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94-585: The programme was initially announced by the Labour - Liberal Democrat coalition government in 2006, and was continued, although cut back from the original scheme, by the subsequent Scottish National Party governments. It was officially completed on 4 October 2021 with the completion of the redevelopment of the Glasgow Queen Street station . The project aimed to deliver the infrastructure to enable 8 car, electric trains to operate (an increase from

188-573: A Section 30 order for one to be held. In October 2023, Labour won the 2023 Rutherglen and Hamilton West by-election with the election of Michael Shanks . Michael Shanks was elected with a 24.1% swing from the SNP who held the seat since 2015. At the 2024 general election , across the United Kingdom, the Labour Party won the election with a landslide victory, winning 411 seats across

282-467: A backbencher. Sometimes their votes in Parliament are called the " payroll vote ", because they can be taken for granted. The consequences for a back-bencher can include the lack of future promotion to a government post, a reduction of party campaigning effort in his or her constituency during the next election, deselection by his or her local party activists, or, in extreme circumstances, "withdrawal of

376-476: A breach of parliamentary privilege . The consequences of defying the party whip depend on the circumstances and are usually negotiated with the party whip in advance. The party whip's job is to ensure the outcome of the vote. The party in the majority can always win a vote if its members obey the whip. If the party has a large Commons majority, it can make allowances for MPs who are away on important business, or whose political circumstances require them to take

470-585: A historic low 13%, and were more than 15% behind the Conservatives in Scotland in some polls. However, towards the end of the campaign Labour's polling increased to levels around the 24% which it had received in 2015. On election day itself, the party managed to improve on its 2015 result and received 27% of the Scottish vote in a surprisingly good night for the party nationwide, and picked up 6 seats from

564-518: A listening exercise. After surviving previous calls for him to go, Leonard resigned as leader on 14 January 2021, triggering the 2021 Scottish Labour leadership election . Shortly afterwards, it was reported that Leonard had been pressured into resigning by wealthy donors, who told UK Labour leader Keir Starmer that they would not give money to the Westminster party unless Leonard quit. On 27 February 2021, former Deputy Leader Anas Sarwar

658-454: A major U-turn on previous Scottish Labour 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 two days later, she reiterated this commitment to a referendum and claimed that she had the full backing of current British prime minister Gordon Brown . The following day, however, Brown denied this

752-628: A new post of Leader of the Scottish Labour Party to be created (previous Scottish Labour leaders had only been the leader of the Labour group in the Scottish Parliament). Others included more autonomy for the Scottish party and the reorganisation of members into branches based on Holyrood constituencies rather than Westminster constituencies. On 17 December 2011, Johann Lamont MSP was elected as leader and Anas Sarwar MP

846-788: A number of candidates affiliated with the Orange Order in local elections. In February 2022, during an interview on Times Radio , Sarwar said: "[Labour] have got to demonstrate to people the kind of alternative we can have and the difference it would make to people's lives so they positively vote Labour, not just negatively vote against the Tories or the SNP. If I'm honest, I didn't quite grip or grasp how I think hollowed out we were as an organisation, not just in terms of our political message and our political result, as an organisation I hadn't really grasped how hollowed out we were." The party rebranded

940-535: A particular issue very seriously. Theoretically at least, expulsion from the party is an automatic consequence of defying a three-line whip. Other such offences include betraying party loyalties. An example of this during John Major 's government was when nine Conservative MPs had the whip removed after voting against the government on its stance on the Maastricht Treaty , becoming known as Eurosceptics. In practice they remained Conservative MPs supporting

1034-579: A private basis, serving as their secretary during periods when the party was in government (1922–23, 1924–29 and 1935 onwards) until 1939, when the post formally became part of the civil service (as Assistant to the Parliamentary Secretary to the Treasury) and Harris was appointed into it, with a salary of £850. He retired in 1961 and was succeeded by Freddie Warren; all subsequent appointees have been permanent civil servants. In India ,

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1128-562: A referendum during First Minister's Questions in the Scottish Parliament. On 28 June 2008, Alexander announced her resignation as Leader of Scottish Labour as a result of the pressure on her following the donation scandal. Cathy Jamieson subsequently became interim party leader. A month after, Labour lost a safe Westminster seat to the SNP in the Glasgow East by-election . The 2008 Labour group leadership election

