General elections were held in Scotland in 1702 to return members to serve in the

Parliament of Scotland The Parliament of Scotland ( sco, Pairlament o Scotland; gd, Pàrlamaid na h-Alba) was the legislature of the Kingdom of Scotland from the 13th century until 1707. The parliament evolved during the early 13th century from the king's council o ...

. The new government would be a minority Court Party administration, led by the Duke of Queensberry as Lord High Commissioner. The election took place amidst the

War of the Spanish Succession The War of the Spanish Succession was a European great power conflict that took place from 1701 to 1714. The death of childless Charles II of Spain in November 1700 led to a struggle for control of the Spanish Empire between his heirs, Phil ...

, and one of Queensberry's key main priorities was to secure Scottish funding for the war. The new parliament assembled in Edinburgh on 6 May 1703. Queensberry sought to build an alliance between his Court party and the Episcopalian Cavalier faction, whose parliamentary presence had been increased by the election. This alliance was in part driven by Queen Anne's own

Anglicanism Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of the ...

and Stewart heritage. For their support, the Cavaliers requested greater toleration for Episcopalians. The parliament was still predominantly Presbyterian, and neither Queensberry or his Court faction favoured toleration. Any increased support from Cavaliers as a result of a deal would likely be balanced by a loss in support from Presbyterian opponents to toleration.

Dates of election

At this period elections did not take place at the same time in every constituency. The returning officer in each

shire Shire is a traditional term for an administrative division of land in Great Britain and some other English-speaking countries such as Australia and New Zealand. It is generally synonymous with county. It was first used in Wessex from the beginn ...

burgh A burgh is an autonomous municipal corporation in Scotland and Northern England, usually a city, town, or toun in Scots. This type of administrative division existed from the 12th century, when King David I created the first royal burghs. Burg ...

fixed the precise date (see

hustings A husting originally referred to a native Germanic governing assembly, the thing. By metonymy, the term may now refer to any event (such as debates or speeches) during an election campaign where one or more of the candidates are present. Devel ...

for details of the conduct of the elections).

References

General election A general election is a political voting election where generally all or most members of a given political body are chosen. These are usually held for a nation, state, or territory's primary legislative body, and are different from by-elections ( ...

18th-century elections in Europe 1702 in politics

1702 In the Swedish calendar it was a common year starting on Wednesday, one day ahead of the Julian and ten days behind the Gregorian calendar. Events January–March * January 2 – A total solar eclipse is visible from the southe ...

Parliament of Scotland {{Scotland-election-stub