (new seat)
Edinburgh North and Leith Malcolm Chisholm Labour win (new seat)
Edinburgh Pentlands Iain Gray Labour win (new seat)
Edinburgh South Angus Mackay Labour win (new seat)
Edinburgh West Margaret Smith Liberal Democrats win (new seat)
Linlithgow Mary Mulligan Labour win (new seat)
Livingston Bristow Muldoon Labour win (new seat)
Midlothian Rhona Brankin Labour win (new seat)
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 win (new seat)
Dunfermline West Scott Barrie Labour win (new seat)
Fife Central Henry McLeish Labour win (new seat)
Fife North East Iain Smith Liberal Democrats win (new seat)
Kirkaldy Marilyn Livingstone Labour win (new seat)
North Tayside John Swinney SNP win (new seat)
Ochil Richard Simpson Labour win (new seat)
Perth Roseanna Cunningham SNP win (new seat)
Stirling Sylvia Jackson Labour win (new seat)
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 win (new seat)
Aberdeen North Elaine Thomson Labour win (new seat)
Aberdeen South Nicol Stephen Liberal Democrats win (new seat)
Angus Andrew Welsh SNP win (new seat)
Banff and Buchan Alex Salmond SNP win (new seat)
Dundee East John McAllion Labour win (new seat)
Dundee West Kate Maclean Labour win (new seat)
Gordon Nora Radcliffe Liberal Democrats win (new seat)
West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine Mike Rumbles Liberal Democrats win (new seat)
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 win (new seat)
Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley Cathy Jamieson Labour win (new seat)
Clydesdale Karen Turnbull Labour win (new seat)
Cunninghame South Irene Oldfather Labour win (new seat)
Dumfries Elaine Murray Labour win (new seat)
East Lothian John Home Robertson Labour win (new seat)
Galloway and Upper Nithsdale Alasdair Morgan SNP win (new seat)
Roxburgh and Berwickshire Euan Robson Liberal Democrats win (new seat)
Tweeddale, Ettrick and Lauderdale Ian Jenkins Liberal Democrats win (new seat)
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 win (new seat)
Cunninghame North Allan Wilson Labour win (new seat)
Dumbarton Jackie Baillie Labour win (new seat)
Eastwood Kenneth Macintosh Labour win (new seat)
Greenock and Inverclyde Duncan McNeil Labour win (new seat)
Paisley North Wendy Alexander Labour win (new seat)
Paisley South Hugh Henry Labour win (new seat)
Strathkelvin and Bearsden Sam Galbraith Labour win (new seat)
West Renfrewshire Patricia Godman Labour win (new seat)
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

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

Notes
  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
  1. "Analysis of Results". www.parliament.scot. 10 July 2011. Retrieved 16 April 2020.
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