An election for the Scottish Parliament was held on Thursday, 5 May 2011 to elect 129 members to the Scottish Parliament.
The election delivered the first majority government since the opening of Holyrood, a remarkable feat as the additional-member system used to elect MSPs was allegedly originally implemented to prevent any party achieving an overall parliamentary majority. The Scottish National Party (SNP) won a landslide of 69 seats, the most the party has ever held at either a Holyrood or Westminster election, allowing leader Alex Salmond to remain as First Minister of Scotland for a second term. The SNP gained 32 constituencies, twenty two from Scottish Labour, nine from the Scottish Liberal Democrats and one from the Scottish Conservatives. Such was the scale of their gains that, of the 73 constituencies in Scotland, only 20 came to be represented by MSPs of other political parties. Scottish Labour lost seven seats and suffered their worst election defeat in Scotland since 1931, with huge losses in their traditional Central Belt constituencies and for the first time having to rely on the regional lists to elect members within these areas. They did, however, remain the largest opposition party. Party leader Iain Gray announced his resignation following his party's disappointing result. The Scottish Liberal Democrats were soundly defeated; their popular vote share was cut in half and their seat total reduced from 16 to 5. Tavish Scott announced his resignation as party leader shortly after the election. For Scottish Conservatives, the election proved disappointing as their popular vote dropped slightly and their number of seats fell by 2, with party leader Annabel Goldie also announcing her resignation.
During the campaign, the four main party leaders engaged in a series of televised debates, as they had in every previous general election. These key debates were held on 29 March (STV), 1 May (BBC), and 3 May (STV). The results of the election were broadcast live on BBC Scotland and STV, on the night of the election.
It was the fourth general election since the devolved parliament was established in 1999 and was held on the same day as elections to the National Assembly for Wales and the Northern Ireland Assembly, as well as English local elections and the UK-wide referendum on the alternative vote.
Date Under the Scotland Act 1998, an ordinary general election to the Scottish Parliament was held on the first Thursday in May four years after the 2007 election.
Because of the problems of voter confusion and a high number of spoilt ballots in 2007 due to holding Scottish parliamentary and local elections simultaneously and under different voting systems, the next Scottish local elections were held in 2012 instead of 2011. This policy decision was contradicted, however, by the staging of the Alternative Vote referendum on 5 May 2011 as well. Labour MP Ian Davidson expressed opposition to the referendum being staged on the same date as other elections. Scottish Secretary Michael Moore stated that having the referendum on another date would cost an additional £17 million.
British, Irish, Commonwealth and European Union citizens living in Scotland who were aged 18 or over on election day were entitled to vote. The deadline to register to vote in the election was midnight on Friday 15 April 2011, though anyone who qualified as an anonymous elector had until midnight on Tuesday 26 April 2011 to register.The deadline for the receipt and determination of anonymous electoral registration applications was the same as the publication date of the notice of alteration to the Electoral Register (i.e. the fifth working day before election day).
It was held on the same day as elections for Northern Ireland's 26 local councils, the Northern Irish Assembly and Welsh Assembly elections, a number of local elections in England and the United Kingdom Alternative Vote referendum.
Boundary Review
The table below shows the notional figures for seats won by each party at the last election. The Conservatives have been the biggest gainers as a result of the boundary changes, winning an extra three seats, while Labour has lost the most seats, losing two overall.
Party Constituencyseats Regionalseats Totalseats Seatchange SNP 21 25 46 –1 Labour 35 9 44 –2 Conservative 6 14 20 +3 Liberal Democrat 11 6 17 +1 Scottish Green 0 1 1 –1
Election system, seats, and regions The total number of Members of the Scottish Parliament (MSPs) elected to the Parliament is 129.
The First Periodical Review of the Scottish Parliament constituencies and electoral regions by the Boundary Commission for Scotland was announced on 3 July 2007. The Commission published its provisional proposals for the regional boundaries in 2009.
The Scottish Parliament uses an Additional Members System, designed to produce approximate proportional representation for each region. There are 8 regions each sub-divided into smaller constituencies. There are a total of 73 constituencies. Each constituency elects one (MSP) by the plurality (first past the post) system of election. Each region elects seven additional member MSPs using an additional member system. A modified D'Hondt method, using the constituency results, is used to calculate which additional member MSPs the regions elect.
The Scottish Parliament constituencies have not been coterminous with Scottish Westminster constituencies since the 2005 general election, when the 72 former Westminster constituencies were replaced with a new set of 59, generally larger, constituencies (see Scottish Parliament (Constituencies) Act 2004).
