The 2003 Scottish Parliament election was the second election of members to the

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 ...

. It was held on 1 May 2003 and it brought no change in terms of control of the Scottish Executive.

Jack McConnell Jack Wilson McConnell, Baron McConnell of Glenscorrodale, (born 30 June 1960) is a Scottish politician who served as First Minister of Scotland and Leader of the Labour Party in Scotland from 2001 to 2007. McConnell served as the Minister ...

, the Labour Party MSP, remained in office as First Minister for a second term and the Executive continued as a Labour and Liberal Democrat

coalition A coalition is a group formed when two or more people or groups temporarily work together to achieve a common goal. The term is most frequently used to denote a formation of power in political or economical spaces. Formation According to ''A Gui ...

. As of 2022, it remains the last Scottish Parliament election victory for the Scottish Labour Party, and the last time the Scottish National Party lost a Holyrood election. The results also showed rises in support for smaller parties, including the Scottish Green Party and the Scottish Socialist Party (SSP) and declines in support for the Labour Party and the

Scottish National Party The Scottish National Party (SNP; sco, Scots National Pairty, gd, Pàrtaidh Nàiseanta na h-Alba ) is a Scottish nationalist and social democratic political party in Scotland. The SNP supports and campaigns for Scottish independence from ...

(SNP). The

Conservative and Unionist Party The Conservative Party, officially the Conservative and Unionist Party and also known colloquially as the Tories, is one of the Two-party system, two main political parties in the United Kingdom, along with the Labour Party (UK), Labour Party. ...

and the Scottish Liberal Democrats each polled almost exactly the same percentage of the vote as they had in the 1999 election, with each holding the same number of seats as before. Three independent MSPs were elected: Dennis Canavan, Margo MacDonald and

Jean Turner Jean McGivern Turner (born 23 December 1939) is a Scottish medical doctor and former Independent politician. She was the Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for the Strathkelvin and Bearsden constituency from 2003 until 2007. Early life an ...

. John Swinburne, leader of the

Scottish Senior Citizens Unity Party The Scottish Senior Citizens Unity Party (SSCUP), later the All-Scotland Pensioners Party from March 2011, was a Scottish political party. It was formed on 3 February 2003, in time to contest that year's elections to the Scottish Parliament. The l ...

, was also elected. This led to talk of a "rainbow" Parliament, but the arithmetic meant that the

of Labour and Scottish Liberal Democrats could continue in office, which they did until the 2007 election. The decline in support for the SNP was viewed by some as a rejection of the case for

Scottish independence Scottish independence ( gd, Neo-eisimeileachd na h-Alba; sco, Scots unthirldom) is the idea of Scotland as a sovereign state, independent from the United Kingdom, and refers to the political movement that is campaigning to bring it about. S ...

. Others argued against this, pointing out that the number of MSPs in favour of independence actually rose because most of the minor parties such as the SSP share this position with the SNP.

Retiring MSPs

At the dissolution of Parliament on 31 March 2003, ten MSPs were not seeking re-election.

Campaign

The parliament was dissolved on 31 March 2003 and the campaign began thereafter.

Party leaders in 2003

*Labour –

*SNP –

John Swinney John Ramsay Swinney (born 13 April 1964) is a Scottish politician who has served as Deputy First Minister of Scotland since 2014 and Cabinet Secretary for Covid Recovery since 2021. He was the Leader of the Scottish National Party (SNP) from 200 ...

*Conservative – David McLetchie *Liberal Democrat – Jim Wallace *Greens – Robin Harper & Eleanor Scott (co-chairs) *SSP – Tommy Sheridan

Defeated MSPs

Labour

* Brian Fitzpatrick, Strathkelvin and Bearsden * Rhoda Grant, Highlands and Islands * Iain Gray, Edinburgh Pentlands * Angus MacKay, Edinburgh South * Richard Simpson, Ochil *

Elaine Thomson Elaine Thomson (born 1957 in Inverness) is a former Scottish Labour Party politician. She was the Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for the Aberdeen North constituency from 1999 to 2003. In the 2003 election she was defeated by Brian Ad ...

, Aberdeen North

SNP

* Kenneth Gibson, Glasgow *

Irene McGugan Irene McGugan (born 1952) is a Scotland, Scottish politician. She was a Scottish National Party (SNP) Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for North East Scotland (Scottish Parliament electoral region), North East Scotland region from 1999 to ...

