ABSTRACT
The establishment of the Scottish Parliament in 1999 can be seen as the outcome of a number of influences on Scottish life. The nationalist party in Scotland (Scottish Nationalist Party) had been active throughout the latter part of the twentieth century, deploying the argument that Scotland’s natural resources, notably revenues from oil reserves, were not being used to benefit the population of Scotland. In the same period the dominant political party of the Governments elected under the ‘first past the post’ system elections were Conservative. The strong majorities held by these Conservative governments at Westminster contrasted with the situation in Scotland which was dominated by the election of Labour Members of Parliament at Westminster. This was seen by many as a ‘democratic deficit’. The Liberal Democrats had a longstanding position of seeking devolved powers to Scotland. While the Liberal Democrats may be seen as having less influence or voice, when added to the mix of political agendas in Scotland, pressures for some form of autonomy for Scotland were to the fore. These pressures of an electorate in Scotland whose wishes were not reflected in political processes became an imperative of the incoming Labour administration of 1997. However, these expressions of discontent by the Scottish electorate were not just a rejection of a series of policies with which it had little sympathy. These were also manifestations of the desire for different parliamentary arrangements from those at Westminster.