1222-636: A reversal in Springburn, creating a slightly longer journey time. Electrification to Stirling , Alloa and Dunblane was originally reported to have been dropped as part of the changes to EGIP. Electrification is continuing and is expected to be complete by 2018; it has been carried out under the rolling programme of electrification, rather than as part of the EGIP programme. The new proposals were criticised by business and environmental groups. Sustainable transport campaign group Transform Scotland described

1316-472: A small loss of votes but no losses of seats. McLeish resigned later that year amid a scandal involving allegations that he sub-let part of his tax-subsidised Westminster constituency office without it having been registered in the register of interests kept in the Parliamentary office, an affair which the press called Officegate . Though McLeish could not have personally benefited financially from

1410-403: A year later on 11 October 2000. A new first minister was elected in a ballot by Scottish Labour's MSPs and national executive members, because there was insufficient time to hold a full leadership election. On 21 October, Henry McLeish was elected to succeed Dewar, defeating rival Jack McConnell . Labour's dominance of Scotland's Westminster seats continued in the 2001 general election , with

1504-490: Is Scottish Labour. I'm ambitious for our party because I'm ambitious for our country". He also said that he planned to defeat the SNP in 2016, and would use the increased powers being devolved to Holyrood to end poverty and inequality. In her speech after being elected deputy leader, Kezia Dugdale said that the party's "focus has to be on the future – a Scottish Labour party that's fighting fit and fighting for our future". Labour's poll ratings in Scotland did not reverse, and

1598-495: Is a "free vote" on a matter of conscience. There are some cases in which the whip is removed because an issue is a matter of conscience. These include adoption, religion and equal opportunities. The impact of a whip being imposed on a matter of conscience can be damaging for a party leader. One such case was that of Iain Duncan Smith, who imposed a three-line whip against the adoption of children by unmarried couples which, at

1692-732: Is assisted by the Deputy Chief Whip, other whips, and assistant whips. In order to provide the whip with a salary, the government whips are appointed to positions in HM Treasury and in the Royal Household under the Lord Steward of the Household . The whips are not fully active in either of these departments, though they do undertake a number of responsibilities. The Deputy Chief Whip is Treasurer of HM Household ,

1786-514: Is currently one of Scotland's longest-serving MPs. The 2019 general election was Labour's worst result nationally in 84 years, with their lowest share of the vote recorded in Scotland since the December 1910 general election . The 2021 Scottish Parliament election saw Labour decline even further, achieving their lowest number of seats in Holyrood since devolution in 1999; with 22 MSPs returned to

1880-450: Is responsible to the Labour Party's London-based National Executive Committee (NEC) . The Scottish Executive Committee is made up of representatives of party members, elected members and party affiliates, for example, trade unions and socialist societies. Party Officers: In 2008, Scottish Labour membership was reported as 17,000, down from a peak of approximately 30,000 in the run-up to the 1997 general election . The figures included in

1974-537: The 2014 referendum on Scottish independence , Scottish Labour joined with the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats to form the pro-union Better Together campaign against Scottish independence . It was led by Alistair Darling , a former Labour minister. In addition, Scottish Labour ran its own pro-UK campaign United with Labour alongside, with the support of former Prime Minister Gordon Brown . Anas Sarwar MP also led an unofficial organisation called

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2068-510: The 2015 leadership election on 15 August 2015, beating Ken Macintosh . On 1 November 2015, Scottish Labour Party delegates backed a vote to scrap the UK's Trident nuclear missile system . The motion was supported by an overwhelming majority, in which both party members and unions voted 70% in favor of the motion. In the 2016 Scottish Parliament election , Labour lost a third of its seats, dropping from 37 to 24. Labour got its lowest percentage of

2162-454: The 2017 local elections , Labour's share of first preference votes fell from 31.4% to 20.2%, while it lost over 130 seats. This result meant the Party fell to third place in terms of both vote share and number of councillors. Labour also lost control of Glasgow and three other councils where it had a majority. At the beginning of the 2017 general election campaign, Labour's poll ratings fell to

2256-669: The Daily Record in February 2022 showed that nearly one third of Scottish Labour members were in favour of another Scottish independence referendum . Asked whether "in principle" there should be a referendum on independence, 30% agreed and 57% disagreed. From the formation of the Labour Representation Committee in 1900, it had members in Scotland, but unlike in England and Wales, it made no pact with