, North East Scotland *

Fiona McLeod Fiona Grace McLeod (born 3 December 1957) is a Scottish politician who served as acting Minister for Children and Young People from 2014 to 2015. A member of the Scottish National Party (SNP), she was Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) f ...

, West of Scotland * Gil Paterson, Central Scotland *

Lloyd Quinan Lloyd John Quinan (born 29 April 1957) is a Scottish broadcaster and pro-independence politician. He was a Scottish National Party (SNP) Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for the West of Scotland region from 1999 to 2003. Born and raise ...

, West of Scotland * Michael Russell,

South of Scotland South of Scotland may refer to: * The southern portion of Scotland ** Geography of Scotland * South of Scotland (Scottish Parliament electoral region) * South of Scotland (European Parliament constituency) * South of Scotland District (rugby union) ...

* Andrew Wilson, Central Scotland

The New Party

Keith Harding Keith Harding (born 1938) is a Scottish politician. He was a Conservative and Unionist Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for Mid Scotland and Fife from 1999 to 2003. He was leader of Stirling Council from 1991 to 1995. After being elec ...

, Mid Scotland and Fife (elected as a Conservative) *

Lyndsay McIntosh Lyndsay June McIntosh (born 12 June 1955) is a Scottish former politician who was a Conservative and Unionist Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for the Central Scotland region from 1999 to 2003. After being elected to Holyrood she was ...

, Central Scotland (elected as a Conservative)

Results

, - , style="background-color:white" colspan=15 , Scottish Parliament elected members, 2003

, - ! rowspan=2 colspan=2 , Party ! colspan=5 , Constituencies ! colspan=5 , Regional additional members ! colspan=5 , Total seats , - ! Votes !! % !! ± !! Seats !! ± !! Votes !! % !! ± !! Seats !! ± !! Total !! ± !! % , - , - , style="text-align:left"; colspan="2" , Valid votes , , 1,916,574 , , 99.4 , , 0.3 , , colspan="2", , , 1,915,851 , , 99.4 , , 0.3 , , colspan="5", , - , style="text-align:left"; colspan="2" , Spoilt votes , , 12,303 , , 0.6 , , 0.3 , , colspan="2", , , 11,938 , , 0.6 , , 0.3 , , colspan="5", , - !style="text-align:left"; colspan="2" , Total , , 1,928,877 , , 100 , , , , 73 , , – , , 1,927,789 , , 100 , , , , 56 , , – , , 129 , , – , , 100 , - , style="text-align:left"; colspan="2" , Electorate/Turnout , , 3,877,460 , , 49.7 , , 8.7 , , colspan="2", , , 3,877,460 , , 49.7 , , 8.6 , , colspan="5", Notes: *The Scottish Greens did not stand in any constituencies, instead concentrating their resources on winning the largest possible share of the "second" vote for 'list' seats.

Constituency and regional summary

Central Scotland

, - ! colspan=2 style="width: 200px", Constituency ! style="width: 150px", Elected member ! style="width: 300px", Result , - ! colspan="2" style="width: 150px", Party ! Elected candidates ! style="width: 40px", Seats ! style="width: 40px", +/− ! style="width: 50px", Votes ! style="width: 40px", % ! style="width: 40px", +/−% , -

Glasgow

Highlands and Islands

Lothians

Mid Scotland and Fife

North East Scotland

South of Scotland

West of Scotland

Coalition

As part of the coalition deal between Labour and the Scottish Liberal Democrats, Labour allowed proportional representation to be used in Scottish local government elections. This system was first used in 2007.

Party political and administration costs

The Lib Dems declared a total of £130,358 was spent on the campaign, SSP spent £74,361 the Greens spent £65,852 and the Scottish Senior Citizens' Unity Party spent 3,558. The Scottish People's Alliance spent £188,889 and UKIP spent £39,504.

References

Party Manifestos

British National Party- FreedomScottish Liberal Democrats- Make the differenceScottish National Party- Release our potentialScottish Socialist Party – another Scotland is possible

External links

BBC: Vote Scotland 2003Scottish Election Results 1997 – present
{{United Kingdom local elections, 2003

2003 File:2003 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The crew of STS-107 perished when the Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated during reentry into Earth's atmosphere; SARS became an epidemic in China, and was a precursor to SARS-CoV-2; A des ...

2003 elections in the United Kingdom 2003 in Scotland 2000s elections in Scotland May 2003 events in the United Kingdom