scottish parliamentary election, 1999

No previous election
b>1999 election
a href="/encyclopedia/Scottish-Parliamentary-Election,-2003" title="Scottish Parliamentary Election, 2003">2003 election

The polling date for the first Scottish Parliament election was held on 6th May, 1999. The Scottish National Party (SNP) had polled well in opinion polls running up to the election, gaining some 40% approval ratings and leading Labour, but this level of support wasn't maintained and they eventually polled behind them. The Conservatives failed to win a single constituency seat (as they had done in Scotland in the 1997 UK General Election). The SSP and Greens picked up unexpected seats. Indeed, Robin Harper became the first ever 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. The Labour Party and Lib-Dems formed the Scottish Executive after the election, with Donald Dewar becoming First Minister.

National Vote

Constituency (First-Past-the-Post) results

Party	Votes	Seats	Loss/Gain	Share of Vote (%)
Labour	align="right" \| 908,392	align="center" \| 53	align="center" \| N/A	align="center" \| 38.81
SNP	align="right" \| 672,757	align="center" \| 7	align="center" \| N/A	align="center" \| 28.74
Conservative	align="right" \| 364,225	align="center" \| 0	align="center" \| N/A	align="center" \| 15.56
Liberal Democrats	align="right" \| 331,279	align="center" \| 12	align="center" \| N/A	align="center" \| 14.15
SSP	align="right" \| 23,564	align="center" \| 0	align="center" \| N/A	align="center" \| 1.01
Scottish Green Party	align="right" \| Did not contest	align="center" \| 0	align="center" \| N/A	align="center" \| 0
Independent - Dennis Canavan	align="right" \| 18,511	align="center" \| 1	align="center" \| N/A	align="center" \| 0.8
Others	align="right" \| ?	align="center" \| 0	align="center" \| N/A	align="center" \| 0.9

Top up (Additional Member System) results

Party	Votes	Seats	Loss/Gain	Share of Vote (%)
Labour	align="right" \| 786,818	align="center" \| 3	align="center" \| N/A	align="center" \| 33.64
SNP	align="right" \| 638,644	align="center" \| 28	align="center" \| N/A	align="center" \| 20.90
Conservative	align="right" \| 359,109	align="center" \| 18	align="center" \| N/A	align="center" \| 15.35
Liberal Democrats	align="right" \| 290,760	align="center" \| 5	align="center" \| N/A	align="center" \| 12.43
SSP	align="right" \| 46,635	align="center" \| 1	align="center" \| N/A	align="center" \| 1.99
Scottish Green Party	align="right" \| 84,024	align="center" \| 1	align="center" \| N/A	align="center" \| 3.59
Independent - Dennis Canavan	align="right" \| 27,700	align="center" \| 0	align="center" \| N/A	align="center" \| 1.2
Others	align="right" \| ?	align="center" \| 0	align="center" \| N/A	align="center" \| 4.5

Scottish Parliamentary Representation

Labour - 56 MSPs
SNP - 35 MSPs
Conservative - 18 MSPs
Liberal Democrat - 17 MSPs
Scottish Green Party - 1 MSP
SSP - 1 MSP
Others (Dennis Canavan, Falkirk West) - 1 MSP

Party Leaders in 1999

Labour - Donald Dewar
SNP - Alex Salmond
Conservative - David McLetchie
Liberal Democrat - Jim Wallace
SSP - Tommy Sheridan
Scottish Green Party - Robin Harper