Charles III
15-666: South Scotland is one of the eight electoral regions of the Scottish Parliament . Nine of the parliament's 73 first past the post constituencies are sub-divisions of the region and it elects seven of the 56 additional-member Members of the Scottish Parliament (MSPs) . Thus it elects a total of 16 MSPs. The South Scotland region was created as a result of the First Periodic Review of Scottish Parliament Boundaries and largely replaced
30-487: A total of 129. This meant that it would be unlikely for any party to gain a majority of seats in the new parliament and either minority or coalition Scottish Executives would have to be formed. The first general election to the Scottish Parliament overall produced few surprises with the Labour Party still enjoying high popularity following their landslide victory in the 1997 UK general election as widely expected
45-731: The South of Scotland region. As a result of the First Periodic Review of Scottish Parliament Boundaries the boundaries for the region and constituencies were redrawn for the 2011 Scottish Parliament election . Prior to the First Periodic Review of Scottish Parliament Boundaries, the area which previously encompassed much of the South Scotland electoral region was known as the 'South of Scotland' electoral region. The constituencies were created in 1999 with
60-550: The 2005 general election the first-past-the-post constituencies were the same as for the House of Commons ( United Kingdom Parliament , Westminster ), except for Orkney and Shetland , which were separate constituencies at Holyrood, but not at Westminster. The Scottish Parliament (Constituencies) Act 2004 enabled a new set of House of Commons constituencies to be formed in Scotland in 2005, reducing their number and, therefore,
75-477: The D'Hondt method of allocating additional member seats from party lists is used to produce a form of proportional representation for each region. The total number of parliamentary seats is 129. For lists of MSPs, see Member of the Scottish Parliament . Boundaries of Holyrood and House of Commons ( Westminster ) constituencies are subject to review by the Boundaries Scotland , and prior to
90-473: The Scotland Act 1998 , has used a system of constituencies and electoral regions since the first general election in 1999 . The parliament has 73 constituencies , each electing one Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) by the plurality ( first-past-the-post ) system of voting, and eight additional member regions, each electing seven additional MSPs. Each region is a group of constituencies, and
105-413: The Scottish Parliament (Constituencies) Act 2004 reviews of Scottish Westminster constituencies would have been also reviews of Holyrood constituencies. The Arbuthnott Commission , in its final report, January 2006, recommended that council area boundaries and Holyrood and Scottish Westminster constituency boundaries should all be reviewed together. This recommendation has not been implemented. Until
120-563: The devolved Scottish Parliament , to fill 129 seats, took place on 6 May 1999. Following the election, the Labour Party and the Liberal Democrats formed the Scottish Executive , with Labour Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) Donald Dewar becoming First Minister . The Scottish Parliament was created after a referendum on devolution took place on 11 September 1997 in which 74.3% of those who voted approved
135-757: The first ever elected Green parliamentarian in the history of the United Kingdom. Dennis Canavan , who had failed to become an approved Labour candidate, won the Falkirk West constituency as an independent candidate. Following the election the new parliament met in the General Assembly Hall of the Church of Scotland in Edinburgh for the first time on Wednesday 12 May 1999, although the actual devolution of powers from Westminster to
150-498: The idea. The Scotland Act (1998) was then passed by the UK Parliament which established the devolved Scottish Parliament and Scottish Executive. The parliament was elected using Mixed-member proportional representation , combining 73 (First-past-the-post) constituencies and proportional representation with the 73 constituencies being grouped together to make eight regions each electing seven additional members to make
165-454: The names and boundaries of Westminster constituencies, as existing in at that time. The First Past the Post constituencies can be found below: The region covered the following local government areas: In full: In part: N.B. This table is for presentation purposes only In the 2021 Scottish Parliament election the region elected MSPs as follows: In the 2016 Scottish Parliament election
SECTION 10
#1732773278236180-669: The number of Scottish Members of Parliament (MPs) to 59, without change to the Holyrood constituencies and the number of MSPs. 1999 boundaries were used also for the 2003 and 2007 elections. The first periodical review of boundaries of Scottish Parliament constituencies was announced on 3 July 2007, and the commission's final recommendations were implemented for the 2011 Scottish Parliament election . Total numbers of constituencies, regions, and MSPs remain at, respectively, 73, 8, and 129. 1999 Scottish Parliament election Donald Dewar Labour The first election to
195-902: The region elected MSPs as follows: In the 2011 Scottish Parliament election the region elected MSPs as follows: Scottish Parliament constituencies and regions William , Duke of Rothesay Swinney government The Rt Hon John Swinney MSP The Rt Hon John Swinney MSP Kate Forbes MSP Sixth session Alison Johnstone MSP Angela Constance MSP Dorothy Bain KC The Rt Hon Lord Carloway KC PC United Kingdom Parliament elections European Parliament elections Local elections Referendums Starmer ministry The Rt Hon Keir Starmer MP The Rt Hon Ian Murray MP The Scottish Parliament ( Holyrood ), created by
210-717: The second largest party with 35 seats, which still represented their best performance since the October 1974 general election . The Conservative Party , still recovering from their wipeout in the 1997 general election across Scotland , failed to win a single constituency seat but did manage to win 18 seats through the Additional Member System. The Scottish Socialist Party (SSP) and the Greens picked up unexpected additional member seats. Robin Harper became
225-425: Was the largest party winning 56 seats, mostly in their traditional Central Belt heartlands, which was nine seats short of an overall majority. Labour formed a coalition government with the Liberal Democrats , who won 17 seats. The Scottish National Party (SNP) had done well in opinion polls running up to the election, gaining 40% in some approval ratings, but this level of support was not maintained. The SNP were
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