...related is the question of the territorial dimensions of the British state. Many in the British political classes still do not take the Scottish independence referendum seriously, viewing it as ...all down to Alex Salmond and his separatist SNP, while a wide segment of elite opinion does not grasp the degree of crisis and malaise in the United Kingdom.
Scottish Labour has been the dominant political party in Scotland for over 40 years. Yet this is the first book to consider the contemporary party, analysing it in the context of Scottish politics, ...Scotland, and the UK, as well as drawing on international comparisons.A range of areas are covered: *The chronology of events over the life of the party.*An analysis of the party, its internal structures and culture, and its role in Scottish society.*Labour’s role as Scotland’s leading party, its institutional role, and its wider relationship with Scottish society.*The role of the Labour movement.Key themes include:*The development of Scottish Labour as Scottish politics has changed with devolution.*Its often difficult relationship with devolution.*Home rule and the rise of the SNP.*The impact of its relationship with the UK Labour party.Includes contributions from Richard Finlay, Michael Keating, Douglas Fraser, Bob McLean and Christopher Harvie.Key Features:*The first book to look at not only the history of the Scottish Labour Party but also the contemporary party.*A mix of contributors ensure a variety of perspectives – from academics, journalists, political commentators and public policy experts.*Places Scottish Labour within a national and international context.
Explores the history and ideas of the Scottish Conservative Party since its creation in 1912. The Scottish Conservative Party has played a significant role in the politics of Scotland during the last ...century. This book explores the nature of the party, its standing in Scotland, its influence on the Union and its role in the Scottish Parliament. In particular it asks how the party lost support so dramatically in Scotland, from a majority of votes and seats at the 1955 general election to a single constituency and 17% of the vote in 2010. Divided into 2 parts: The Rise and Fall of Unionist Scotland and In the Political Wilderness Includes contributions from leading academics and political commentators including Richard Finlay, Colin Kidd, Catriona Macdonald, James Mitchell and Alex Massie
This book, which brings together leading academics and analysts, examines the extraordinary revival of the Scottish Conservative Party between 2011 and Ruth Davidson's shock resignation in 2019.
This article seeks to understand, explain and put in context the changing nature of Scottish politics. Part of the context is the rise of the SNP, which transformed Scottish politics and dragged ...Labour back to supporting devolution. Part is the inadequacies, ineptness and lack of resources
of Scottish Labour and its inability to develop a distinct, dynamic, pluralist politics to nurture devolution or a wider Scottish dimension. However, much more deep, profound social change and transformation is at work which has aided the rise of the SNP and decline of Labour. Scottish society
has dramatically altered, particularly over the last thirty to forty years. The Scottish economy has become much less dependent on traditional manufacturing and industrial jobs, and more shaped by smaller firms, the service sector, and less masculinised work. Scottish society has become less
deferential, hierarchical and status obsessed. It has been opened, changed and challenged by 'globalisation', in a similar way to other parts of Europe. Scottish Labour's old ways of doing politics is over.
Scotland has been changed dramatically and fundamentally. The SNP landslide victory has resulted in a completely different political map of Scotland. This is a wider set of changes than just a ...norther, near-foreign politics of little real interest to the Westminster village. For a start there is the demise of the Labour hegemony north of the border. This is part of a deeper crisis of the British political class and state, British identity and the demise of a popular British story that connected people and power. This is a major loss of faith and confidence in left and right, which is only just beginning to unfurl, awakening the possibilities of addressing the English question and nature of the UK. Adapted from the source document.
Scottish Labour has a long, proud history. It is one of the original and most influential parts of what we used to call 'the British labour movement'. It has a lineage of having contributed to the ...birth of British Labour, while also having a distinct Scottish dimension, stretching back to Keir Hardie, the Mid-Lanark by-election, and the founding of the original Scottish Labour Party in 1888, five years prior to the ILE This was a powerful party, in Scotland and as part of the Labour coalition across Britain. But the appeal and strength of Scottish Labour should not be exaggerated. There were always, throughout the twentieth century, clear limits to die constituencies of support for Labour in Scotland, which were rarely understood north of the border, let alone in the rest of the UK. Scottish Labour has never won a majority of the popular vote at any national election (unlike Welsh Labour, or for that matter the Scottish Tories). It came nearest - winning 49.9 per cent - in 1966, Wilson's high noon, the moment before the long crisis and final demise of British social democracy. Having said that, it has been Scotland's leading party since 1922: though it fell back in the 1931 disaster and 1950s Tory Indian summer, it re-emerged from the late 1950s, as Scotland began to move to a different political dynamic from the rest of the UK. This dynamic saw Labour gain, the Tories suffer, and the Scottish Nationalists slowly replace the Tories as Labour's main opponents. The Scottish party mattered hugely in terms of Westminster representation during this period, contributing a sizeable block of Labour MPs to Westminster. The 2011 Scottish Parliament elections are a watershed for Scottish politics They saw the Scottish Nationalists win 45.4 per cent versus 31.7 per cent for Scottish Labour in the constituency vote, and 44.0 per cent versus 26.3 per cent on the regional vote: leads of 13.7 per cent and 17.7 per cent respectively. This electoral landslide gave the SNP an overall majority in the Parliament, with 69 seats out of 129 The historic nature of the result can be illustrated by the fact that it was not until the 2007 Scottish Parliament election that the SNP ever managed to defeat the Labour Party. And even then the result was by the narrowest of margins, 32.9 per cent to 32.2 per cent on the constituency vote, and 31.0 per cent to 29.0 per cent on the regional vote. This gave the SNP 47 seats to Labour's 46, and allowed Alex Salmond to head up a minority administration for four years. Adapted from the source document.
