2003 Scottish Parliament election explained

Election Name:	2003 Scottish Parliament election
Country:	Scotland
Type:	parliamentary
Ongoing:	no
Previous Election:	1999 Scottish Parliament election
Previous Year:	1999
Previous Mps:	1st Scottish Parliament
Next Election:	2007 Scottish Parliament election
Next Year:	2007
Next Mps:	Members of the 3rd Scottish Parliament
Seats For Election:	All 129 seats to the Scottish Parliament 65 seats were needed for a majority
Elected Mps:	2nd Scottish Parliament
1Blank:	Constituency vote
2Blank:	% and swing
3Blank:	Regional vote
4Blank:	% and swing
Turnout:	Constituency - 49.7% 8.7pp Regional - 49.7% 8.6pp
Leader1:	Jack McConnell
Party1:	Scottish Labour
Leaders Seat1:	Motherwell and Wishaw
Last Election1:	56 seats
Seats1:	50
Seat Change1:	6
3Data1:	561,375
4Data1:	29.3% 4.3%
1Data1:	663,585
2Data1:	34.6% 4.2%
Leader2:	John Swinney
Party2:	Scottish National Party
Leaders Seat2:	North Tayside
Last Election2:	35 seats
Seats2:	27
Seat Change2:	8
3Data2:	399,659
4Data2:	20.9% 6.4%
1Data2:	455,722
2Data2:	23.8% 4.9%
Leader3:	David McLetchie
Party3:	Scottish Conservatives
Leaders Seat3:	Edinburgh Pentlands
Last Election3:	18 seats
Seats3:	18
3Data3:	296,929
4Data3:	15.6% 0.1%
1Data3:	318,279
2Data3:	16.6% 1.2%
Leader4:	Jim Wallace
Party4:	Scottish Liberal Democrats
Leaders Seat4:	Orkney
Last Election4:	17 seats
Seats4:	17
3Data4:	225,774
4Data4:	11.8% 0.6%
1Data4:	294,347
2Data4:	15.4% 1.2%
Leader5:	Robin Harper
Party5:	Scottish Greens
Leaders Seat5:	Lothians
Last Election5:	1 seat
Seats5:	7
Seat Change5:	6
3Data5:	132,138
4Data5:	6.9% 3.3%
1Data5:	Did not stand
2Data5:	Did not stand
Leader6:	Tommy Sheridan
Party6:	Scottish Socialist Party
Leaders Seat6:	Glasgow
Last Election6:	1 seat
Seats6:	6
Seat Change6:	5
3Data6:	128,026
4Data6:	6.7% 4.7%
1Data6:	118,764
2Data6:	6.2% 5.2%
Map Size:	450px
First Minister
Posttitle:	First Minister after election
Before Election:	Jack McConnell
Before Party:	Scottish Labour
After Election:	Jack McConnell
After Party:	Scottish Labour

The 2003 Scottish Parliament election was the second election of members to the Scottish Parliament. It was held on 1 May 2003 and it brought no change in terms of control of the Scottish Executive. Jack McConnell, 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. As of 2023, 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 (SNP). The Conservative and Unionist 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. John Swinburne, leader of the Scottish Senior Citizens Unity Party, was also elected. This led to talk of a "rainbow" Parliament, but the arithmetic meant that the coalition 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. 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.^[1]

Constituency/Region	Departing MSP
Glasgow	Dorothy-Grace Elder	Independent
West of Scotland	Colin Campbell	SNP
Highlands and Islands	Duncan Hamilton	SNP
Highlands and Islands	Winnie Ewing	SNP
West of Scotland	Kay Ullrich	SNP
North East Scotland	Ben Wallace	Conservative
West of Scotland	John Young	Conservative
Central Fife	Henry McLeish	Labour
Tweeddale, Ettrick and Lauderdale	Ian Jenkins	Liberal Democrats
Lothians	David Steel	Liberal Democrats

Campaign

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

Party leaders in 2003

Labour – Jack McConnell
SNP – John Swinney
Conservative – David McLetchie
Liberal Democrat – Jim Wallace
Greens – Robin Harper & Eleanor Scott (co-chairs)
SSP – Tommy Sheridan

Defeated MSPs

Labour

SNP

The New Party

Keith Harding, Mid Scotland and Fife (elected as a Conservative)
Lyndsay McIntosh, Central Scotland (elected as a Conservative)

Results

|-| style="background-color:white" colspan=15 | |-! 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

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 (a long-standing Lib Dem policy)^[2] to be used in Scottish local government elections.^[3] ^[4] This system was first used in 2007.^[5]

Campaign spending

Party		Expenses^[6]
	£188,889
	£130,358
	£74,361
	£65,852
	£39,504
	£3,558

Party manifestos

External links

Notes and References

News: Farewell to the parliament . BBC News . 2 April 2003 . 4 February 2018 . 25 June 2004 . https://web.archive.org/web/20040625043801/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/2847147.stm . live .
News: Seenan . Gerard . 2001-11-22 . Scots Lib Dems push for local PR . en-GB . The Guardian . 2023-03-06 . 0261-3077.
News: Parker . Simon . 2003-05-19 . Councils next for PR in Scotland . en-GB . The Guardian . 2023-03-06 . 0261-3077.
Web site: PROPORTIONAL REPRESENTATION AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT ELECTIONS - Early Day Motions - UK Parliament.
Web site: 2007 Scottish Local Elections . 3 May 2007 . 6 March 2023 . . en-US.
News: Figures reveal election spending . BBC News . 27 August 2003 . 4 February 2018 . 13 February 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20220213152330/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/scotland/3186211.stm . live .