2350-600: The House of Commons is usually also appointed as Parliamentary Secretary to the Treasury , a Cabinet position. The Government Chief Whip has an official residence at 12 Downing Street , however their offices are located at 9 Downing Street . The Chief Whip can wield great power over their party's MPs, including cabinet ministers, being seen to speak at all times on behalf of the Prime Minister . Margaret Thatcher

2444-627: The Liberal Party and so initially struggled to make an impact. In 1899, the Scottish Trades Union Congress organised the Scottish Workers' Representation Committee , which merged into the Labour Party in 1909, greatly increasing its presence in Scotland. By this time, the party's structure in the nation was complex, with constituency parties, and branches of affiliated parties, but no co-ordination at

2538-597: The UK Labour Party and is therefore not a registered political party under the terms of the Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000 . It does however have autonomy from the UK Labour Party. As with Welsh Labour , Scottish Labour has its own general secretary which is the administrative head of the party, responsible for the day-to-day running of the organisation, and reports to

2632-477: The "2014 Truth Team", described by the party as "dedicated to cutting through the noise and delivering [...] facts on independence". In July 2012, a member of Scottish Labour started Labour for Independence , a rebel group of Labour supporters who back Yes Scotland in the campaign for Scottish independence. The group was dismissed by the Scottish Labour leadership as lacking "real support" from within

2726-513: The 2011 Scottish Parliament election would not necessarily translate into support for its political opponents in other elections. Following the 2011 Scottish election, Ed Miliband commissioned the Review of the Labour Party in Scotland of the future structure and operation of the Labour Party in Scotland, co-chaired by Murphy and Sarah Boyack MSP. The review included a recommendation for

2820-522: The 2017 general election marked the first time in twenty years that the Labour Party had made net gains in the UK at any election. The success was short-lived, however, and at the 2019 general election , Labour lost all new seats gained two years earlier, and again were left with Edinburgh South as their only Scottish seat in the House of Commons. Ian Murray has served as the MP for the constituency since 2010, and

2914-477: The 5 July following the electoral success of the Scottish Labour Party "this is a historic day for Scotland and for the entire UK. People are waking up to the news that after 14 years of Conservative government, after 14 years of chaos and division, it has come to an end and Scotland and the UK has elected a Labour government". As new Prime Minister of the United Kingdom , Keir Starmer , began to select his new ministry cabinet on 5 July, Scottish Labour MP Ian Murray

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3008-484: The 73 constituency seats), a clear distance ahead of the second-placed Scottish National Party (SNP). Labour entered government by forming a coalition with the Scottish Liberal Democrats, with Dewar agreeing to their demand for the abolition of up-front tuition fees for university students as the price for a coalition deal. Dewar became the inaugural First Minister of Scotland . Dewar died only

3102-552: The Annual Report presented to the Scottish Party Conference in 2008, also recorded that more than half of all Constituency Labour Parties (CLPs) had less than 300 members, with 14 having less than 200 members. In September 2010, the party issued 13,135 ballot papers to party members during the Labour Party (UK) leadership election . These did not necessarily equate to 13,135 individual members – due to

3196-464: The House of Commons. It is represented by 262 of the 1,227 local councillors across Scotland. The Scottish Labour party has no separate Chief Whip at Westminster. Throughout the later decades of the 20th century and into the first years of the 21st, Labour dominated politics in Scotland; winning the largest share of the vote in Scotland at every UK general election from 1964 to 2010 , every European Parliament election from 1984 to 2004 and in

3290-660: The Lords holds the role of Captain of the Yeomen of the Guard . Other whips, who are fewer in number due to the decreased importance of party discipline in the Lords, are appointed as Lords in Waiting , if men, and Baronesses in Waiting, if women. As well as their duties as whips, Lords whips speak in the chamber (unlike Commons whips) to support departmental ministers, or act as a spokesperson for government departments with no minister in

3384-695: The Lords. Outside the government, the Official Opposition Chief Whip in the Commons, like the Leader of the Opposition , receives a stipend in addition to their parliamentary salary, because their additional responsibilities will make them unable to hold down another job. The whips, although superficially dictatorial, act as communicators between backbenchers and the party leadership. Ultimately, if backbenchers are unhappy with

