Scottish Labour (often – but inaccurately – described at the "Scottish Labour Party") is that part of the (British) Labour Party which operates in Scotland. It is historically the largest political party in modern Scottish politics, having won the largest share of the vote in Scotland at every UK general election and European Parliament general election since 1979, and in the first two elections to the Scottish Parliament.
At the 2007 Scottish Parliament general election the Scottish Labour Party became the second largest party, with one fewer seat than the SNP, who subsequently formed a minority administration.
The Scottish Labour have 46 of 129 seats in the Scottish Parliament, 39 of 59 Scottish seats in the UK Parliament, and two of seven Scottish seats in the European Parliament.
Recent history
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 Liberal Democrats, Scottish Green Party, trades unions and churches, and also campaigned for a "Yes-Yes" vote in the 1997 referendum.
In the first elections to the Scottish Parliament on 6 May 1999, with Donald Dewar leading the Scottish Labour Party against their main opponents, the SNP under Alex Salmond, the party won 56 seats.
Although Scottish Labour won the most seats, they did not have a majority in Parliament to form an Executive without the help of a smaller party. Following this, the party formed a coalition government with the Scottish Liberal Democrats in the Scottish Executive with Dewar agreeing to their demand for the abolition of up-front tuition fees for university students.
On 13 May, Dewar was nominated as First Minister, and was officially appointed by the Queen on May 17 at a ceremony in the Palace of Holyroodhouse. He later travelled to the Court of Session to be sworn in by the Lord President and receive the Great Seal of Scotland.
In April 2000, Dewar was admitted to hospital for tests on his heart, following a previous test where a minor irregularity was discovered. In May 2000, he later had surgery to repair a leaking heart valve, and was forced to take a three month break from Parliament, with Deputy First Minister, Jim Wallace taking over as Acting First Minister.
On 10 October 2000, Dewar sustained a fall. He seemed fine at first but later that day suffered a massive brain hemorrhage which was possibly triggered by the anticoagulant medication he was taking after the heart surgery. Donald Dewar died 11 October in Edinburgh's Western General Hospital. After Dewar's death, Henry McLeish was elected as Leader of Scottish Labour, defeating rival Jack McConnell, 27 October 2000 but resigned in 2001 amid a scandal involving the renting of his constituency office and allegations of financial wrongdoings. McLeish felt his resignation would allow the Scottish Labour Party a clean break to prepare for the 2003 Parliamentary elections.
After McLeish's resignation, Jack McConnell quickly emerged as the only candidate, and was elected First Minister by the Parliament on 22 November 2001.
In the run-up to the 2007 Scottish Parliament general election, McConnell was criticised by many inside and outside of the Labour party for his role in the party's poor start to the campaign with Labour solidly behind the Scottish National Party in many opinion polls. On April 10, McConnell unveiled Scottish Labour's election manifesto, which included plans to scrap water bills for pensioners and reform council tax bandings. The manifesto also proposed a large increase in education spending, which would allow the increasing of the school leaving age to 18 and a reduction in average class sizes to 19.
McConnell's ruling Labour Party was defeated by the SNP, both in terms of the popular vote and in numbers of seats. The SNP won 47 seats in the new parliament, whilst the Labour Party won 46, thus securing them a one-seat majority over Labour, but still well short of a majority of the parliament. On 15 August 2007, McConnell announced his intention to resign as Scottish Labour leader.
On 17 August 2007, Wendy Alexander formally launched her campaign for the leadership of the Labour Party in Holyrood. As the only candidate, Alexander was installed as leader of the Labour group in the Scottish Parliament on 14 September 2007.
In 2007, a funding scandal developed after it emerged that she had accepted an illegal donation from Paul Green, a property magnate, a matter that was investigated by the Electoral Commission. Further newspaper reports on 30 November indicated Alexander was aware of the identity of the donor, after having sent a personal letter of gratitude to Mr Green (at his home in the tax haven of Jersey) concerning the donation. Accepting a donation from someone who is not registered on the UK electoral roll is illegal under electoral law, and is subject to criminal prosecution.
However, the Electoral Commission concluded in February 2008 that Alexander had taken 'significant steps' to comply with funding regulations and decided not to refer the matter to the Procurator Fiscal. In a separate development, a few days earlier in February 2008, the standards watchdog for Scotland reported Wendy Alexander to the Procurator Fiscal for failing to publicly declare campaign donations.
During a TV interview on 4 May 2008, Wendy Alexander performed a major U-turn on previous Scottish Labour Party's policy by seeming to endorse a referendum on Scottish Independence, despite previously refusing to support any referendum on the grounds that she did not support independence.
During a further TV interview on 6 May 2008 she reiterated this commitment to a referendum and claimed that she had the full backing of British Prime Minister Gordon Brown.
