This party is participating in the 2024 general election to the UK's House of Commons on 4 July, and the House of Commons has had no MPs since Parliament's dissolution on 30 May, so this article may be out of date during this period. |
Scottish National Party Scots National Pairty Pàrtaidh Nàiseanta na h-Alba | |
---|---|
Abbreviation | SNP |
Leader | John Swinney |
Depute Leader | Keith Brown |
Westminster Leader | Stephen Flynn |
President | Vacant[1] |
Chief Executive | Murray Foote |
Founded | 7 April 1934 |
Merger of | |
Headquarters | Gordon Lamb House 3 Jackson's Entry Edinburgh EH8 8PJ |
Student wing | SNP Students |
Youth wing | Young Scots for Independence |
LGBT wing | Out for Independence |
Membership (December 2023) | 69,325[2] |
Ideology | |
Political position | Centre-left[20][21] |
European affiliation | European Free Alliance |
Colours | Yellow Black |
Anthem | "Scots Wha Hae"[22][23] |
House of Commons (Scottish seats) | 43 / 59
Prior to Parliament being dissolved on 30 May 2024, for the 4 July 2024 election |
Scottish Parliament[24] | 63 / 129 |
Local government in Scotland[25] | 453 / 1,227 |
Website | |
snp.org | |
The Scottish National Party (SNP; Scots: Scots National Pairty, Scottish Gaelic: Pàrtaidh Nàiseanta na h-Alba [ˈpʰaːrˠʃtʲi ˈn̪ˠaːʃən̪ˠt̪ə nə ˈhal̪ˠapə]) is a Scottish nationalist and social democratic party. The party holds 63 of the 129 seats in the Scottish Parliament, and held 43 out of the 59 Scottish seats in the House of Commons in Westminster prior to its dissolution for the 2024 general election. It has 453 local councillors of the 1,227 available.
The SNP supports and campaigns for Scottish independence from the United Kingdom and for Scotland's membership in the European Union,[12][26][27] with a platform based on progressive social policies and civic nationalism.[14][15]
Founded in 1934 with the amalgamation of the National Party of Scotland and the Scottish Party, the party has had continuous parliamentary representation in Westminster since Winnie Ewing won the 1967 Hamilton by-election.[28] With the establishment of the devolved Scottish Parliament in 1999, the SNP became the second-largest party, serving two terms as the opposition. The SNP gained power under Alex Salmond at the 2007 Scottish Parliament election, forming a minority government, before going on to win the 2011 Parliament election, after which it formed Holyrood's first majority government.[29] After Scotland voted against independence in the 2014 referendum, Salmond resigned and was succeeded by Nicola Sturgeon. The SNP achieved a record number of seats in Westminster after the 2015 general election to become the third largest party[30] but in Holyrood it was reduced back to being a minority government at the 2016 election. In the 2021 election, the SNP gained one seat and entered a power-sharing agreement with the Scottish Greens. In March 2023 Sturgeon resigned and was replaced by Humza Yousaf. In April 2024, Yousaf collapsed the power-sharing deal with the Greens and resigned the following week due to the resulting fallout of the decision. The incumbent John Swinney was elected leader in May 2024.
The party does not have any members of the House of Lords on the principle that it opposes the upper house of Parliament and calls for it to be scrapped.[31] The SNP is a member of the European Free Alliance (EFA).
The election of Humza Yousaf to succeed Nicola Sturgeon as leader of the centre-left, social democratic Scottish National Party (SNP) is a major change in Scotland's political landscape.
The paper examines the period after the financial crisis and recession of 2007–2009, since this led to the austerity coalition UK government led by David Cameron (2010–2015), as set against the distinctively social democratic, Scottish National Party (SNP) Government in minority government from 2007 to 2011 and then majority government from 2011 to 2016.
That is why it seems reasonable for Norris and Inglehart (2019: 486) to classify the SNP as a left-wing populist party.
To be sure, literature has acknowledged the fact that some regionalist parties have combined their demands for increasing regional autonomy (or even independence) with forms of left-wing or right-wing populism. For instance, the Northern League (Lega Nord) and the Flemish Interest (Vlaams Belang) have been regarded as good examples of regionalist parties adopting a right-wing populist discourse (Albertazzi and McDonnell 2005; Art 2008). On the other hand, the Scottish National Party and Plaid Cymru have been more inclined to resort to leftwing populism in their struggle against austerity (Massetti 2018).
The SNP wants Scotland to become an independent country and stay in the European Union.
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