3478-712: The Oxford English Dictionary, the use of the term "whippers-in" was first recorded in the parliamentary sense in the Annual Register of 1772. In the UK House of Commons , the importance of a vote is indicated by underlining items on the "whip", which is the name of the letter the Chief Whip sends to all the MPs in their party at the start of the week. This letter informs them of the schedule for

3572-446: The SNP in traditionally Labour areas such as Coatbridge , Glasgow , Kirkcaldy , and Rutherglen , bringing its Scottish number of seats to 7. Despite the positive result for the party, Labour remained in third place in Scotland, behind the Conservatives on 29%, and the SNP on 37%. On 29 August 2017, Dugdale resigned as leader of the Scottish Labour Party. Her deputy, Alex Rowley , took over as acting leader until 15 November, when he

3666-484: The SNP or the Greens, instead choosing to work with the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats to form minority administrations in several cases. In Edinburgh, they suspended two councillors for refusing to vote for the deal which gave Conservatives positions within the council. Sarwar, like Starmer, voiced his opposition to a proposed second Scottish independence referendum , stating that a Labour government would not grant

3760-479: The SNP, who won 47 seats to Labour's 46 seats. Labour still won the most constituencies, but the SNP made inroads. Both parties were well short of a majority in the parliament. SNP leader Alex Salmond was elected first minister with support from the Scottish Greens , defeating McConnell 49–46 while the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats abstained. Labour did take the most votes in the local elections on

3854-414: The Scottish Labour Party and treating it "like a branch office of London." The party's 2014 leadership election was won by Jim Murphy , an MP who had previously served as Secretary of State for Scotland and been a prominent campaigner for the pro-Union side in the referendum. In his victory speech, Murphy said that his election marked a "fresh start" for Scottish Labour: "Scotland is changing and so too

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3948-473: The Scottish Labour Party. In the early years, the Scottish Council had little power, and its conference could only consider motions on Scottish matters until 1972. However, this allowed it to devote significant time to the question of Scottish devolution . The Labour Party campaigned for the creation of a devolved Scottish Parliament as part of its wider policy of a devolved United Kingdom. In

4042-455: The Scottish Parliament election, with Labour losing seven seats and the Liberal Democrats gaining one. The SNP also lost seats, though other pro-independence parties made gains. Labour once again won the majority of seats in Scotland at the 2005 general election . The boundaries in Scotland were redrawn to reduce the number of Westminster constituencies in Scotland from 72 to 59. Labour had a notional loss of 5 seats and an actual loss of 15. At

4136-516: The Scottish Parliament. Despite this, Anas Sarwar remained as leader. The 2022 Scottish local elections resulted in Labour gaining 20 seats across Scottish local councils, with a slight increase in their share of the vote. In the 2024 general election , Scottish Labour won 37 seats, becoming the largest party in Scotland. Scottish Labour is registered with the UK Electoral Commission as a description and Accounting Unit (AU) of

4230-624: The UK General Secretary of the Labour Party . The Scottish Labour headquarters is currently at Bath Street, Glasgow. It was formerly co-located with the offices of Unite the Union at John Smith House, 145 West Regent Street. The party holds an annual conference during February/March each year. Scottish Labour is administered by the Glasgow-based Scottish Executive Committee (SEC), which

4324-405: The United Kingdom, with Scottish Labour winning 37 of the 57 Scottish seats contested at the election. The electoral success for Scottish Labour in Scotland at the 2024 UK general election was also considered a landslide, with Scottish Labour returning as the largest political party representing Scotland at the House of Commons . Scottish Labour Party leader, Anas Sarwar, said on the morning of

4418-502: The United Kingdom. Scottish Labour experienced one of their worst defeats ever at the 2015 general election . They were left with a sole seat in the House of Commons, Edinburgh South , and lost 40 of its 41 seats to the SNP. This was the first time the party had not dominated in Scotland since the Conservative Party landslide in 1959 . At the 2016 Scottish Parliament election , the party lost 13 of its 37 seats, becoming

4512-457: The chamber by hand signals during the division when the time comes (usually after the division bell has been rung). Neither these instructions, which are visible to everyone in the chamber, nor the "whip" letter at the start of the week, are recorded in Hansard , as they are considered a matter internal to the political party . Any explicit direction to an MP as to how they should vote would be

