Scotland

Two kingdoms become one

The English and Scottish parliaments each passed Acts of Union in 1707, creating a united kingdom called Great Britain on 1 May that year. The new Parliament of Great Britain first met in October 1707.^[1]

Scotland’s relations with England have often been difficult, and Scots have long refused to think of Scotland as anything other than a separate country.^[2] Scotland’s own parliament had adjourned on 25 March 1707.^[3]

A parliament again

In a referendum on 11 September 1997, 74.3% of voters agreed that there should be a Scottish Parliament, and 63.5% that it should be able to vary taxes. Turnout was 60.4%.^[4] The Scotland Act 1998, passed at Westminster, begins: “There shall be a Scottish Parliament.”^[6]

Its 129 members were elected in May 1999, and it first sat on 12 May 1999 in the Church of Scotland’s Assembly Hall in Edinburgh.^[3] It has wide powers over health, education, housing, regional transport, the environment and agriculture, and some power over income tax.^[7] Matters such as the union itself and the UK Parliament stay reserved to Westminster.^[8]

“The Scottish Parliament, which adjourned on March 25, 1707, is hereby reconvened.”^[3]

Independence votes

For the 2014 referendum, a 2013 Order in Council under the Scotland Act gave the Scottish Parliament the power it needed to hold the vote.^[8] On 18 September 2014 Scotland voted against becoming an independent country by 2,001,926 votes (55.3%) to 1,617,989 (44.7%), on a turnout of 84.6%.^[5]

The Scottish Government later drafted a bill for a second referendum, and the UK Government was unwilling to agree another Order. On 23 November 2022 the UK Supreme Court ruled unanimously that the bill related to matters reserved to Westminster, so without such a change the Scottish Parliament cannot legislate for an independence referendum. The court said it was answering a legal question, not the political one of whether Scotland should be independent.^[8]