2011 Scottish Parliament election

2011 Scottish Parliament election

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All 129 seats to the Scottish Parliament
65 seats needed for a majority
TurnoutConstituency - 50.5% Decrease 3.4pp
Regional - 50.5% Decrease 3.5pp
  First party Second party Third party
 
Alex Salmond, First Minister of Scotland (cropped).jpg
IainGrayMSP20110510.JPG
AnnabelGoldieMSP20110510.JPG
Leader Alex Salmond Iain Gray Annabel Goldie
Party SNP Labour Conservative
Leader's seat Aberdeenshire East East Lothian West Scotland
Last election 47 seats 46 seats 17 seats
Seats before 46 44 17
Seats won 69 37 15
Seat change Increase23* Decrease7* Decrease2*
Constituency vote 902,915 630,461 276,652
% and swing 45.4% Increase12.5% 31.7% Decrease0.5% 13.9% Decrease2.7%
Regional vote 876,421 523,469 245,967
% and swing 44.0% Increase13.0% 26.3% Decrease2.9% 12.4% Decrease1.5%

  Fourth party Fifth party
 
TavishScottMSP20110510.JPG
Scottish Green Leadership 2011.jpg
Leader Tavish Scott Patrick Harvie /
Eleanor Scott
Party Liberal Democrats Scottish Green
Leader's seat Shetland Glasgow /
Contested Highlands
and Islands
Last election 16 seats 2 seats
Seats before 17 1
Seats won 5 2
Seat change Decrease12* Increase1*
Constituency vote 157,714 Did not contest
% and swing 7.9% Decrease8.2% Did not contest
Regional vote 103,472 86,939
% and swing 5.2% Decrease6.1% 4.4% Increase0.3%

The map shows the election results in single-member constituencies. The additional member MSPs in the 8 regions are shown around the map.
* Indicates boundary change - so this is a nominal figure

First Minister before election

Alex Salmond
SNP

First Minister after election

Alex Salmond
SNP

The 2011 Scottish Parliament election was held on Thursday, 5 May 2011 to elect 129 members to the Scottish Parliament.

The election delivered the first majority government since the opening of Holyrood, a remarkable feat as the Additional Member System used to elect MSPs was allegedly originally implemented to prevent any party achieving an overall parliamentary majority.[1] The Scottish National Party (SNP) won a landslide of 69 seats, the most the party has ever held at either a Holyrood or Westminster election, allowing leader Alex Salmond to remain as First Minister of Scotland for a second term. The SNP gained 32 constituencies, twenty two from Scottish Labour, nine from the Scottish Liberal Democrats and one from the Scottish Conservatives. Such was the scale of their gains that, of the 73 constituencies in Scotland, only 20 came to be represented by MSPs of other political parties. Scottish Labour lost seven seats and suffered their worst election defeat in Scotland since 1931, with huge losses in their traditional Central Belt constituencies and for the first time having to rely on the regional lists to elect members within these areas. They did, however, remain the largest opposition party. Party leader Iain Gray announced his resignation following his party's disappointing result. The Scottish Liberal Democrats were soundly defeated; their popular vote share was cut in half and their seat total reduced from 16 to 5. Tavish Scott announced his resignation as party leader shortly after the election.[2] For Scottish Conservatives, the election proved disappointing as their popular vote dropped slightly and their number of seats fell by 2, with party leader Annabel Goldie also announcing her resignation.[3]

During the campaign, the four main party leaders engaged in a series of televised debates, as they had in every previous general election. These key debates were held on 29 March (STV), 1 May (BBC), and 3 May (STV). The results of the election were broadcast live on BBC Scotland and STV, on the night of the election.

It was the fourth general election since the devolved parliament was established in 1999 and was held on the same day as elections to the National Assembly for Wales and the Northern Ireland Assembly, as well as English local elections and the UK-wide referendum on the alternative vote.

  1. ^ Newman, Cathy (6 May 2011). "SNP wins majority in Scottish elections". channel4.com. Archived from the original on 12 July 2011. Retrieved 12 July 2011.
  2. ^ "Scots Lib Dem leader Tavish Scott quits post". BBC News. 7 May 2011. Archived from the original on 20 May 2011. Retrieved 20 June 2018.
  3. ^ "BBC News - Scots Tory leader Annabel Goldie announces resignation". BBC. 24 April 2009. Archived from the original on 10 May 2011. Retrieved 9 May 2011.