Scottish Parliament
| |
|---|---|
| 6th Scottish Parliament | |
 | |
| Type | |
| Type | |
| History | |
| Founded | 12 May 1999 |
| Preceded by |
|
New session started | 13 May 2021 |
| Leadership | |
Charles III since 8 September 2022 | |
Alison Johnstone since 13 May 2021 | |
| |
John Swinney, SNP since 8 May 2024 | |
Kate Forbes, SNP since 8 May 2024 | |
Jamie Hepburn, SNP since 8 May 2024 | |
Russell Findlay, Conservative since 27 September 2024 | |
| Structure | |
| Seats | 129 |
 | |
Political groups | Government (62)
Opposition (66)
Other (1) |
| Committees |
|
| Elections | |
| Additional-member system | |
Last election | 6 May 2021 |
Next election | On or before 7 May 2026 |
| Meeting place | |
 | |
| Scottish Parliament Building Edinburgh, Scotland | |
| Website | |
| www | |
| This article is part of a series within the Politics of the United Kingdom on the |
| Politics of Scotland |
|---|
 |
The Scottish Parliament (Scottish Gaelic: Pàrlamaid na h-Alba [ˈpʰaːrˠl̪ˠəmɪtʲ nə ˈhal̪ˠapə]; Scots: Scots Pairlament)[1][2][3] is the unicameral legislature of Scotland. Located in the Holyrood area of the capital city, Edinburgh, it is frequently referred to by the metonym Holyrood.[4] The Parliament is a democratically elected body comprising 129 members known as Members of the Scottish Parliament (MSPs), elected for five-year terms[5] under the regionalised form of Additional-member system (MMP): 73 MSPs represent individual geographical constituencies elected by the plurality (first-past-the-post) system, while a further 56 are returned as list members from eight additional member regions. Each region elects seven party-list MSPs. Each region elects 15 to 17 MSPs in total.[6] The most recent general election to the Parliament was held on 6 May 2021, with the Scottish National Party winning a plurality.
The original Parliament of Scotland was the national legislature of the independent Kingdom of Scotland and existed from the early 13th century until the Kingdom of Scotland merged with the Kingdom of England under the Acts of Union 1707 to form the Kingdom of Great Britain.[7] As a consequence, the Parliament of Scotland ceased to exist, while the Parliament of England, which sat at Westminster, was subsumed into the Parliament of Great Britain.[7] In practice, all of the traditions, procedures, and standing orders of the English parliament were retained, with the addition of Scottish members in both the Commons and Lords.
Following a referendum in 1997, in which the Scottish electorate voted for devolution, the powers of the devolved legislature were specified by the Scotland Act 1998. The Act delineates the legislative competence of the Parliament – the areas in which it can make laws – by explicitly specifying powers that are "reserved" to the Parliament of the United Kingdom. The Scottish Parliament has the power to legislate in all areas that are not explicitly reserved to Westminster.[8] The UK Parliament retains the ability to amend the terms of reference of the Scottish Parliament, and can extend or reduce the areas in which it can make laws.[9] The first meeting of the reconvened Parliament took place on 12 May 1999.[10]
The legislative competence of the Scottish Parliament has been amended numerous times since then. The Scotland Act 2012 and Scotland Act 2016 expanded the Parliament's powers, especially over taxation and welfare. The purpose of the United Kingdom Internal Market Act 2020, the most recent amendment, is to constrain the powers of the devolved institutions[11] and restrict the exercise of devolved competences.[19] Its effect is to undermine the freedom of action, regulatory competence and authority of the Parliament, limiting its ability to make different economic or social choices to those made by Westminster.[20]
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- ^ "Makkin Yer Voice Heard in the Scottish Pairlament". Scottish Parliament. Archived from the original on 3 November 2007. Retrieved 10 February 2007.
- ^ "SPCB Leid Policy" (PDF). Scottish Parliament. Archived from the original (PDF) on 20 July 2011. Retrieved 10 February 2007.
- ^ The Scots for Scottish is in fact Scots Archived 26 May 2011 at the Wayback Machine.
- ^ "Scottish Parliament Word Bank". Scottish Parliament. Archived from the original on 3 December 2005. Retrieved 14 November 2006.
- ^ A five year term was set by the Scottish Elections (Reform) Act 2020, having been changed on two occasions previously (by the Fixed-term Parliaments Act 2011 and the Scottish Elections (Dates) Act 2016) from the four year term specified by the Scotland Act 1998.
- ^ "How the Scottish Parliament works" (PDF). Scottish Parliament. October 2014. Archived from the original (PDF) on 20 August 2016. Retrieved 1 July 2016.
- ^ a b "The Scottish Parliament – Past and Present" (PDF). Scottish Parliament. Archived from the original (PDF) on 20 August 2016. Retrieved 1 July 2016.
- ^ "Scotland Act 1998: Scottish Parliament Reserved Issues". Office of Public Sector Information (OPSI). Archived from the original on 19 May 2007. Retrieved 14 November 2006.
- ^ Murkens, Jones & Keating (2002), p. 11.
- ^ "Scottish Parliament Official Report – 12 May 1999". Scottish Parliament. Archived from the original on 26 February 2008. Retrieved 5 November 2006.
- ^ Dougan, Michael; Hunt, Jo; McEwen, Nicola; McHarg, Aileen (2022). "Sleeping with an Elephant: Devolution and the United Kingdom Internal Market Act 2020". Law Quarterly Review. 138 (Oct). London: Sweet & Maxwell: 650–676. ISSN 0023-933X. SSRN 4018581. Archived from the original on 6 September 2022. Retrieved 4 March 2022 – via University of Liverpool Repository.
The Act has restrictive – and potentially damaging – consequences for the regulatory capacity of the devolved legislatures...This was not the first time since the Brexit referendum that the Convention had been set aside, but it was especially notable given that the primary purpose of the legislation was to constrain the capacity of the devolved institutions to use their regulatory autonomy...in practice, it constrains the ability of the devolved institutions to make effective regulatory choices for their territories in ways that do not apply to the choices made by the UK government and parliament for the English market.
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DouganMcEwen20was invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ UKCLA (9 September 2020). "Kenneth Armstrong: Can the UK Breach the Withdrawal Agreement and Get Away With It? – the United Kingdom Internal Market Bill". UK Constitutional Law Association. Archived from the original on 20 May 2021. Retrieved 20 May 2021.
Albeit that its principal objective is to manage the free movement of goods, services and the recognition of professional qualifications in a post-Brexit UK where regulatory divergences may increase without the constraints of EU internal market law"
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LydgateEvi20was invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ "What Does a UK Internal Market Mean for Regulatory Divergence in the UK?". European Futures. 8 October 2020. Archived from the original on 24 May 2021. Retrieved 20 May 2021.
At the heart of the architecture of the UKIM Bill are the so-called 'market access' principles – mutual recognition and non-discrimination.
- ^ [12][13][14][15][16][17][18]
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