scottish parliamentary election, 2003

1999 election
b>2003 election
a href="/encyclopedia/Scottish-Parliamentary-Election,-2007" title="Scottish Parliamentary Election, 2007">2007 election

The polling date for the second Scottish Parliament election was held on May 1, 2003. The results were characterised by the rise in support for parties outwith the "main four" and a decline in support for both the Labour Party and the Scottish National Party (SNP). Despite predictions of a collapse in their support the Conservatives vote held up well and they managed to win three constituencies, as opposed to none in the previous election. Also, independent MSP, Dennis Canavan was joined by two other independents, Margo MacDonald and Jean Turner. Scottish Senior Citizens Unity Party leader John Swinburne was also elected.

National Vote

Party	Votes	Seats	Loss/Gain	Share of Vote (%)
Labour	align="right" \| 659,879	align="center" \| 46	align="center" \| -7	align="center" \| 34.6
SNP	align="right" \| 449,476	align="center" \| 9	align="center" \| +2	align="center" \| 23.8
Conservative	align="right" \| 312,598	align="center" \| 3	align="center" \| +3	align="center" \| 16.6
Liberal Democrats	align="right" \| 286,150	align="center" \| 13	align="center" \| +1	align="center" \| 15.3
SSP	align="right" \| 117,709	align="center" \| 0	align="center" \| 0	align="center" \| 6.2
Scottish Green Party	align="right" \| Did not contest	align="center" \| 0	align="center" \| 0	align="center" \| 0
Others	align="right" \| 65,523	align="center" \| 2	align="center" \| +1	align="center" \| 3.4

Total votes cast - 1,891,335

Party	Votes	Seats	Loss/Gain	Share of Vote (%)
Labour	align="right" \| 561,379	align="center" \| 4	align="center" \| +1	align="center" \| 29.3
SNP	align="right" \| 399,659	align="center" \| 18	align="center" \| -10	align="center" \| 20.9
Conservative	align="right" \| 296,929	align="center" \| 15	align="center" \| -3	align="center" \| 15.5
Liberal Democrats	align="right" \| 225,774	align="center" \| 4	align="center" \| -1	align="center" \| 11.8
SSP	align="right" \| 132,138	align="center" \| 6	align="center" \| +5	align="center" \| 6.9
Scottish Green Party	align="right" \| 128,026	align="center" \| 7	align="center" \| +6	align="center" \| 6.7
Others	align="right" \| 171,951	align="center" \| 2	align="center" \| +2	align="center" \| 8.9