4606-510: The concept of the whip was inherited from colonial British rule. Every major political party appoints a whip who is responsible for the party's discipline and behaviour on the floor of the house . Usually, that person directs the party members to stick to the party's stand on certain issues and directs them to vote as per the direction of senior party members. However, there are some cases, such as Indian presidential election, where no whip can be issued to direct Member of Parliament or Member of

4700-591: The constituency vote declined by less than 1%. Labour's defeat was attributed to their campaign being directed mostly against the government in Westminster instead of the SNP. Party leader Iain Gray , who held on to his own seat by only 151 votes, announced that he would be resigning with effect from later in the year. Eight weeks later, Labour easily retained a Westminster seat at the Inverclyde by-election , suggesting that Scottish Labour's disappointing performance in

4794-454: The cuts as 'a major step backwards' and suggested that the government's concurrent decision to bring forward a £3 billion project to dual the A9 road demonstrated a 'perverse set of priorities'. The fastest journey times between Glasgow and Edinburgh under the scheme will now be 42 minutes compared to the just over half an hour previously promised. One of the most disruptive elements of the project

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4888-411: The days ahead and includes the sentence "Your attendance is absolutely essential" next to each debate in which there will be a vote. This sentence is underlined once, twice, or three times depending on the consequences that will be suffered if they do not turn up, hence the origin of the terms one-line whip , two-line whip and three-line whip . The actual vote they are to make is communicated to them in

4982-408: The election, Labour consolidated their vote in Scotland, losing no seats (despite losing 91 seats across the rest of Britain) and regained Glasgow East from the SNP. This resulted in incumbent Scottish secretary Jim Murphy stating that the result provided an impetus for Scottish Labour to attempt to become "the biggest party in Holyrood" in the 2011 Scottish Parliament elections. Labour led the SNP in

5076-484: The event of a train failure or other incident. Scottish Labour Party Social democracy Socialism Communism Northern Ireland Scotland Wales Other Scottish Labour , is the part of the UK Labour Party active in Scotland. Ideologically social democratic and unionist , it holds 22 of 129 seats in the Scottish Parliament and 37 of 57 Scottish seats in

5170-575: The first two elections to the Scottish Parliament in 1999 and 2003 . After this, Scottish Labour formed a coalition with the Scottish Liberal Democrats , forming a majority Scottish Executive . Until recently, especially since the 2014 Scottish independence referendum , the party suffered significant decline; losing ground predominantly to the Scottish National Party , who advocate Scottish independence from

5264-498: The following month, changing its traditional red rose logo to a red and purple thistle. A party spokesman said: "Scottish Labour is committed to transforming our party to win back the trust of the people to Scotland. We're on the side of the Scots, and hope they'll join us so we can build the future together. To do that we need new ideas and new thinking. At Scottish Labour conference this week you will hear Anas Sarwar relentlessly focus on

5358-468: The future." At the 2022 local elections , Labour made minor gains and overtook the Conservatives into second place by gaining 20 seats and a slight increase in their share of the vote, but still finished far behind the SNP; with 282 seats overall, it was Labour's second worst-worst result since 1977 , beaten only by the 262 seats won in 2017. The party was criticised in the aftermath of the elections for pledging to do no deals or partake in coalitions with

5452-419: The government on a crucial vote. Former MP Joe Ashton recalled a case from the latter days of James Callaghan 's government: I remember the famous case of Leslie Spriggs , the then-Member for St. Helens. We had a tied vote, and he was brought to the House in an ambulance having suffered a severe heart attack. The two Whips went out to look in the ambulance and there was Leslie Spriggs lying there as though he

5546-459: The government on other issues. Sir Bill Cash , Sir John Redwood and Sir Iain Duncan Smith are still Conservative MPs. This was also the only time when MPs who were being whipped were cooperating with the opposite side's whips. In most cases, the 'pairing' system enables one from each side to cancel out the other's vote if absent simultaneously. Despite the whip, individuals are entitled to vote according to their own beliefs, particularly when there

5640-539: The late 1980s and 1990s it and its representatives participated in the Scottish Constitutional Convention with the Scottish Liberal Democrats , Scottish Greens , trades unions and churches, and also campaigned for a "Yes-Yes" vote in the 1997 referendum . Donald Dewar led Labour's campaign for the first elections to the Scottish Parliament on 6 May 1999. Labour won the most votes and seats, with 56 seats out of 129 (including 53 of

