Scottish Devolution

In the United Kingdom, the power and lawmaking have come from Westminster in London for a very long time. This has consistently left the countries outside of England that are part of the kingdom feeling left behind. Devolution is all about these countries’ desire to make their own laws again and not have them dictated by people who don't share their identity or interests. For almost half a century now, Scotland has been passionate in its quest to do this! Let's find out exactly what Scottish devolution is.

Scottish devolution: definition

Devolution is a term that describes the diversion of central or singular power to local and regional governments. In the UK, there are devolved governments in Scotland, Northern Ireland, and Wales, which were established in 1998. This article will focus on Scottish devolution but first, it is vital to see why devolution was such a priority.

Fig. 1 - Flag of Scotland

History of Scottish devolution

In this quote, you can see the swelling pride from Donald Dewar after the devolved Scottish Parliament opened.

The seeds for a devolved Scottish government, however, go centuries back. The Scottish drive for autonomy and independence is certainly not something new. To understand the history of devolution let's first look at some important terms.

Overview of the Scottish devolution history

• The 1200s – 1707: the original Scottish Parliament ran independently from England and Westminster.
• 1707: the Acts of Union merged the Kingdom of Scotland with the Kingdom of England to create the Kingdom of Great Britain. The Parliament in Westminster became the Parliament of Great Britain. As a result, Scotland's Parliament closed.
• 1885: the Secretary of State for Scotland was re-created, but this position had little power as a member of the cabinet in the UK until 1926.

• The post had first been created after the Acts of Union but was removed after the Scots had supported Charles Stuart in the Jacobite rising of 1745, in which he invaded England.

• 1913: the idea of a Government of Scotland bill was supported in the UK Parliament but postponed due to the First World War.
• 1969: Wilson's Labour government tasked the Royal Commission of Constitution to evaluate the structures of the UK. They considered some methods of devolution detailed in the Kilbrandon Report of 1973.
• 1978: the Scotland Act was passed to establish a devolved government. A referendum on Scottish devolution took place in 1979 and received 51.6% support for devolution. However, the turnout was not significant enough so the idea was repealed.
• 1980–87: the UK government did not consider devolution. Conservative governments favoured Scottish business and provided more administrative power to Scotland. They did not consider plans for a Scottish Parliament.
• 1987: the Scottish Constitutional Convention (SCC) was formed to continue the conversation about devolution. They were unhappy with Scotland's treatment under the Conservatives.
• 1989: the SCC proposed a ‘Claim of Right for Scotland’. This outlined the plan for a Scottish Parliament/Assembly that could make laws.
• 1995: the SCC formalised plans for a devolved government in another paper entitled ‘Scotland's Parliament, Scotland's Right’.
• 1997: a new Labour government headed by Tony Blair came to power in the UK Parliament. They arranged a second referendum whereby the Scottish public would decide if they should have their own Parliament. The first attempt at Scottish devolution failed in 1979. Would it be different this time?
• September 1997: the public voted for Scottish devolution and the creation of an independent Parliament which would have the power to raise taxes.
• January 1998: discussions about Scottish devolution began in Westminster Parliament.

• November 1998: the proposal became legislation. The Scotland Act allowed Scotland to form an independent Parliament.

• May 1999: Scottish devolved Parliament elections started.

• July 1999: the Queen opened Scottish Parliament at the Church of Scotland, Edinburgh.

• 2004: the new Scottish Parliament building was finished in Holyrood, Edinburgh.

Fig. 2 - Entrance to Scottish Parliament

The Scottish devolution bill

The Scottish devolution bill refers to the 1998 Scotland Act. Let's look at some of its key points below:

Scottish devolution results

Over 60% of the Scottish electorate population voted in the second devolution referendum. As we've seen, the Scottish people had voted ‘yes’ for devolution in the 1970s too but the threshold of 40% of the voting electorate was not met, so the vote was invalid. This time around they were overwhelmingly in favour of a Scottish Parliament (74.3%) and 63.5% wanted the new Parliament to have tax-raising capabilities.

So, who controls what?

Further Scottish devolution referendums

Since the 1998 Scotland Act, there have been some other referendums that have seen Scotland gain even more autonomy. Some were more successful than others.

• 2012 Scotland Act: this gave greater freedom to Scotland to make financial decisions with the biggest delegating of power in UK history.
• 2014 Independence Referendum: the Edinburgh Agreement in 2012 between the Scottish Parliament and the UK government stated that a referendum for Scottish independence would take place. 55% of the electorate voted ‘no’ to independence.
• 2016 Scotland Act: further devolutions to Scotland include more freedom with taxes, abortion, educational reforms, oil licensing, and welfare.

The SNP still want Scottish independence to be part of the UK-wide conversation but leader Nicola Sturgeon (below) is conscious of the implications of another failed attempt to break away and is biding her time before trying again.

Scotland's devolution has seen a resurgence in national pride and the Scottish Parliament has taken advantage of its autonomy to make its laws. The question of a yes/no referendum is perhaps too simple as Scots cannot predict what independence will mean. For now, Covid-19 has put the conversation on hold, but it isn't going away.

Fig. 3 - Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon