In 1997 the Labour Party won a landslide victory at the UK General Election, with one of the key policies in the party manifesto being the establishment of a Scottish Parliament. In September 1997, Scotland voted overwhelmingly in favour of a devolved parliament with nearly 75% of the votes cast supporting devolution. Two years later, the dream that many Scots had held for decades, became a reality.
25 years ago, in May 1999, Scotland’s future was changed. On 6 May, the polls opened for the first election to the new Scottish Parliament. Six days later, on 12 May, the first MSPs who were elected met for the first time. The parliament met in the Church of Scotland Assembly Hall on the Royal Mile in Edinburgh, a temporary location for the parliament whilst a new building was constructed.
The first Scottish Parliament – road to devolution
Winnie Ewing, a giant of the SNP and Scottish Independence movement, began the first session of the new parliament with her famous quote “The Scottish Parliament, adjourned on the 25th day of March, in the year 1707, is hereby reconvened”. Applause rang through the chamber and Ewing went on to pay tribute to some of those who fought for devolution and had sadly not lived to see it happen.
In the first Scottish Parliament election, Labour emerged as the strongest party, winning 56 seats, with Scottish Secretary Donald Dewar becoming First Minister of Scotland. Dewar had fought for a Scottish Parliament for years and when the Labour Party won the 1997 General Election, he was determined to see devolution in Scotland. Because of his work to establish a Scottish Parliament, Dewar is often called the “Father of the Nation”.
Behind the Labour Party, the Scottish National Party under the leadership of Alex Salmond won 35 seats. With the system of the Scottish Parliament being designed to encourage cross party work, the Labour Party entered into a coalition agreement with the Liberal Democrats.
The parliament was officially opened by Queen Elizabeth II on 1 July 1999 and from that date on, the Scottish Parliament had the power to legislate for Scotland on devolved matters. The first bill that was passed by parliament was the Mental Health (Public Safety and Appeals) (Scotland) Act 1999, passed in September.
Donald Dewar – settlement of a devolved parliament
Under Donald Dewar’s leadership as First Minister, Scotland settled into having a devolved parliament of MSPs, as well as sending MPs to Westminster. Dewar sought to ensure that the Scottish Executive and Parliament functioned properly and that there was cross party collaboration. In 2000, the Scottish Parliament passed the National Parks (Scotland) Act 2000 which laid out the criteria for National Park status and the process to achieve these criteria. The act did not create any National Parks as such but created powers which enabled the designation of National Parks.
Dewar was admitted to hospital in early 2000 after tests found a minor irregularity in his heart and he underwent a heart operation in May to repair a leaking heart valve. Dewar was prescribed warfarin, a blood-thinning medication after his surgery. He took a three-month break and Liberal Democrat Deputy FM Jim Wallace took over as acting First Minister whilst Dewar recovered.
On 10 October 2000, Dewar had a fall on the steps of Bute House in Edinburgh. At first, Dewar seemed fine and brushed off the fall, but as the day wore on his condition worsened and he suffered a brain haemorrhage, being admitted to hospital that evening. Dewar was placed on life support and his condition worsened. At 12:18 pm on 11 October Dewar’s life support was withdrawn and he was pronounced dead at the age of 63. The warfarin that Dewar was taking at the time of his death was thought to be a contributing factor to his brain haemorrhage.
Dewar’s death was a great shock and a huge loss to Scotland, with Dewar fighting for devolution for years and not living to see the impact it would have on Scotland. Dewar was succeeded as First Minister by Henry McLeish who worked with Dewar on the Scotland Act of 1998.
Henry McLeish
McLeish oversaw the introduction of the McCrone Agreement, which saw councils and teaching unions agree on several working conditions and pay. The agreement guaranteed teachers more than 12 hours a week to prepare lessons and mark pupil’s work and ensured that teachers’ working weeks would be limited to 35 hours.
McLeish was in office when the September 11 attacks happened in the United States of America in 2001. He watched the events unfold in his office in St Andrews House and after the attacks instructed airports in Scotland to be on alert and tighten security measures. The Scottish Parliament also voted to send their condolences to the people of the United States and New York.
McLeish was also a strong advocate for free personal care for the elderly, implementing the Community Care and Health (Scotland) Act 2002. The bill set out a list of personal care tasks that cannot be charged by a local authority. This meant that support with personal hygiene, at mealtimes, with medication and general wellbeing would be free for the elderly.
Henry McLeish is the shortest-serving First Minister of Scotland, being FM for only one year and 12 days. McLeish resigned in November 2001 amid a political scandal that saw him fail to register the expenses of an office building he owned.
Jack McConnell
Jack McConnell was subsequently elected as leader of the Scottish Labour Party and First Minister, succeeding Henry McLeish in both roles. McConnell had stood against McLeish in the previous contest to succeed Donald Dewar.
McConnell was First Minister from 2001 until 2007 and was the first FM to fight a Scottish Election in 2003. The Labour Party won 50 seats in this election and re-entered into a coalition with the Scottish Liberal Democrats.
During his time in office, McConnell oversaw the introduction of the public smoking ban in 2006, which banned people smoking in enclosed public spaces such as pubs and on trains. The ban was the first of its kind in the UK. McConnell also launched a campaign against sectarianism in Scotland, calling sectarianism and religious hatred a “national shame”.
Another notable part of McConnell’s time in office was the opening of the modern Scottish Parliament building, which is commonly referred to as Holyrood. The building was officially opened on 9 October 2004 by Queen Elizabeth II, and the Scottish Parliament has met there ever since.
In 2007, the SNP won 47 seats in Holyrood, an increase of 20, compared to Scottish Labour’s 46, a loss of four seats. The SNP formed a minority government, and Alex Salmond became First Minister, succeeding Jack McConnell.
McConnell became leader of the opposition in Holyrood and stepped down as Labour leader in August 2007, serving as a backbench MSP until he stood down at the 2011 Scottish Parliament election.
Dewar and Devolution
There is no doubt that without Donald Dewar and his work on fighting for a devolved Scottish Parliament, Scotland wouldn’t be where it is today. Dewar’s campaigning for a parliament and leadership as First Minister should be remembered as a proud legacy for a giant of Scottish politics. Sadly, Dewar is not here today, but his legacy lives on in the Scottish Parliament and the voices of the Scottish people.
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