5734-416: The leadership election must have either been a member of the Scottish Labour Party, an 'affiliated supporter' (through being signed up as a Scottish Labour Party supporter through an affiliated organisation or union), or a 'registered supporter' (which requires signing up online and paying a one-off fee of £12) by 9 October. Voting opened on 27 October and closed at midday on 17 November. Richard Leonard won

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5828-459: The leadership election with 56.7% of the vote and was elected as the leader of the Scottish Labour Party on 18 November. On 12 December 2019, Scottish Labour returned to having only one seat in Westminster ( Edinburgh South ). Leonard apologised for the UK party failing to address concerns over Brexit and for the Scottish party not having stopped what he described as the "SNP juggernaut". However, he said he would continue as leader and carry out

5922-542: The leadership's position, they can threaten to revolt during a vote and force the leadership to compromise. While the whip was formally introduced to British politics by the Irish Parliamentary Party under Charles Stewart Parnell in the 1880s, in 1846 the Duke of Wellington advised the new Conservative Party leader Lord Stanley to ensure that his "whippers-in" were personally loyal. According to

6016-484: The national level. To provide this, a Scottish Advisory Council was founded in 1915, its first conference chaired by Keir Hardie . This was later renamed as the Scottish Council of the Labour Party , informally known as the Labour Party in Scotland . In 1994 or 1995, it was renamed as the Scottish Labour Party. Under Kezia Dugdale , it was rebranded as Scottish Labour, though its official name remains

6110-472: The newly elected leader Jim Murphy claimed that the figure was "about 20,000" on the TV programme Scotland Tonight . In late September 2015, following a membership boost resulting from the 2015 Labour leadership election , a total of 29,899 people were associated with the party; 18,824 members, 7,790 people affiliated through trade unions and other groups, and 3,285 registered supporters. In September 2017, it

6204-571: The next two whips are Comptroller of HM Household and Vice-Chamberlain of HM Household . The remaining whips are Lords Commissioners of the Treasury . Assistant whips, and whips of opposition parties, generally do not receive such appointments. The Government Chief Whip in the House of Lords also holds the role of Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms , while the Government Deputy Chief Whip in

6298-405: The oversight, he undertook to repay the £36,000 rental income, and resigned to allow Scottish Labour a clean break to prepare for the 2003 Scottish Parliament election . After McLeish's resignation, McConnell quickly emerged as the only candidate, and was elected First Minister by the Parliament on 22 November 2001. The coalition between Labour and the Liberal Democrats was narrowly re-elected at

6392-467: The party suffered a landslide defeat in the general election in May 2015 , losing 40 of their 41 seats to the SNP. Many senior party figures were unseated, including Murphy himself ( East Renfrewshire ), Shadow Foreign Secretary Douglas Alexander ( Paisley and Renfrewshire South ) and Shadow Scotland Secretary Margaret Curran ( Glasgow East ). Ian Murray ( Edinburgh South ) was the only MP re-elected. It

6486-662: The party's electoral structure, members can qualify for multiple votes. The party has declined to reveal its membership figures since 2008, and did not publish the number of votes cast in the leadership elections of 2011 or 2014, only percentages. In November 2014 the party's membership was claimed by an unnamed source reported in the Sunday Herald to be 13,500. Other reports in the media at around this time quoted figures of "as low as 8,000" (the Evening Times ) and "less than 10,000" ( New Statesman ). In December 2014

6580-560: The party. The referendum was held on 18 September 2014 and resulted in a 55.3%–44.7% victory for the No side. However, many of Labour's traditional strongholds favoured the Yes side, notably including Glasgow . The SNP had a surge in membership and gained a wide lead over Labour in the opinion polls. On 24 October 2014, Johann Lamont announced her resignation as leader. She accused Labour's UK-wide leadership of undermining her attempts to reform

6674-458: The polls for the 2011 Scottish Parliament election until the campaign began in March, at which point support for the SNP rallied. The SNP went on to win an unprecedented majority in the Scottish Parliament, a result that had been considered impossible under the proportional voting system. Labour had a net loss of 7 seats to the SNP. It also lost most of their constituency seats, although its share of

