1999 Scottish Parliament election

6 May 1999 (1999-05-06) 2003 →
elected members →
All 129 seats to the Scottish Parliament 65 seats were needed for a majority
Turnout	Constituency - 58.4% Regional - 58.3%
First party Second party Third party   Leader Donald Dewar Alex Salmond David McLetchie Party Labour SNP Conservative Leader's seat Glasgow Anniesland Banff and Buchan Lothians Seats won 56 35 18 Constituency vote 908,346 672,768 364,425 Percentage 38.8% 28.7% 15.6% Regional vote 786,818 638,644 359,109 Percentage 33.6% 27.3% 15.4%   Fourth party Fifth party Sixth party   Leader Jim Wallace Robin Harper Tommy Sheridan Party Liberal Democrats Green Scottish Socialist Leader's seat Orkney Lothians Glasgow Seats won 17 1 1 Constituency vote 333,179 – 23,654 Percentage 14.2% – 1.0% Regional vote 290,760 84,023 46,635 Percentage 12.4% 3.6% 2.0%
The left side shows constituency winners of the election by their party colours. The right side shows regional winners of the election for the additional members by their party colours. Constituency names are listed at the bottom.
First Minister after election Donald Dewar Labour

The first election to the devolved Scottish Parliament, to fill 129 seats, took place on 6 May 1999. Following the election, the Labour Party and the Liberal Democrats formed the Scottish Executive, with Labour Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) Donald Dewar becoming First Minister.

The Scottish Parliament was created after a referendum on devolution took place on 11 September 1997 in which 74.3% of those who voted approved the idea. The Scotland Act (1998) was then passed by the UK Parliament which established the devolved Scottish Parliament and Scottish Executive. The parliament was elected using Mixed-member proportional representation, combining 73 (First-past-the-post) constituencies^{[note 1]} and proportional representation with the 73 constituencies being grouped together to make eight regions each electing seven additional members to make a total of 129. This meant that it would be unlikely for any party to gain a majority of seats in the new parliament and either minority or coalition Scottish Executives would have to be formed.

The first general election to the Scottish Parliament overall produced few surprises with the Labour Party still enjoying high popularity following their landslide victory in the 1997 UK general election as widely expected was the largest party winning 56 seats, mostly in their traditional Central Belt heartlands, which was nine seats short of an overall majority. Labour formed a coalition government with the Liberal Democrats, who won 17 seats. The Scottish National Party (SNP) had done well in opinion polls running up to the election, gaining 40% in some approval ratings, but this level of support was not maintained. The SNP were the second largest party with 35 seats, which still represented their best performance since the October 1974 UK general election. The Conservative Party, still recovering from their wipeout in the 1997 UK general election across Scotland, failed to win a single constituency seat but did manage to win 18 seats through the Additional Member System.

The Scottish Socialist Party (SSP) and the Greens picked up unexpected additional member seats. Robin Harper became the first ever elected Green parliamentarian in the history of the United Kingdom. Dennis Canavan, who had failed to become an approved Labour candidate, won the Falkirk West constituency as an independent candidate.

Following the election the new parliament met in the General Assembly Hall of the Church of Scotland in Edinburgh for the first time on Wednesday 12 May 1999 although the actual devolution of powers from Westminster to the Scottish Parliament did not take place until midnight on Thursday 1 July 1999, almost two months later.

For a full list of MSPs elected, see 1st Scottish Parliament. For lists of constituencies and regions, see Scottish Parliament constituencies and electoral regions.

