2007 Scottish Parliament election

An election for the Scottish Parliament was held on Thursday 3 May 2007 to elect members to the Scottish Parliament. It was the third general election to the devolved Scottish Parliament since it was created in 1999. Local elections in Scotland fell on the same day.

The Scottish National Party emerged as the largest party with 47 seats, closely followed by the incumbent Scottish Labour Party with 46 seats. The Scottish Conservatives won 17 seats, the Scottish Liberal Democrats 16 seats, the Scottish Greens two seats and one Independent (Margo MacDonald) was also elected. The SNP initially approached the Liberal Democrats for a coalition government, but the Lib Dems turned them down. Ultimately, the Greens agreed to provide the numbers to vote in an SNP minority government, with SNP leader Alex Salmond as First Minister.

The Scottish Socialist Party and the Scottish Senior Citizens Unity Party, which won seats in the 2003 election, lost all of their seats. Former MSP Tommy Sheridan's new party, Solidarity, also failed to win any seats. Campbell Martin and Jean Turner both lost their seats, and Dennis Canavan and Brian Monteith retired.

Background

The main issues during the campaign trail were healthcare, education, council tax reform, pensions, the Union, Trident (the submarines are based in Scotland), the Iraq War and more powers for the Scottish Parliament. Some parties proposed raise the school leaving age from 16 to 18 and raising the minimum age to purchase tobacco products from 16 to 18.

Jack McConnell, as First Minister, entered the election defending a small overall majority of five seats via a coalition of Labour and the Liberal Democrats. The Lab-LD social liberal coalition had been in power, with three different First Ministers, since the first Scottish Parliament election in 1999. Opinion polls suggested its majority could be lost in 2007, due to falling support for the Labour Party and rising support for other parties, in particular the Scottish National Party (SNP). The polls suggested that no single party was likely to acquire an overall majority, nor was there an obvious alternative coalition ready to form a new Executive.

A TNS Poll in November 2006 gave Labour an 8% lead over the SNP which was second behind Labour in terms of numbers of Members of the Scottish Parliament (MSPs). As the election approached the SNP gained support while Labour's support declined. Based on pre-election projections, there could have been some possibility of an SNP–Liberal Democrat coalition, which might have extended to include the Scottish Green Party. The other parties represented in the Parliament before the election were the Scottish Conservative Party, the Scottish Socialist Party (SSP), Solidarity and the Scottish Senior Citizens Unity Party. (Solidarity was a new party, having broken away from the SSP in 2006.)

Other parties that campaigned for seats in Holyrood included the UK Independence Party (UKIP), the British National Party (BNP), the Scottish Unionist Party, the Scottish Socialist Labour Party, the Christian Peoples Alliance, the Scottish Christian Party.

Retiring MSPs

Labour Susan Deacon, Edinburgh East and Musselburgh John Home Robertson, East Lothian Janis Hughes, Glasgow Rutherglen Kate Maclean, Dundee West

Scottish National Party Bruce McFee, West of Scotland list George Reid, Ochil

Conservative Phil Gallie, South of Scotland list James Douglas-Hamilton, Lothians list

Liberal Democrats Donald Gorrie, Central Scotland list Jim Wallace, Orkney

Scottish Socialist Party Frances Curran, West of Scotland list

Independents Dennis Canavan, Falkirk West Brian Monteith (elected as a Conservative), Mid Scotland and Fife list

Defeated MSPs

Labour Gordon Jackson, Glasgow Govan Sylvia Jackson, Stirling Margaret Jamieson, Kilmarnock and Loudoun Maureen Macmillan, Highlands and Islands Christine May, Fife Central Alasdair Morrison, Western Isles Bristow Muldoon, Livingston Allan Wilson, Cunninghame North

Lib Dem Andrew Arbuckle, Mid Scotland and Fife Nora Radcliffe, Gordon Euan Robson, Roxburgh and Berwickshire George Lyon, Argyll and Bute

Conservative Dave Petrie, Highlands and Islands Murray Tosh, West of Scotland

Scottish Greens Shiona Baird, North East Scotland Chris Ballance, South of Scotland Mark Ballard, Lothians Mark Ruskell, Mid Scotland and Fife Eleanor Scott, Highlands and Islands

Scottish Socialist Party Colin Fox, Lothians Rosie Kane, Glasgow Carolyn Leckie, Central Scotland

Solidarity Rosemary Byrne, South of Scotland - originally elected as Scottish Socialist Party Tommy Sheridan, Glasgow - originally elected as Scottish Socialist Party

Scottish Senior Citizens Unity Party John Swinburne, Central Scotland

Independent Campbell Martin, West of Scotland - Former SNP MSP Jean Turner, Strathkelvin and Bearsden

Opinion polls

Election results

+ ↓ 47 46 17 16 2

|style="text-align:left"; colspan="2" | Valid votes || 2,016,978 || 95.9 || 3.5 || colspan="2"| || 2,042,804 || 97.1 || 2.3 || colspan="5"| |- |style="text-align:left"; colspan="2" | Spoilt votes || 85,631 || 4.1 || 3.5 || colspan="2"| || 62,038 || 2.9 || 2.3 || colspan="5"| |- !style="text-align:left"; colspan="2" | Total || 2,102,609 || 100 || || 73 || – || 2,104,842 || 100 || || 56 || – || 129 || – || 100 |- |style="text-align:left"; colspan="2" | Electorate/Turnout || 3,899,472 || 53.9 || 4.2 || colspan="2"| || 3,899,472 || 54.0 || 4.3 || colspan="5"|

Turnout in the election was 51.7% in the constituency vote and 52.4% in the regional vote up from 2003 where the turnout was 49.4% in both the constituency and regional vote

Notes: Independents contested 17 seats and three regions. Scottish Greens contested 1 seat, Scottish Socialist Party contested 1 seat, Scottish Christian Party, Scottish Voice etc. contested a small number of seats. A number of local issue parties also stood in single constituencies. The Nine Per Cent Growth Party stood candidates on the regional lists, and had a candidate for the local council elections of the same year. Standing in the Glasgow Regional ListGlasgow Region elections the party finished last of 23 candidates, receiving only 80 votes (0.04%), a record low.

Constituency and regional summary

Central Scotland