The following day, Gordon Brown denied this was Labour policy and that Wendy Alexander had been misrepresented during Prime Ministers Questions in Westminster. Despite this lack of backing, Wendy Alexander once again reiterated her commitment to a referendum during First Minister's Questions in the Scottish Parliament.
On 28 June 2008, Wendy Alexander announced her resignation as Leader of the Scottish Labour Party, due to pressure on her following the donation scandal. Cathy Jamieson became interim leader of the Scottish Labour Party until a leadership election could be held.
In late June 2008, David Marshall, MP for the Glasgow East constituency since 1979, resigned on health grounds. The resignation was sudden, however the seat was the 3rd safest Labour seat in the country and at the Westminster general election in 2005, Labour had a 13,057 majority over second placed SNP. In the resultant by-election on 24th July 2008, SNP candidate, serving Glasgow City Council member John Mason managed a spectacular 22.5% swing in the nationalist's favour to win the seat.
On 1 August 2008, the contest for the new Leader of the Scottish Labour Party began. The contenders were Iain Gray, MSP for East Lothian former Enterprise Minister in the previous Labour Executive, Andy Kerr, MSP for East Kilbride and former Health Secretary in the previous administration, and Cathy Jamieson MSP, who had been deputy leader under Jack McConnell and caretaker leader since Wendy Alexander resigned following the illegal donation scandal.
On 13 September 2008, Iain Gray was elected leader and promised a "fresh start" for Labour in Scotland.
On 13 August 2008, Labour MP for Glenrothes in Fife, John MacDougall died, triggering a by-election. Media and public interest was high principally because the British Prime Minister, Gordon Brown's constituency is in the same area. In a Westminster by-election in the neighbouring Dunfermline and West Fife seat in February 2006, the Liberal Democrats caused a major political upset, overturning a Labour majority of more than 11,500 to take the seat.
Membership
In March 2006 the Scottish Labour Party membership had fallen to 18,800 members, down from a peak of approximately 30,000 in the run-up to the 1997 UK general election.[1] The total annual income of the party in 2005, as registered with the Electoral Commission,[2] was £523,523 (up from £318,609 in 2004), with assets of £169,502.
Leaders of Scottish Labour MSPs
1 - Resigned
2 - Died in Office
3 - Interim
- See also Scottish Labour Party leadership election, 2008
- See also Scottish Labour Party deputy leadership election, 2008
Executive
Senior office-bearers:
Parliamentary and local government representatives:
- Scottish Parliamentary Labour Group:
- Westminster Parliamentary Labour Group:
- European Parliamentary Labour Group:
- Local Government Section:
Regional representatives:
- Central Scotland and Glasgow Section:
- Lothians and South of Scotland Section:
- North East Scotland and Highlands and Islands Section:
- West of Scotland and Mid Scotland and Fife Section:
Trade Union Group:
Co-operative Party and Socialist Societies Section:
Young Labour Section:
- Neil Bibby
- Helena Brackenridge
In addition to the Executive Committee there are 3 other business committees:
Secretariat
The General Secretary of the Scottish Labour Party is Colin Smyth. He succeeded Lesley Quinn, who had been in the position since November 1999.[3]
In the financial year 2005 three members of staff were paid salaries directly by the Scottish Labour Party (two members of staff in 2004); all other salaries being paid directly by the Labour Party in London.
The party has its headquarters at John Smith House, 145 West Regent Street, in the Blythswood Hill district of Glasgow.
Tony McElroy is the media spokesman for the Labour Party in Scotland.
Conference
The party holds a biannual conference, the most recent being held in Aviemore between 26-26 February 2006. The next conference is to be held between 24-26 November 2006 in Oban.
Traditionally a representative of the Scottish Trades Union Congress would be invited to address conference, but this link was broken in 2003 when the invitation to Bill Speirs was withdrawn.[4] He subsequently addressed the Scottish National Party's annual national conference.
Further reading
- Donald Dewar, Scotland's First Minister, Wendy Alexander, Mainstream, 2005.
- The Scottish Labour Party, Gerry Hassan, 2003, Edinburgh University Press, ISBN 0-7486-1784-1
- Scottish Labour Leaders 1918-1939: A Biographical Dictionary, William Know, Mainstream, 1984.
- Dictionary of Labour Biography, Greg Rosen, 2001, Politicos Publishing, ISBN 1902301188
- Old Labour to New, Greg Rosen, 2005, Politicos Publishing.
- John Smith - A Life, Mark Stuart, Politicos Publishing, 2005.
References
- ^ "Panic within Labour as membership falls", The Scotsman, 5 March, 2006
- ^ pdf file: The Scottish Labour Party, Report and Financial Statements for the Year Ended 31st December 2005, Hardie Caldwell, Chartered Accountants, Citypoint 2, 25 Tyndrum Street, Glasgow, G4 0JY
- ^ "Labour unveils new top official", BBC News website, 4 February 2008
- ^ Press release, 20th May 2003, Scottish Trades Union Congress
See also
External links
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