John Ramsay Swinney is a Scottish politician who has served as First Minister of Scotland and Leader of the Scottish National Party (SNP) since May 2024. He previously served as the leader of the SNP from 2000 to 2004 as Leader of the Opposition,and held various roles within the Scottish Cabinet from 2007 to 2023 under First Ministers Alex Salmond and Nicola Sturgeon. Swinney was Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for North Tayside from 1999 to 2011 and,following boundary changes,has been MSP for Perthshire North since 2011. He was Member of Parliament (MP) for Tayside North from 1997 to 2001.
David William McLetchie CBE was a Scottish politician who served as Leader of the Scottish Conservative Party from 1999 to 2005. He was Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for the Edinburgh Pentlands constituency from 2003 to 2011 and the Lothian region from 1999 to 2003 and 2011 to 2013.
Nicol Ross Stephen,Baron Stephen is a Scottish politician who served as Deputy First Minister of Scotland and Minister for Enterprise and Lifelong Learning from 2005 to 2007. A member of the Scottish Liberal Democrats,he was the Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for Aberdeen South from 1999 to 2011,and was leader of the Scottish Liberal Democrats from 2005 to 2008.
William John Graham Scott is a Scottish farmer and former Scottish Conservative politician. He was the Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for Ayr from 2000 to 2021.
Annabel MacNicoll Goldie,Baroness Goldie is a Scottish politician and life peer who served as Leader of the Scottish Conservative Party from 2005 to 2011 and Minister of State for Defence from 2019 to 2023. She was a Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP),as one of the additional members for the West Scotland region,from 1999 to 2016.
The Scottish Conservative &Unionist Party is part of the Conservative Party (UK) active in Scotland. It is a centre-right to right-wing,conservative political party. The party's policies in Scotland usually promote conservatism and the continuing of Scotland as constituent country of the United Kingdom. It holds 7 of the 59 Scottish seats in the House of Commons,31 of the 129 seats in the Scottish Parliament,and comprises 209 of Scotland's 1,227 local councillors.
Scottish Politician of the Year is an annual award established in 1999. It is held by The Herald newspaper in Prestonfield House,Edinburgh.
David Jackson Carlaw is a Scottish politician who served as Leader of the Scottish Conservative Party from 2019 to 2020. He previously served as Deputy Leader of the Scottish Conservative Party from 2011 to 2019. He has been a Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) since 2007,first as an additional member for the West Scotland region and later for the Eastwood constituency since 2016.
John Robert Lamont is a Scottish Conservative Party politician and solicitor who has served in the British House of Commons as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Berwickshire,Roxburgh and Selkirk since 2017. Lamont previously served as the Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for Roxburgh and Berwickshire,later Ettrick,Roxburgh and Berwickshire after boundary changes,from 2007 to 2017. He has been serving as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Scotland since October 2022.
The 2011 Scottish Parliament election was held on Thursday,5 May 2011 to elect 129 members to the Scottish Parliament.
The 2007 Scottish Parliament election was held on Thursday 3 May 2007 to elect members to the Scottish Parliament. It was the third general election to the devolved Scottish Parliament since it was created in 1999. Local elections in Scotland fell on the same day.
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.
The 2011 Scottish Conservatives leadership election was an internal party election to choose a new leader of the Scottish Conservatives,who at the time were the third-largest political party in the devolved Scottish Parliament. Ruth Davidson was declared the winner of the contest on 4 November 2011 and succeeded Annabel Goldie. The election was triggered when incumbent party leader Annabel Goldie resigned her position on 9 May 2011,following her party's self-described 'disappointing' result in the 2011 Scottish Parliament election,where the Conservatives were reduced from 17 seats to 15.
The 2005 Scottish Conservative Party leadership election was an internal party election to elect a new leader of the Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party,the third largest political party in the devolved Scottish Parliament. The election was held following the resignation of David McLetchie following an expenses scandal. Following McLetchie's resignation on 31 October 2005,Annabel Goldie had become acting leader,and Goldie was declared leader after being the only declared candidate.
Miles Edward Frank Briggs is a British politician of the Scottish Conservative Party,who has served as a regional list Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for the Lothian region since the 2016 Scottish Parliament election. He served as the Scottish Conservative Shadow Cabinet member for Health and Sport from 2017 to 2020 and as the Scottish Conservative Chief Whip from 2020 to 2021.
Douglas Gordon Ross is a Scottish politician who has served as Leader of the Scottish Conservative Party since 2020 and Leader of the Opposition in Scotland since 2021. He has served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Moray since 2017. In addition to his seat in Westminster,he serves as a Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for the Highlands and Islands,having been elected as a regional list MSP in 2021. He was previously MSP for the region from 2016 to 2017.
Liam Kerr is a British politician of the Scottish Conservative Party,who served as Deputy Leader of the Scottish Conservative Party from 2019 to 2020 and as the Scottish Conservatives’Shadow Cabinet Secretary for Justice from 2017 to 2021. Kerr has served as Shadow Cabinet Secretary for Net Zero,Energy &Transport since 2021 and as a Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for the North East Scotland region since 2016.
William Archibald Bowman is a Scottish Conservative Party politician who served as a Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for the North East Scotland region from December 2016 until he stood down at the 2021 election.
The February 2020 Scottish Conservative Party leadership election was the fourth internal party election to elect the next leader of the Scottish Conservatives,part of the British Conservative Party and the second-largest political party in the devolved Scottish Parliament. Ruth Davidson,who won the previous leadership election in 2011,resigned on 29 August 2019. Two candidates contested the election:Jackson Carlaw MSP,who served as the Scottish Conservatives' interim leader,and Michelle Ballantyne MSP. Carlaw was seen as the favourite in the contest,and won the endorsement of most of the party's MSPs and MPs. Carlaw won the election on 14 February 2020,winning more than three-quarters of the votes of party members.
In the Scottish Parliament,the Leader of the Opposition is an unofficial title held by the leader of the largest political party in the Scottish Parliament that is not in government. The role has also been referred to as the Shadow First Minister.