For details of the Revised proposals for constituencies at the Next Scottish Parliament election - Scottish Parliament constituencies and electoral regions from 2011
The Boundary Commission have also recommended changes to the electoral regions used to elect "list" members of the Scottish Parliament. The recommendations can be summarised below;
Glasgow was reduced from 10 constituency seats to 9. Glasgow Govan was largely replaced by Glasgow Southside. The seats of Glasgow Maryhill, Glasgow Springburn and Glasgow Baillieston were abolished and their territory was divided between the newly created Glasgow Maryhill and Springburn and Glasgow Provan, as well as the existing Glasgow Shettleston seat which was moved eastwards. Highlands and Islands retained 8 constituency seats. Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross was replaced with the larger Caithness, Sutherland and Ross seat. Ross, Skye and Inverness West and Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber were abolished with most of their area being divided between Skye, Lochaber and Badenoch and Inverness and Nairn. West of Scotland was renamed West Scotland. It was increased from 9 constituency seats to 10, as Cunninghame South was transferred from the South Scotland region. The seats of Paisley North, Paisley South and West Renfrewshire were abolished and their area was divided between the new seats of Paisley, Renfrewshire North and West and Renfrewshire South Central Scotland was reduced from 10 constituency seats to 9, as the territory of Kilmarnock and Loudoun was transferred to South Scotland. Some territory to the south was also transferred to South Scotland, reducing the land area of East Kilbride. Hamilton North and Bellshill was largely replaced by Uddingston and Bellshill. Hamilton South was largely replaced by Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse. Lothians was renamed Lothian and retained 9 constituency seats. The seat of Midlothian was split, with its southern areas transferred to South Scotland. Its northern parts merged with Musselburgh to form Midlothian North and Musselburgh. Edinburgh East and Musselburgh, thus with Musselburgh removed, was replaced by Edinburgh Eastern. The seats of Edinburgh North and Leith, Edinburgh South and Edinburgh West were respectively renamed Edinburgh Northern and Leith, Edinburgh Southern and Edinburgh Western while redrawn. In West Lothian, Livingston was replaced by Almond Valley, which traded territory with the retained Linlithgow seat. Mid Scotland and Fife retained 9 constituencies. North Tayside was mostly replaced by Perthshire North, with some of the former's territory being transferred to North East Scotland. Ochil was split, with its eastern parts merging with the former seat of Perth to form Perthshire South and Kinross-shire. Clackmannanshire and Dunblane was created, consisting mostly of the more populous western part of Ochil. In Fife, Dunfermline West, Dunfermline East and Fife Central were respectively largely replaced by Dunfermline, Cowdenbeath and Mid Fife and Glenrothes. North East Scotland was increased from 9 to 10 constituency seats. The seat of Angus was split between two new seats: Angus South, which included territory transferred from Mid Scotland and Fife, and Angus North and Mearns. Both West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine and Gordon were split. The former was divided between the new seat of Aberdeenshire West, Angus North and Mearns and an enlarged Aberdeen South, which under new boundaries was named Aberdeen South and North Kincardine. A redrawn Aberdeen North was renamed Aberdeen Donside. Gordon was split between Aberdeenshire West and another new seat: Aberdeenshire East. Some territory was also traded with Banff and Buchan, which was largely replaced by Banffshire and Buchan Coast. The two Dundee seats were redrawn and renamed from Dundee West and Dundee East to Dundee City West and Dundee City East. South of Scotland was renamed South Scotland. It retained 9 constituencies, losing Cunninghame South to West Scotland but gaining the new Kilmarnock and Irvine Valley constituency, which replaced the previous constituency of Kilmarnock and Loudoun. Some territory was transferred from Galloway and Upper Nithsdale to Dumfries; the redrawn seats were then renamed Galloway and West Dumfries and Dumfriesshire. Tweeddale, Ettrick and Lauderdale lost territory to Roxburgh and Berwickshire but gained some from the Lothian area to the north. These seats were redrawn and renamed Midlothian South, Tweeddale and Lauderdale and Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire.
Retiring MSPs At the dissolution of Parliament on 22 March 2011, twenty MSPs were not seeking re-election.
Constituency/Region Departing MSPParty Mid Scotland and Fife Christopher Harvie SNP Argyll and Bute Jim Mather Lothians Ian McKee South of Scotland Alasdair Morgan Angus Andrew Welsh Paisley North Wendy Alexander Scottish Labour Midlothian Rhona Brankin Glasgow Baillieston Margaret Curran Lothians George Foulkes North East Scotland Marlyn Glen West Renfrewshire Trish Godman Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley Cathy Jamieson Motherwell and Wishaw Jack McConnell Highlands and Islands Peter Peacock Ross, Skye and Inverness West John Farquhar Munro Liberal Democrats Aberdeen South Nicol Stephen Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross Jamie Stone Glasgow Bill Aitken Conservative Mid Scotland and Fife Ted Brocklebank Lothians Robin Harper Green
Campaign
The parliament was dissolved on 22 March 2011 and the campaign began thereafter. The Conservatives saw 3 of their candidates drop out of the election during the period 25–28 March: Malcolm McAskill from the Glasgow regional ballot, Iain Whyte from the Glasgow Maryhill & Springburn constituency ballot and David Meikle from the Glasgow regional ballot.