Scotland

Government and Politics

Scotland's head of state is the monarch of the United Kingdom, currently Queen Elizabeth II (since 1952). The regnal numbering "Elizabeth II" caused controversy around the time of the Queen's coronation because there had never been an Elizabeth I in Scotland. A legal action, MacCormick v. Lord Advocate(1953 SC 396), was brought to contest the right of the Queen to entitle herself Elizabeth II within Scotland, arguing that this was a breach of Article 1 of the Treaty of Union. The Crown won the case. It was decided that future British monarchs would be numbered according to either their English or their Scottish predecessors, whichever number is higher. For instance any future King James would be styled James VIII - since the last Scottish King James was James VII (also James II of England, etc.) - while the next King Henry would be King Henry IX throughout the UK even though there have been no Scottish kings of that name.

Scotland has limited self-government within the United Kingdom, as well as representation in the UK Parliament. Executive and legislative powers respectively have been devolved to the Scottish Government and the Scottish Parliament at Holyrood in Edinburgh since 1999. The UK Parliament retains control over reserved matters specified in the Scotland Act 1998, including UK taxes, social security, defence, international relations and broadcasting. The Scottish Parliament has legislative authority for all other areas relating to Scotland, as well as a limited power to vary income tax.

The Scottish Parliament can give legislative consent over devolved matters back to the UK Parliament by passing a Legislative Consent Motion if United Kingdom-wide legislation is considered more appropriate for a certain issue. The programmes of legislation enacted by the Scottish Parliament have seen a divergence in the provision of public services compared to the rest of the UK. For instance, university education and care services for the elderly are free at point of use in Scotland, while fees are paid in the rest of the UK. Scotland was the first country in the UK to ban smoking in enclosed public place.

The Scottish Parliament is a unicameral legislature with 129 members (MSPs): 73 of them represent individual constituencies and are elected on a first past the post system; the other 56 are elected in eight different electoral regions by the additional member system. MSPs serve for a four-year period (exceptionally five years from 2011-16). The Queen appoints one Member of the Scottish Parliament, nominated by the Parliament, to be First Minister. Other ministers are appointed by the First Minister and serve at his/her discretion. Together they make up the Scottish Government, the executive arm of the devolved government.

In the 2011 election, the Scottish National Party (SNP) formed a majority government after winning 69 seats out of 129. This was the first majority government since the modern post-devolution Scottish Parliament was established in 1999. The leader of the SNP, Alex Salmond, continued as First Minister until 2014. The Labour Party continued as the largest opposition party, with the Conservative Party, the Liberal Democrats, and the Green Party also represented in the Parliament. As of 29 September 2014, there are also three independent MSPs sitting in parliament. On 19 November 2014, Nicola Sturgeon became First Minister of Scotland, the first female to hold the office. The next Scottish Parliament general election is due to be held on 5 May 2016.

Scotland is represented in the British House of Commons by 59 MPs elected from territory-based Scottish constituencies. The next United Kingdom general election is due to be held in May 2015. The Scotland Office represents the UK government in Scotland on reserved matters and represents Scottish interests within the UK government. The Scotland Office is led by the Secretary of State for Scotland, who sits in the Cabinet of the United Kingdom; the current incumbent isAlistair Carmichael.