Scottish National Party

Scottish National Party
Scots National Pairty
Pàrtaidh Nàiseanta na h-Alba
AbbreviationSNP
LeaderHumza Yousaf
Depute LeaderKeith Brown
Westminster LeaderStephen Flynn
PresidentVacant[1]
Chief ExecutiveMurray Foote
Founded7 April 1934
Merger of
HeadquartersGordon Lamb House
3 Jackson's Entry
Edinburgh
EH8 8PJ
Student wingSNP Students
Youth wingYoung Scots for Independence
LGBT wingOut for Independence
Membership (December 2023)Decrease 69,325[2]
Ideology
Political positionCentre-left[20][21]
European affiliationEuropean Free Alliance
Colours  Yellow
  Black
Anthem"Scots Wha Hae"[22][23]
House of Commons (Scottish seats)
43 / 59
Scottish Parliament[24]
63 / 129
Local government in Scotland[25]
427 / 1,227
Website
snp.org

The Scottish National Party (SNP; Scots: Scots National Pairty, Scottish Gaelic: Pàrtaidh Nàiseanta na h-Alba [ˈpʰaːrˠʃtʲi ˈn̪ˠaːʃən̪ˠt̪ə ˈhal̪ˠapə]) is a Scottish nationalist and social democratic political party. The party holds 63 of the 129 seats in the Scottish Parliament and 43 out of the 59 Scottish seats in the House of Commons in Westminster. It has 453 local councillors of 1,227.

The SNP supports and campaigns for Scottish independence from the United Kingdom and for Scotland's membership in the European Union,[17][26][27] with a platform based on progressive social policies and civic nationalism.[3][4]

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 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 current leader Humza Yousaf.

The SNP is the largest political party in Scotland in terms of both seats in the Westminster and Holyrood parliaments, councillors in local government and membership. It currently has 43 members of Parliament (MPs), 64 members of the Scottish Parliament (MSPs) and over 450 local councillors.[30] As of December 2023 the party had 69,325 members.[2]

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).

  1. ^ "Michael Russell steps down as SNP president". BBC News. 1 December 2023. Retrieved 1 December 2023.
  2. ^ a b Paterson, Kirsteen (9 February 2024). "Exclusive: SNP membership numbers fall again, new figures reveal". Holyrood Magazine. Retrieved 14 April 2024.
  3. ^ a b Mitchell, James; Bennie, Lynn; Johns, Rob (2012), The Scottish National Party: Transition to Power, Oxford University Press, pp. 107–116
  4. ^ a b Keating, Michael (2009), "Nationalist Movements in Comparative Perspective", The Modern SNP: From Protest to Power, Edinburgh University Press, pp. 214–217
  5. ^ How can the SNP support membership of the EU alongside independence?, 7 June 2016, archived from the original on 21 March 2021, retrieved 26 October 2020
  6. ^ 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.
  7. ^ 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.
  8. ^ 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.
  9. ^ Lingard, Bob (6 August 2013). Politics, Policies and Pedagogies in Education: The Selected Works of Bob Lingard. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-135-01998-3. Archived from the original on 21 March 2021. Retrieved 20 March 2021.
  10. ^ Hassan, Gerry (2009), The Modern SNP: From Protest to Power, Edinburgh University Press, pp. 5, 9
  11. ^ Harvie, Christopher (12 August 2004). Scotland and Nationalism: Scottish Society and Politics, 1707 to the Present. Taylor & Francis. ISBN 9780203358658. Archived from the original on 21 March 2021. Retrieved 21 March 2021.
  12. ^ "Scottish National Party | History, Policy, & Leader". Encyclopedia Britannica. Archived from the original on 21 March 2021. Retrieved 19 September 2020.
  13. ^ "Will there be another independence referendum?". 25 November 2015. Archived from the original on 24 March 2021. Retrieved 25 September 2020.
  14. ^ Emmanuel, Massetti (2018). "Left-wing regionalist populism in the 'Celtic' peripheries: Plaid Cymru and the Scottish National Party's anti-austerity challenge against the British elite". Comparative European Politics. 16 (6): 937–953. doi:10.1057/s41295-018-0136-z. Retrieved 16 March 2023.
  15. ^ Peterson, Lindsay (2023). "Education and support for Scottish Independence, 1979-2016". Journal of Education Policy. 38 (3): 524. doi:10.1080/02680939.2021.2005148. hdl:20.500.11820/6ca759eb-209b-4cbd-b8a3-0566fdd1916c. That is why it seems reasonable for Norris and Inglehart (2019: 486) to classify the SNP as a left-wing populist party.
  16. ^ Vampa, Davide (2020). "Competing forms of populism and territorial politics: the cases of Vox and Podemos in Spain". Journal of Contemporary European Studies. 28 (3): 312–313. doi:10.1080/14782804.2020.1727866. 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).
  17. ^ 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.
  18. ^ 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.
  19. ^ "Anti-Brexit feeling expected to help SNP in European elections". The Guardian. 15 May 2019. Archived from the original on 15 May 2019. Retrieved 15 May 2019.
  20. ^ Colomer, Josep M. (July 2008). Political Institutions in Europe. psychology press. p. 26. ISBN 978-1-134-07354-2. Archived from the original on 17 May 2016. Retrieved 25 November 2015.
  21. ^ Scotland Business Law Handbook: Strategic Information and Laws. International Business Publications, USA, 2015. 1 January 2012. p. 29. ISBN 978-1-4387-7095-6. Archived from the original on 25 April 2016. Retrieved 25 November 2015.
  22. ^ Holder, Geoff. "10 things you should know about Robert Burns". The History Press. Archived from the original on 21 March 2021. Retrieved 26 February 2021.
  23. ^ McIntosh, Lindsay (15 October 2016). "The Scottish parliament is not just a 'blip'". The Times. Archived from the original on 21 March 2021. Retrieved 26 February 2021.
  24. ^ BBC (2016). "Scotland Parliament election 2016". BBC News. Archived from the original on 27 November 2017. Retrieved 16 November 2017.
  25. ^ "Local Council Political Compositions". Open Council Date UK. 24 October 2019. Archived from the original on 30 September 2017. Retrieved 10 November 2021.
  26. ^ O'Neill, Michael (22 May 2014). Devolution and British Politics. Routledge. p. 92. ISBN 978-1-317-87365-5. Archived from the original on 4 May 2016. Retrieved 25 November 2015.
  27. ^ 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.
  28. ^ 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.
  29. ^ 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.
  30. ^ "Open Council Data UK – compositions councillors parties wards elections". opencouncildata.co.uk. Archived from the original on 30 April 2021. Retrieved 14 May 2021.
  31. ^ "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.

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