Results

This article is part of a series within UK politics on the
Politics of Scotland
The Crown The Monarch Charles III Heir apparent William, Duke of Rothesay Prerogative Royal family Succession Privy Council Union of the Crowns Balmoral Castle Holyrood Palace Scottish republicanism
Executive Scottish Government Third Sturgeon government First Minister The Rt Hon Nicola Sturgeon MSP Deputy First Minister John Swinney MSP Cabinet Secretaries Junior Ministers Directorates Scottish budget Taxation Executive agencies Public bodies Bute House St Andrew's House
Legislature Scottish Parliament Sixth session Presiding Officer Alison Johnstone MSP Primary legislation Statutory instrument Committees First Minister's Questions Scotland Act 1998 (2012 Act · 2016 Act) EU Continuity Act 2020
Law and justice Justice Secretary Keith Brown MSP Lord Advocate Dorothy Bain KC Lord President The Rt Hon Lord Carloway KC PC Scots law Udal law Courts Judiciary Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service Police Scotland Scottish Prison Service Advocate General Solicitor General
Elections and referendums Scottish Parliament elections 1999 · 2003 · 2007 · 2011 · 2016 · 2021 · Next United Kingdom Parliament elections 1801 co-option 1802 1806 1807 1812 1818 1820 1826 1830 1831 1832 1835 1837 1841 1847 1852 1857 1859 1865 1868 1874 1880 1885 1886 1892 1895 1900 1906 1910 (Jan) 1910 (Dec) 1918 1922 1923 1924 1929 1931 1935 1945 1950 1951 1955 1959 1964 1966 1970 1974 (Feb) 1974 (Oct) 1979 1983 1987 1992 1997 2001 2005 2010 2015 2017 2019 European Parliament elections 1979 1984 1989 1994 1999 2004 2009 2014 2019 Local elections 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1977 1980 1982 1984 1986 1988 1990 1992 1994 1995 1999 2003 2007 2012 2017 2022 Referendums 1975 1979 1994 1997 2005 2011 2014 2016 Scottish Parliament constituencies Scottish Parliament electoral regions Scottish Westminster constituencies Proposed second independence referendum Electoral system Political parties
Scotland and the United Kingdom United Kingdom Government Sunak ministry Prime Minister The Rt Hon Rishi Sunak MP Deputy Prime Minister The Rt Hon Dominic Raab MP Secretary of State for Scotland The Rt Hon Alister Jack MP Scottish devolution Treaty of Union House of Commons House of Lords Scotland Office Scottish Affairs Committee Interministerial Standing Committee Barnett formula Reserved matters Sewel motion
Administration Council areas History Sheriffdoms Community councils Lieutenancy areas Convention of Scottish Local Authorities
Category · Scotland portal Other countries
v t e

1999 Scottish Parliament election^[1] →

Party		Constituencies					Regional additional members					Total seats
		Votes	%	±	Seats	±	Votes	%	±	Seats	±	Total	±	%
	Labour	908,346	38.8	new	53	new	786,818	33.6	new	3	new	56	new	43.4
	SNP	672,768	28.7	new	7	new	638,644	27.3	new	28	new	35	new	27.1
	Conservative	364,425	15.6	new	0	new	359,109	15.4	new	18	new	18	new	14.0
	Liberal Democrats	333,179	14.2	new	12	new	290,760	12.4	new	5	new	17	new	13.2
	Green	–	–	–	–	–	84,023	3.6	new	1	new	1	new	0.8
	Scottish Socialist	23,654	1.0	new	0	new	46,635	2.0	new	1	new	1	new	0.8
	MSP for Falkirk West	18,511	0.8	new	1	new	27,712	1.2	new	0	new	1	new	0.8
	Socialist Labour	5,268	0.2	new	0	new	55,153	2.4	new	0	new	0	new	0.0
	ProLife Alliance	–	–	–	–	–	9,784	0.4	new	0	new	0	new	0.0
	Scottish Unionist	–	–	–	–	–	7,011	0.3	new	0	new	0	new	0.0
	Liberal	–	–	–	–	–	5,534	0.2	new	0	new	0	new	0.0
	Natural Law	–	–	–	–	–	4,906	0.2	new	0	new	0	new	0.0
	Socialist Workers	2757	0.1	new	0	new	–	–	–	–	–	0	new	0.0
	Highlands and Islands Alliance	–	–	–	–	–	2,607	0.1	new	0	new	0	new	0.0
	Civil Rights Movement	–	–	–	–	–	806	0.0	new	0	new	0	new	0.0
	Communist	190	0.0	new	0	new	521	0.0	new	0	new	0	new	0.0
	Socialist (GB)	–	–	–	–	–	697	0.0	new	0	new	0	new	0.0
	Humanist	–	–	–	–	–	447	0.0	new	0	new	0	new	0.0
	Anti-drug	423	0.0	new	0	new	–	–	–	–	–	0	new	0.0
	Others	12,967	0.6	–	0	–	17,668	0.7	–	0	–	0	–	0.0
Valid votes		2,342,488	99.7	–			2,338,914	99.7	–
Spoilt votes		7,839	0.3	–			7,268	0.3	–
Total		2,350,327	100		73	–	2,346,182	100		56	–	129	–	100
Electorate/turnout		4,027,433	58.4	–			4,027,433	58.3	–

Constituency and regional summary

Central Scotland

Glasgow

Highlands and Islands

Lothians

Mid Scotland and Fife

North East Scotland

South of Scotland

West of Scotland

Party representation

• Labour – 56 Members of the Scottish Parliament (MSPs)
• SNP – 35 MSPs
• Conservative – 18 MSPs
• Liberal Democrats – 17 MSPs
• Green – 1 MSP
• SSP – 1 MSP
• Others (Dennis Canavan, Falkirk West) – 1 MSP

Party leaders in 1999

• Labour – Donald Dewar
• SNP – Alex Salmond
• Conservative – David McLetchie
• Liberal Democrat – Jim Wallace
• SSP – Tommy Sheridan
• Scottish Green Party – Robin Harper

Opinion polls

Regional Vote

Source: ^[2]

Constituency Vote

Source: ^[2]