6768-565: The previous 6 car maximum) on Edinburgh - Glasgow services with a fastest journey time of 42 minutes. The additional train carriages were to allow a total increase in capacity of 30%. The project was also designed to deliver electrification of 94 miles of track including diversionary routes through Cumbernauld and Falkirk. As originally announced in 2006, the project would have cost £1 billion and aimed to increase capacity by increasing service frequency to 6tph rather than by lengthening trains. Transport Scotland commissioned Jacobs to examine

6862-575: The previous administration, and Cathy Jamieson MSP, the acting party leader who had been deputy leader under Jack McConnell. On 13 September 2008, Gray was elected leader and promised a "fresh start" for Labour in Scotland. A few months later, Labour won the Glenrothes by-election in Fife. The result was considered a surprise, as there was speculation that the SNP could have won an upset similar to Glasgow East. The 2009 European Parliament election

6956-502: The project for potential savings and they identified that the a similar capacity increase could be achieved by increasing train length while maintaining a 4tph frequency. This had previously been thought to be impossible due to restrictions at Glasgow Queen Street station. The redevelopment of Buchanan Galleries allowed this option to be developed instead with a major rebuild and the lengthening of platforms at Queen St high level station. This enabled several major schemes to be dropped from

7050-434: The same day but lost seats due to the introduction of proportional representation for local council elections. On 15 August 2007, McConnell announced his intention to resign as Scottish Labour leader. Wendy Alexander emerged as the only candidate to succeed him, and was installed as leader of the Labour group in the Scottish Parliament on 14 September 2007. During a TV interview on 4 May 2008, Wendy Alexander performed

7144-599: The scope of EGIP as they were only required if an increase in train frequency took place: Another proposed scheme the Garngad Chord, near Springburn had already been dropped from the scheme. It was intended to allow Glasgow-Cumbernauld services to use the North Clyde Line into Queen Street Low Level, thus freeing up capacity on the High Level station. Instead services started on this route in 2014 with

7238-516: The start of the campaign for the 2007 Scottish Parliament election , Labour were behind the SNP in most of the opinion polls . On 10 April, McConnell unveiled Scottish Labour's election manifesto, which included plans to scrap bills for pensioners and reform Council Tax . The manifesto also proposed a large increase in public spending on education, which would allow for the school leaving age to be increased to 18 and reduce average class sizes to 19 pupils. Labour lost 4 seats and fell narrowly behind

7332-504: The third-largest party after being surpassed by the Scottish Conservatives . At the 2017 general election , Scottish Labour improved their fortunes and gained six seats from the SNP, bringing its total seat tally to seven and winning a 27% share of the vote. This was the first time since the 1918 general election , 99 years previously, that Labour had finished in third place at any general election in Scotland. Overall,

7426-429: The time, meant gay couples could never adopt. Several Conservative MPs voted against the official party line, and Smith's authority was weakened. Whips often employ a mixture of promises, cajoling and persuasion to force an unpopular vote. A whip should know major figures in an MP's local constituency party and the MP's agent. There have been cases where sick MPs were wheeled into the House from far afield to vote for

7520-597: The vote in Scotland in 98 years with 23% and fell into 3rd place, a position it last occupied in Scotland in 1910, behind the Conservatives . The party also only won 3 constituency seats: holding onto the Dumbarton and East Lothian constituencies and gaining the Edinburgh Southern constituency from the SNP, whilst losing eleven of its 2011 constituencies to the SNP and two to the Conservatives. In

7614-475: The whip" and expulsion from the party. The Government Chief Whip's office is headed by a Principal Private Secretary , who also acts as a go-between for ministers and the opposition to keep parliamentary business moving. The first officeholder, Charles Harris, was appointed privately in 1919 to assist Lord Edmund Talbot, the Conservative chief whip. He was retained by successive Conservative chief whips on

7708-404: Was Labour policy and that Alexander had been misrepresented during Prime Minister's Questions in Westminster. Additionally, Brown's spokesman said: "The prime minister has always been confident of the strength of the argument in favour of the Union and believes a referendum on Scottish independence would be defeated." Despite this lack of backing, Alexander once again reiterated her commitment to

7802-408: Was better than had been predicted by many polls at the start of Sarwar's tenure as leader, some of which had predicted Labour to potentially fall to fourth place behind the Scottish Greens . Under Sarwar's leadership, Scottish Labour have re-affirmed their constitutional position of unionism which has led to a sometimes controversial selections of candidates. The party has been criticised for fielding

