SCOTTISH LIBERAL DEMOCRATS

The 'Scottish Liberal Democrats' are one of the three state parties^[1] within the federal structure^[2] of the British Liberal Democrats; the others being the English and the Welsh parties. The party is the successor to the Scottish Liberal Party and the Social Democratic Party in Scotland, following the merger of these parties in 1988.
The Scottish Liberal Democrats have 16 of 129 seats in the Scottish Parliament, 12 of 59 Scottish seats in the UK Parliament, and one of seven Scottish seats in the European Parliament.

Contents

Recent history

Policy platform

Structure

Administration

Conferences

Associated organisations

References

See also

External links

Recent history

The party campaigned for the creation of a devolved Scottish Parliament as part of its wider policy of a federal United Kingdom. In the late 1980s and 1990s it and its representatives participated in the Scottish Constitutional Convention with the Scottish Labour Party, Scottish Green Party, trades unions and churches, and also campaigned for a "Yes-Yes" vote in the 1997 referendum.
In the first elections to the Scottish Parliament in 1999, the party won 17 seats. Following this, the party formed a coalition government with the Scottish Labour Party in the Scottish Executive. The then party leader, Jim Wallace, became Deputy First Minister of Scotland and Minister for Justice. He also served as acting First Minister on three occasions, during the illness and then later death of the first First Minister Donald Dewar and following the resignation of his successor Henry McLeish. This partnership was renewed in 2003 and Wallace became Deputy First Minister and Minister for Enterprise and Lifelong Learning. On 23 June 2005, Nicol Stephen MSP succeeded Wallace as party leader and took over his positions in the Executive until the 2007 elections.
In the 2007 Scottish Parliament elections, the party won one fewer seat than in the two previous Scottish elections: this was the first parliamentary election for 28 years in which the party's parliamentary strength in Scotland was reduced. This experience led to some criticism of the party's election strategy and its leader. Although it was arithmetically possible to form a majority coalition with the Scottish National Party and the Scottish Green Party, the party refused to participate in coalition negotiations because of a disagreement over the SNP's policy of a referendum on Scottish independence, and now sits as an opposition party in the Parliament.

Policy platform

The Scottish Liberal Democrats decides its policy on state matters independently from the Federal Party. State matters include not only devolved issues but also those reserved matters which the party considers should be devolved to the Scottish Parliament, including broadcasting, energy, drugs and abortion^[3]. According to its constitution, the party believes in a "fair, free and open society ... in which no-one shall be enslaved by poverty, ignorance or conformity". In the 2007 elections it campaigned for reforms to public services and local taxation, and for more powers for the Scottish Parliament within a federal United Kingdom.

Structure

In keeping with its basis as a federation of organisations, the Scottish party also consists of a number of local parties (which mostly follow the boundaries of the 73 Scottish Parliament constituencies), which are each distinct accounting units under the Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000. Local parties are predominantly responsible for the party's political campaigning and for selecting candidates for parliamentary and local authority elections. There are also eight regional parties (based on the boundaries of the eight Scottish Parliament electoral regions).

Administration

The conference is the highest decision-making body of the party on both policy and strategic issues. The day-to-day organisation of the party is the responsibility of the party's 34-member Executive Committee, chaired by Party Convener Judy Hayman, and the 8 Office Bearers, including the leader, the deputy leader Michael Moore MP and the party President Malcolm Bruce MP. The development of party policy rests upon a distinct 14-member Policy Committee, chaired by Robert Brown MSP. The Chief Executive is Martin Hayman, and the party's headquarters are at 4 Clifton Terrace, Edinburgh.

Conferences

The party holds two conferences per year: a three-day Spring Conference, last held in Aviemore from 16-18 February 2007; and a one-day Autumn Conference, last held in Dunfermline on 14 October 2006.

Associated organisations

The party has five associated groups:

★ Association of Scottish Liberal Democrat Councillors and Campaigners

★ Liberal Democrats for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Equality (DELGA) (Scottish Board)

★ Scottish Green Liberal Democrats

★ Scottish Women Liberal Democrats

★ Scottish Young Liberal Democrats (SYLD)

References

1. "The party is led by Scotland's Deputy First Minister Nicol Stephen MSP and is a state party within the Liberal Democrats", scotlibdems.org.uk, accessed 23 September 2006 (cached)
2. "Party Structure", scotlibdems.org.uk
3. "Scottish policy responsibilities include all devolved matters plus matters that we believe should be the responsibility of the Scottish Parliament.", scotlibdems.org.uk

See also

★ Scottish Liberal Club

★ Steel Commission

★ Politics of Scotland

★ Elections in Scotland

External links

★ Official website

★ Party archives at the National Library of Scotland

★ ASPECT: Access to Scottish Parliamentary Election Candidate Materials, University of Strathclyde

★ Statements of accounts, registered at The Electoral Commission