Scottish political party
The Scottish National Party (SNP ; Scots : Scots National Pairty , Scottish Gaelic : Pàrtaidh Nàiseanta na h-Alba [ˈpʰaːrˠtʰi ˈn̪ˠaːʃən̪ˠt̪ə nə ˈhal̪ˠapə] ) is a Scottish nationalist and social democratic party. The party holds 62 of the 129 seats in the Scottish Parliament , and holds 9 out of the 57 Scottish seats in the House of Commons . 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 ,[ 14] [ 28] [ 29] with a platform based on progressive social policies and civic nationalism .[ 17] [ 18] 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 .[ 30]
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 .[ 31] After Scotland voted against independence in the 2014 referendum , Salmond resigned and was succeeded by Nicola Sturgeon . The SNP achieved a record number of 56 seats in Westminster after the 2015 general election to become the third largest party[ 32] 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. In the 2024 general election , the SNP lost 38 seats, reducing it to the second-largest party in Scotland and the fourth-largest party in the Westminster Parliament. 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.[ 33] The SNP is a member of the European Free Alliance (EFA).
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^ Eichhorn, Jan (29 March 2023). "Rocky roads ahead for Scotland's largest party" . International Journal of Politics, Culture, and Society . Edinburgh. 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.
^ Gibb, Kenneth (2021). "Divergent approaches to affordable housing supply in a devolved policy system: Scotland and England after 2010" . International Journal of Urban Sciences . 25 (1). Informa UK Limited: 220. doi :10.1080/12265934.2020.1730935 . 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.
^ Hepburn, Eve (17 June 2016). New Challenges for Stateless Nationalist and Regionalist Parties . Routledge. ISBN 978-1-317-96596-1 . Archived from the original on 21 March 2021. Retrieved 20 March 2021 .
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^ a b Schrijver, Frans (2006). Regionalism After Regionalisation: Spain, France and the United Kingdom . Amsterdam University Press. pp. 261–290. ISBN 978-90-5629-428-1 . Archived from the original on 21 March 2021. Retrieved 30 May 2006 .
^ Bennie, Lynn (2017). "The Scottish National Party: Nationalism for the many" . In Mazzoleni, Oscar; Mueller, Sean (eds.). Regionalist Parties in Western Europe: Dimensions of Success . University of Aberdeen. pp. 22–41. ISBN 978-1-317-06895-2 . Archived from the original on 21 March 2021. Retrieved 21 March 2021 .
^ [ 14] [ 15]
^ a b Mitchell, James; Bennie, Lynn; Johns, Rob (2012), The Scottish National Party: Transition to Power , Oxford University Press, pp. 107–116
^ a b Keating, Michael (2009), "Nationalist Movements in Comparative Perspective", The Modern SNP: From Protest to Power , Edinburgh University Press, pp. 214–217
^ [ 17] [ 18]
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^ Gallardo, Cristina (27 November 2019). "Scottish National Party's manifesto explained" . Politico . London. Archived from the original on 21 March 2021. Retrieved 4 May 2020 . The SNP wants Scotland to become an independent country and stay in the European Union.
^ Heisey, Monica. "Making the case for an "aye" in Scotland" . Alumni Review . Queen's University . Archived from the original on 5 May 2015. Retrieved 4 April 2015 .
^ Carrell, Severin (11 May 2011). "MSPs sworn in at Holyrood after SNP landslide" . The Guardian . London. Archived from the original on 19 February 2014. Retrieved 12 July 2011 .
^ "SNP wipeout Labour across Scotland with record election results" . The Telegraph . 8 May 2015. Retrieved 18 June 2024 .
^ "House of Lords should be scrapped, says SNP" . BBC News . 28 July 2015. Archived from the original on 11 May 2017. Retrieved 15 April 2017 .