Events from the year 2021 in

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

Incumbents

First Minister A first minister is any of a variety of leaders of government cabinets. The term literally has the same meaning as "prime minister" but is typically chosen to distinguish the office-holder from a superior prime minister. Currently the title of '' ...

and Keeper of the Great Seal –

Nicola Sturgeon Nicola Ferguson Sturgeon (born 19 July 1970) is a Scottish politician serving as First Minister of Scotland and Leader of the Scottish National Party (SNP) since 2014. She is the first woman to hold either position. She has been a member of ...

* Secretary of Scotland –

Alister Jack Alister William Jack (born 7 July 1963) is a British politician serving as Secretary of State for Scotland since 2019. A member of the Scottish Conservatives, he has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Dumfries and Galloway since 2017. E ...

Events

*4 February –

2021 Kilmarnock incidents On 4 February 2021, three separate fatal incidents occurred in Kilmarnock, Scotland. The incidents were thought to be linked and involved the same 40-year-old man, Steven Robertson. In the first incident, a woman died after being injured outsi ...

. *6 May –

Elections An election is a formal group decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative democracy has operate ...

to the devolved

Scottish parliament The Scottish Parliament ( gd, Pàrlamaid na h-Alba ; sco, Scots Pairlament) is the devolved, unicameral legislature of Scotland. Located in the Holyrood area of the capital city, Edinburgh, it is frequently referred to by the metonym Holyro ...

take place. Voter turnout is the highest in a Scottish Parliament election to date, at 63.0%. The Scottish Nationalist Party improves its performance, finishing with 64 seats, just short of an overall majority. The Conservatives finish with 31 seats, Labour 22, Scottish Greens 8 and Liberal Democrats 4. *13 May **

2021 Airdrie and Shotts by-election The 2021 Airdrie and Shotts by-election was held in the UK parliament constituency of Airdrie and Shotts following the resignation of the sitting member (MP), Neil Gray, to run for the corresponding seat (which he subsequently won) in the 20 ...

** Kenmure Street protests: protests occur after two Indian men living on Kenmure Street in Glasgow are taken from their home and detained by the Home Office in a van on the street for allegedly overstaying their visas. The men are released after 8 hours. *28 May –

Murder of Esther Brown On 28 May 2021, Scottish pensioner Esther Brown was raped and murdered at her flat in Woodlands, Glasgow. Jason Graham (also known as Jason Evans), a registered sex offender, who was unknown to her, was found guilty of her rape and murder on 12 N ...

*1–12 November – The 26th session of the Conference of the Parties (COP26), a major

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and international security, security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be ...

climate summit, is held in

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

. *25-27 November -

Storm Arwen Storm Arwen was a powerful extratropical cyclone that was part of the 2021–22 European windstorm season. It affected the United Kingdom, Ireland and France, bringing strong winds and snow. Storm Arwen caused at least three fatalities and wides ...

causes widespread damage and power outages across Scotland.

Deaths

* 4 January –

Kay Ullrich Catherine Mario Ullrich (née Morrison, 5 May 1943 – 4 January 2021) was a Scottish politician who was a Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for the West of Scotland region from 1999 to 2003. A prominent member of the Scottish National Pa ...

, politician, MSP 1999–2003 (born

1943 Events Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix. January * January 1 – WWII: The Soviet Union announces that 22 German divisions have been encircled at Stalingrad, with 175,000 killed and 137,650 captured. * January 4 – ...

) * 12 January –

Willie Miller William Ferguson Miller MBE (born 2 May 1955) is a Scottish former professional football player and manager, who made a club record 560 league appearances for Aberdeen. Sir Alex Ferguson described Miller as "the best penalty box defender in th ...

, urban planner (born

1950 Events January * January 1 – The International Police Association (IPA) – the largest police organization in the world – is formed. * January 5 – 1950 Sverdlovsk plane crash, Sverdlovsk plane crash: ''Aeroflot'' Lisunov Li-2 cr ...

) * 14 January –

Vincent Logan Vincent Paul Logan (30 June 1941 – 14 January 2021) was the ninth bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Dunkeld, which was restored (with boundaries differing from those of the pre-Reformation diocese) by Pope Leo XIII on 4 March 1878. U ...

, Roman Catholic prelate,

Bishop of Dunkeld The Bishop of Dunkeld is the ecclesiastical head of the Diocese of Dunkeld, one of the largest and more important of Scotland's 13 medieval bishoprics, whose first recorded bishop is an early 12th-century cleric named Cormac. However, the first k ...

1981–2012 (born

1941 Events Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix. January * January–August – 10,072 men, women and children with mental and physical disabilities are asphyxiated with carbon monoxide in a gas chamber, at Hadamar Eu ...

; COVID-19). * 14 February – Sir William Macpherson, High Court judge and clan chief (born

1926 Events January * January 3 – Theodoros Pangalos declares himself dictator in Greece. * January 8 **Abdul-Aziz ibn Saud is crowned King of Hejaz. ** Crown Prince Nguyễn Phúc Vĩnh Thuy ascends the throne, the last monarch of V ...

) * 11 May –

Neil Connery Neil Niren Connery (16 December 1938 – 9 May 2021) was a Scottish actor and the younger brother of actor Sean Connery. Personal Connery was born in Edinburgh, Scotland, on 16 December 1938. The Connery family is of partial Irish origin. His ...

, retired actor and younger brother of actor

Sean Connery Sir Sean Connery (born Thomas Connery; 25 August 1930 – 31 October 2020) was a Scottish actor. He was the first actor to portray fictional British secret agent James Bond on film, starring in seven Bond films between 1962 and 1983. Origina ...

(born 1938) * 21 May – Ken MacKinnon, Scottish Gaelic sociolinguist (born 1933) * 17 June – Andrew Welsh, Scottish politician (born 1944) * 12 August –

Una Stubbs Una Stubbs (1 May 1937 – 12 August 2021) was an English actress, television personality and dancer who appeared on British television and in the theatre, and occasionally in films. She became known after appearing in the film '' Summer Holiday ...

, English actress (born

1937 in England Events January * January 1 – Anastasio Somoza García becomes President of Nicaragua. * January 5 – Water levels begin to rise in the Ohio River in the United States, leading to the Ohio River flood of 1937, which continues into Febr ...

) * 23 August –

Elizabeth Blackadder Dame Elizabeth Violet Blackadder, Mrs Houston, (24 September 1931 – 23 August 2021) was a Scottish painter and printmaker. She was the first woman to be elected to both the Royal Scottish Academy and the Royal Academy. In 1962 she began tea ...

, painter and printmaker (born

1931 Events January * January 2 – South Dakota native Ernest Lawrence invents the cyclotron, used to accelerate particles to study nuclear physics. * January 4 – German pilot Elly Beinhorn begins her flight to Africa. * January 22 – Sir I ...

) * 23 August – Colin Bell, journalist, broadcaster and author (born 1938). * 15 October – Robert Black, auditor (born 1946) * 26 October –

Walter Smith Walter Ferguson Smith (24 February 1948 – 26 October 2021) was a Scottish association football player, manager and director, primarily associated with his two spells as manager of Glasgow club Rangers. A defender, Smith's playing car ...

, Scottish association football player, manager and director (born 1948) * 5 December –

Gary Callander Gary Callander (5 July 1959 – 5 December 2021) was a Scottish international rugby union player who made six international appearances for the Scotland national team between 1984 and 1988. He played in the Hooker position. He coached Haddin ...

, Scottish international rugby union player (born 1959)

References

{{Years in Scotland

Incumbents

Events

Deaths

See also

References