The Scottish National Party is a Scottish nationalist and social democratic political party in Scotland. The SNP supports and campaigns for Scottish independence or secession from the United Kingdom and for Scotland's membership of the European Union,with a platform based on civic nationalism. The SNP is currently the largest political party in Scotland,where it has the most seats in the Scottish Parliament and 45 out of the 59 Scottish seats in the House of Commons in Westminster. The current Scottish National Party leader is Humza Yousaf,who replaced Nicola Sturgeon after a leadership election on 27 March 2023.
Nicola Ferguson Sturgeon is a Scottish politician who served as First Minister of Scotland and Leader of the Scottish National Party (SNP) from 2014 to 2023. She has served as a member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) since 1999,first as an additional member for the Glasgow electoral region,and as the member for Glasgow Southside from 2007.
Shona McRory Robison is a Scottish politician serving as Deputy First Minister of Scotland and Cabinet Secretary for Finance since 2023. A member of the Scottish National Party (SNP),she has been the Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for Dundee City East since 2003 and was an additional member for the North East Scotland region from 1999 to 2003.
Johann MacDougall Lamont is a Scottish Labour Co-operative politician who served as Leader of the Scottish Labour Party from 2011 to 2014. She was previously a junior Scottish Executive minister from 2004 to 2007 and Deputy Leader of the Scottish Labour Party from 2008 until her election to the leadership in 2011. In addition to her ministerial and leadership roles,she has been a campaigner on equality issues and violence against women throughout her political career.
Margaret Patricia Curran is a Scottish Labour Party politician. She served in the British House of Commons as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Glasgow East from 2010 to 2015 and was Shadow Secretary of State for Scotland from 2011 until 2015. She was previously the Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for Glasgow Baillieston from 1999 to 2011,and held a number of posts within the Scottish Executive,including Minister for Parliamentary Business,Minister for Social Justice and Minister for Communities.
Scottish Labour is a social democratic political party in Scotland. It is an autonomous section of the UK Labour Party. From their peak of holding 56 of the 129 seats at the first Scottish parliament election in 1999,the Party has lost seats at each Holyrood election,returning 22 MSPs at the 2021 election. The party currently holds one of 59 Scottish seats in the UK House of Commons,with Ian Murray having represented Edinburgh South continuously since 2010.
HMP &YOI Cornton Vale is a women's prison and young offenders institution in Stirling,Scotland operated by the Scottish Prison Service. The facility comprises a total of 217 cells in its 5 houses. It accepted solely convicted women and girls from 1975 until 1978. In 1978 Parliament passed the necessary legislation to allow females to be held there on remand. Cornton Vale houses female adults and young offenders in Scotland,alongside HMP Grampian,HMP Edinburgh and HMP Polmont. In April 1999,the separation of adults and young offenders was attained. Lady Martha Bruce was the first Governor. The current Governor at Cornton Vale is Paula Arnold.
Ruth Elizabeth Davidson,Baroness Davidson of Lundin Links,is a Scottish politician who served as Leader of the Scottish Conservative Party from 2011 to 2019 and Leader of the Scottish Conservative Party in the Scottish Parliament from 2020 to 2021. She served as a Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for Glasgow from 2011 to 2016 and for Edinburgh Central from 2016 to 2021.
Kezia Alexandra Ross Dugdale is a Scottish former politician who served as Leader of the Scottish Labour Party from 2015 to 2017. A former member of the Scottish Labour Party and Co-operative Party,she was a Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for the Lothian region from 2011 to 2019.
Women for Independence is a grass-roots political organisation which seeks to improve the representation of women in public and political life throughout Scotland. Founded in 2012,the movement promotes the causes of Scottish independence and other constitutional changes they consider likely to contribute to greater democracy,gender equality and social justice. The organisation's full name is Women for Independence –Independence for Women.
Jeane Tennent Freeman is a Scottish former politician who served as Cabinet Secretary for Health and Sport from 2018 to 2021. A member of the Scottish National Party (SNP),she was the Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for the Carrick,Cumnock and Doon Valley constituency from 2016 to 2021.
Tasmina Ahmed-Sheikh OBE WS NP is a Scottish politician who was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Ochil and South Perthshire from 2015 to 2017. A former member of the Scottish Conservative party,Labour and the Scottish National Party (SNP),Ahmed-Sheikh served as the SNP's Trade and Investment spokesperson,Deputy Shadow Leader of the House in the House of Commons,and the SNP's National Women's and Equalities Convener. A solicitor and businessperson,and a former actress,Ahmed-Sheikh founded and formerly chaired the Scottish Asian Women's Association.
Mhairi Black is a Scottish National Party (SNP) politician,serving as the party's deputy leader in the House of Commons since December 2022.
Alison Emily Thewliss is a Scottish National Party (SNP) politician. She has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Glasgow Central since the May 2015 general election.
Margaret Ferrier is a Scottish politician who has served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Rutherglen and Hamilton West since 2019. She was first elected to the House of Commons in the 2015 general election as the Scottish National Party (SNP) candidate for the constituency. She lost her seat to Ged Killen of the Labour Party at the 2017 general election but regained it at the 2019 election.
David Melvyn Linden is a Scottish National Party (SNP) politician serving as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Glasgow East since 2017. He served as the SNP Spokesperson for Work and Pensions from 2021 to 2022 and the Spokesperson for Housing,Communities and Local Government in the House of Commons from 2020 to 2021.
Events from the year 2019 in Scotland.
Scotland in Union (SIU) is a pro-UK campaign group,based in Scotland,which launched in March 2015 to help keep Scotland within the United Kingdom. Its supporters include members of pro-UK political parties and people with no party affiliation. It is Scotland's largest and most active pro-UK campaign group,with 36,000 signed up supporters.
The Alba Party is a Scottish nationalist and pro-independence political party in Scotland,founded in February 2021,led by former first minister of Scotland Alex Salmond. Salmond launched the party's 2021 Scottish Parliament election campaign in March 2021,with the party standing list-only candidates. Two Members of Parliament (MPs) in the UK House of Commons defected from the Scottish National Party (SNP) to the Alba Party on 27 March 2021,and several former SNP MPs also joined the party. No Alba Party candidate has been elected at any election.
Anum Qaisar,previously Anum Qaisar-Javed is a Scottish National Party (SNP) politician serving as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Airdrie and Shotts since 2021.
