Scottish Parliament election, 2003
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Scotland |
 This article is part of the series: |
|
|
|
|
|
Other countries · Politics Portal |
| 1999 election • MSPs |
| 2003 election • MSPs |
| Next Election |
The Scottish Parliament election, 2003, was the second general election of the Scottish Parliament. It was held on May 1, 2003 and it brought no change in terms of control of the Scottish Executive. Jack McConnell, the Labour Party Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP), remained in office as First Minister, and the Executive continued as a Labour and Liberal Democrat coalition.
The results did represent, however, rises in support for the Scottish Green Party and the Scottish Socialist Party (SSP) - both parties outwith the "main four" - and declines in support for the Labour Party and the Scottish National Party (SNP). The Conservative and Unionist Party and the Liberal Democrats each polled almost exactly the same percentage of the vote as they had in 1999, with each holding the same number of seats.
Also, independent MSP Dennis Canavan was joined by two other independents in the Scottish Parliament: Margo MacDonald and Jean Turner. And John Swinburne, leader of the Scottish Senior Citizens Unity Party was also elected.
Though the decline in support for the SNP was viewed by some as a rejection of the case for Scottish independence, the number of pro-independence MSPs elected actually rose, because the Greens, SSP and Margo McDonald (Ind) also support independence.
For a full list of MSPs elected or re-elected see Members of the Scottish Parliament, 2003-2007.
Contents |
[edit] National vote
[edit] Constituency (first-past-the-post) results
| Party | Votes | Seats | Loss/gain | Share of vote (%) | Loss/gain | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Labour | 659,879 | 46 | -7 | 34.6 | -4.21 | |
| Scottish National Party | 449,476 | 9 | +2 | 23.8 | -4.96 | |
| Conservative and Unionist | 312,598 | 3 | +3 | 16.6 | +1.04 | |
| Liberal Democrats | 286,150 | 13 | +1 | 15.3 | +1.15 | |
| Scottish Socialist | 117,709 | 0 | 0 | 6.2 | +5.19 | |
| Others | 65,523 | 2 | +1 | 3.4 | +2.5 | |
Total votes cast - 1,891,335
[edit] Top up (additional member system) results
| Party | Votes | Seats | Loss/gain | Share of vote (%) | Loss/gain | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Labour | 561,379 | 4 | +1 | 29.3 | -4.34 | |
| Scottish National Party | 399,659 | 18 | -10 | 20.9 | -6.36 | |
| Conservative and Unionist | 296,929 | 15 | -3 | 15.5 | +0.15 | |
| Liberal Democrats | 225,774 | 4 | -1 | 11.8 | -0.63 | |
| Scottish Green | 132,138 | 7 | +5 | 6.9 | +4.9 | |
| Scottish Socialist | 128,026 | 6 | +6 | 6.7 | +3.1 | |
| Others | 171,951 | 2 | +2 | 8.9 | +2.2 | |
Total votes cast - 1,915,856
Overall turnout - 49.4%
[edit] Party representation
- Labour - 50 MSPs (-6)
- SNP - 27 MSPs (-8)
- Conservative - 18 MSPs (no change from 1999)
- Liberal Democrat - 17 MSPs (no change from 1999)
- Greens - 7 MSPs (+6)
- SSP - 6 MSPs (+5)
- Others - 4 MSPs (+3)
[edit] Party leaders in 2003
- Labour - Jack McConnell
- SNP - John Swinney
- Conservative - David McLetchie
- Liberal Democrat - Jim Wallace
- Greens - Robin Harper & Eleanor Scott (co-chairs)
- SSP - Tommy Sheridan
[edit] Coalition
The price Labour paid to form a coalition twith the Liberal Democrats was to allow proportional representation to be used in Scottish local government elections.
[edit] See also
- Politics of Scotland
- Members of the Scottish Parliament, 2003-2007
- Welsh Assembly election, 2003 and United Kingdom local elections, 2003 the same day
[edit] External links
| Preceded by 1999 election |
Scottish Parliament election 2003 election |
Succeeded by 2007 election |
