Scottish National Party

Home > Social Sciences and the Law > Political Science and Government > Political Parties and Movements

Scottish National Party (SNP). The SNP was formed in 1934 after a merger between the National Party of Scotland and the Scottish Party. The party is committed to securing independence for Scotland.

The SNP won their first parliamentary seat in 1945 when Dr Robert McIntyre was returned at a by-election for Motherwell. However the SNP had no great electoral success until the 1960s. In November 1967 Winnie Ewing captured Hamilton from Labour and the SNP had a high profile in the 1968 local elections. By 1974 the SNP had eleven seats in Parliament and polled over 30 per cent of the vote in Scotland. But in 1979 a referendum failed to endorse a Scottish Parliament with only 32.85 per cent of the electorate backing it (against the 40 per cent needed). From this time there was a waning in SNP fortunes. In the 1979 general election, their share of the poll dropped to 17 per cent and they lost all but two seats.

In 1990 Alex Salmond became party leader, confirming the SNP as a left of centre social democratic party. It accepted a Scottish Parliament as a step towards complete independence, within a European framework. The SNP obtained six seats at the general election of 1997, and 35 of the 129 seats in the Scottish Parliament elected in 1999. The following year John Swinney replaced Alex Salmond as party leader, but his authority was weakened when the SNP did badly in the 2003 elections, its representation reduced from 35 to 27 seats. At the general election of 2005, with Salmond once more as leader, the SNP took six seats at Westminster, holding Banff, Angus, Moray, and Perth, and gaining Dundee East and Na H-Eileanan An Iar (Western Islands) from Labour.

Richard A. Smith/ and Professor J. A. Cannon

Scottish National Party (SNP) A Scottish political party which calls for Scotland to become independent from the UK. The party was formed in 1934, after a merger of the National Party of Scotland (founded 1928), and the Scottish Party (1932). It won its first seat in Parliament at the Motherwell by-election in April 1945. However, the seat was lost in the general election later in the year, and the SNP won no more seats until the 1967 Hamilton by- election. Subsequently, its support soared, as awareness of Scotland's distinctiveness increased. In 1970, it gained 11.4 per cent of the Scottish vote. This support nearly doubled in February 1974, to 21.9 per cent (winning seven seats), and in the second general election of the year, the party gained 30.4 per cent of the vote, and eleven seats. When devolution for Scotland was not secured in 1979, the party's support fell to 17.3 per cent, and it won only two seats. Its low point was 11.8 per cent in 1983, but the party recovered to 21.5 per cent and three seats in 1992. It failed to overtake the Labour Party as Scotland's biggest party, partly because the latter favoured more moderate devolution to outright independence. As a result, after Scottish devolution in 1999 it concentrated on more immediate policies, especially since it became the principal opposition party in the new Scottish parliament.

Scottish National Party (SNP). The SNP was formed in 1934 after a merger between the National Party of Scotland and the Scottish Party. The party is committed to securing an independent parliament for Scotland.

The SNP won their first parliamentary seat in 1945 when Dr Robert McIntyre was returned at a by‐election for Motherwell. However the SNP had no great electoral success until the 1960s. In November 1967 Winnie Ewing captured Hamilton from Labour and the SNP had a high profile in the 1968 local elections. By 1974 the SNP had eleven seats in Parliament and polled over 30 per cent of the vote in Scotland. From this point there was a waning in SNP fortunes. In the 1979 general election their share of the poll dropped to 17 per cent and they lost all but two seats.

In 1990 Alex Salmond became party leader, confirming the SNP as a left‐of‐centresocial democratic party. The SNP accepted the Scottish Parliament as a step towards complete independence, within a European framework. It obtained six seats at Westminster in the general election of 1997, and 35 of the 129 seats in the Scottish Parliament elected in 1999. The following year John Swinney replaced Salmond as party leader, but suffered a setback in the 2003 elections.

Scottish National Party (SNP) A Scottish political party, formed in 1934 from a merger of the National Party of Scotland and the Scottish Party. The party gained its first parliamentary seat in 1945 at a by-election in Motherwell. In the October 1974 general election 11 of its candidates won parliamentary seats. In 1979 a referendum in Scotland on a Scottish representative assembly failed to elicit the required majority, and in the 1979 general election all but two of the candidates were defeated. Three were elected in 1987 and in 1992. In the 1997 election the SNP held six seats. The SNP were not initially in favour of the Scottish parliament, but now see it as a first step to full independence.

Scottish National Party (SNP) UK political party, founded in 1928. The SNP grew out of the Scottish Home Rule Association, formed in 1886, and gained its first member of Parliament in 1945. During the 1960s, it significantly expanded its support base, gaining around 20% of the Scottish vote in most subsequent general elections. It advocates Scotland's independence (from the UK) within the European Union. The SNP won six seats in the 1997 general election under the leadership of Alex Salmond. In 2000, Salmond stood down as leader in favour of John Swinney (1964– ).