7896-472: Was catastrophic for Labour, falling behind the SNP for the first time and producing its worst results since before World War I . However, it easily won the Glasgow North East by-election later that year, which had been triggered by the resignation of House Speaker Michael Martin in the wake of the expenses scandal . At the 2010 general election on 6 May 2010, contrary to polls preceding

7990-499: Was dead. I believe that John Stradling Thomas said to Joe Harper , "How do we know that he is alive?" So, he leaned forward, turned the knob on the heart machine, the green light went around, and he said, "There, you've lost—it's 311." That is an absolutely true story. It is the sort of nonsense that used to happen. No one believes it, but it is true. A minister who defies the whip is generally dismissed from their job immediately, if they have not already resigned, and returns to being

8084-502: Was elected Leader of the Scottish Labour Party, defeating rival Monica Lennon by 57.6% to 42.4% and promised to heal and unite the party. At the 2021 Scottish Parliament election , Labour lost a further two seats including the constituency seat of East Lothian , bringing their number of MSPs to 22, an all-time low. They also recorded their worst performance on both the Constituency and List vote in terms of vote share, however it

8178-451: Was elected as her deputy. Delivering her victory speech, Lamont said: "I want to change Scotland, but the only way we can change Scotland is by changing the Scottish Labour Party." In the 2012 Scottish local elections , Labour were outpolled by the SNP. However, it gained votes and council seats and held its majorities on the councils of Glasgow and North Lanarkshire and regained control of Renfrewshire and West Dunbartonshire . For

8272-540: Was known for using her Chief Whip as a "cabinet enforcer". The role of the Chief Whip is regarded as secretive, as the Whip is concerned with the discipline of their own party's Members of Parliament , never appearing on television or radio in their capacity as whip. An exception occurred on 1 April 2019 when Julian Smith chose to criticise his own government and Prime Minister. Whips in the House of Commons do not, by convention, speak in debates. The Government Chief Whip

8366-478: Was reported that the party had 21,500 members and 9,500 affiliated through trade unions and other groups, making a total of 31,000 people associated with the party. In January 2018, the total Scottish membership stood at 25,836, however within 12 months it was leaked in January 2019 that this value had fallen by 4,674 to 21,162. In February 2021, the membership figure was down to 16,467. Leaked figures obtained by

8460-404: Was subsequently appointed to the cabinet as Secretary of State for Scotland . Chief Whip The Chief Whip is a political leader whose task is to enforce the whipping system , which aims to ensure that legislators who are members of a political party attend and vote on legislation as the party leadership prescribes. In British politics , the Chief Whip of the governing party in

8554-466: Was suspended from Scottish Labour's parliamentary party while a probe into his conduct took place. Jackie Baillie took over as acting leader until the conclusion of the leadership election. The election for a new leader of the Scottish Labour party took place between 11 September 2017 (when nominations opened) and 18 November 2017, when the new leader was announced. Nominations for leadership candidates closed on 17 September. Anyone that wished to vote in

8648-495: Was the complete closure of Glasgow Queen Street High Level for a 20-week period between March and August 2016. This was to allow replacement of the track in the Cowlairs Tunnel and the lowering of the track bed to accommodate the installation of overhead electrification equipment in the tunnel. ScotRail warned that the diversion works created a potential single point of failure which could paralyse Glasgow's rail network in

8742-536: Was the first time Labour had elected its Scottish leader with the participation of its members, using a system similar to that used at the time by the UK-wide Labour Party (the system had been adopted in 2007, but no ballot had taken place as Alexander had been unopposed). The contenders were Iain Gray , MSP for East Lothian , a former Enterprise Minister in the previous Labour Executive, Andy Kerr , MSP for East Kilbride and former Health Secretary in

8836-485: Was the first time since 1959 that the party had not won the most votes in Scotland at a general election. On 16 May 2015, Murphy resigned as leader effective 13 June 2015. Under normal circumstances, Deputy Leader Kezia Dugdale would become acting leader, but former Leader Iain Gray was appointed Acting Leader whilst a leadership and a deputy leadership election are being simultaneously held on account of Dugdale resigning as Deputy Leader to stand for Leader. Dugdale won

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