A modern history of Scotland.

"I believe every Scotsman should be a Scottish nationalist." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unionist_Party_(Scotland)#cite_note-1#cite_note-1John Buchan, Scottish Unionist MP.

“From the first time I met him, I could sense that this man would not merely be another member who was there just to be a piece of lobby-fodder. Bob Jamieson(1) was a man on a mission, for he believed that the surest way to save the union would be to have a devolved Scottish Parliament within the union, along the lines of the Northern Irish model in Stormont.

He had the backing of the orange vote, the Church was onside, and despite differing political views, he was good friends with John McCormack(2), who arranged the Covenant of the previous year. I was shocked at how he managed to persuade the other Unionist MPs to come onboard. To watch him at work was truly astounding.” Alec Douglas-Home, Interview 1/5/1971.

It will always be difficult to imagine what had happened had Bill Snadden not stood down due to health reasons in time for the 1951 General election, but to dwell on such an alternative historical debate would be fruitless. Despite a strong challenge, Bob got the nomination. Upon election, in his maiden speech he spoke of saving the union, which is ironic considering he is now considered the father of Scottish home rule, as stated by the statue of him in Perth next to the statue of the fair maid. The event which really sprung him into the consciousness of the public was, however the Royal Commission on Scottish Affairs which Winston(Churchill) initiated when we got back into power(3). God alone knows how the man got himself a role on the committee, but he did.

When the final report came about in 1952, his handwork was all over it. There would be a plebiscite on a Scottish Parliament, similar to the Northern Irish model, within the Union. Encouraged by the result, and despite strong splits within the party, and the Lords opposing it, we managed somehow to get the bill through with the use of the Parliament act. The Commons had spoken.

In reality, I was never worried about the outcome of the referendum. The fact that it passed was a great moment. At this point, I turned to Tom Johnston, the great Socialist and at one point the uncrowned king of Scotland and stated the words, “we now have a vehicle to roll back socialism inside Scotland!” Our popularity was immense. Wherever we went there were people greeting us. Devolution was now a fact.
Charles Donaldson MP, an exert from A life-Macmillan Publishers.

(1) A fictional character. I’ve read various sources, and I feel a charismatic young MP, a staunch Unionist with home rule tendencies would be able to sway quite a few of the Unionist members, although he would gain enemies, as we will see…
(2) Rector of Glasgow University at the time. He was a founding member of the SNP, but after the SNP decided on a course of pro-independence politics, he left and set up the Covenant for a devolved Parliament within the Union. This was an apolitical body. He switched his support to the Liberals at this point as he felt they more closely matched his views.
(3) The main POD. The commission did happen IOTL, but came out with anti-devolution findings. ITTL, the findings, inspired by the pro-home rule climate which is being whipped up even more by the member for West Perthshire and a new head, come out strongly in favour of home rule. It was headed, ITTL by the Earl of Mansfield.
 
The Scottish Parliament had immense powers over Scottish domestic life, modelled as it was on the 1920 Northern Ireland act(1). It had almost entire powers over domestic Scottish legislation, and with the exception of taxation of customs and excise duties and a few other taxes, it had control over much of Scottish taxation. The number of Scottish seats in Westminster was to be reduced from 71 to 57.

It was to be a bicameral House, with both a House of ommons and a Senate. The House of Commons was to be elected by FPTP, with each of Scotlands Universities of St.Andrews, Aberdeen, Dundee Edinburgh and Glasgow who would have one member each, the Senate was to be elected by STV. The Commons was to have 145 members, and the Senate was to have 22, with 18 elected, and the Provosts of Glasgow, Edinburgh, Dundee and Aberdeen given seats.

As to legislation, unlike Northern Ireland, who had a Governer, it was agreed that Scottish lgislation would be sent directly to the Queen, who would open Parliament as a sign of royal goodwill. Prayers were to be conducted in the form of the Church of Scotland before each days sitting.
Brian Taylor-An exert from Home Rule, 50 years on. Polygon Publishers.

Despite the fact that he had convinced many of us to come on board, only six of us came with him to help establish the new Parliament. Amongst our number there was James Stuart, who was leader of the Party, Bob, myself, John Maclay, Colin Thornton-Kelmsley and Charles McAndrew. I have to confess that this surprised me, what with the upcoming reduction in the number of seats for Westminster.

The Labour side are predictable as ever, plumping for the ever mercurial Mr Tom Johnston as their candidate for the post of First Minister of Scotland. Alongside him, much of the Labour team seem like pygmies in comparison.

The elections are not until next May, so we have plenty of time to prepare. In reality, campaigning has already started. James has been in touch with the shipping magnates of the Clyde, such as Harland and Wolff, Yarrow, Henry Robb and Alexander Stephens all donating in large sums. It is all encouraging. An overall majority is not out of the question......
Charles Donaldson MP, an exert from his diary published in A life-Macmillan Publishers.

(1)For your own viewing, heres the 1920 NI act. link
 
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It was to be a bicameral House, with both a House of ommons and a Senate. The House of Commons was to be elected by FPTP, and the Senate by STV. The Commons was to have 145 members, and the Senate was to have 22, with 18 elected, and the Provosts of Glasgow, Edinburgh, Dundee and Aberdeen given seats.

Nice to see a British invention being put to good use (and in the Australian fashion, too). Question: are there university constitutencies in the Senate, i.e., for St Andrews?

As to legislation, unlike Northern Ireland, who had a Governer-General, it was agreed that Scottish lgislation would be sent directly to the Queen, who would open Parliament as a sign of royal goodwill.

A minor nitpick - there was never a Governor-General in NI, because technically NI is not a Dominion. They just had a lowly Governor - unless if this Brian Taylor guy didn't know that.

Other than that, so far so good.
 
Nice to see a British invention being put to good use (and in the Australian fashion, too). Question: are there university constitutencies in the Senate, i.e., for St Andrews?
Nope, for the sole reason, I copied the NI act as much as possible, albiet with larger numbers due to Scotlands bigger population. Would be a good introduction at one point though...;)
A minor nitpick - there was never a Governor-General in NI, because technically NI is not a Dominion. They just had a lowly Governor - unless if this Brian Taylor guy didn't know that.
Brian Taylor is the BBCs main Scottish political correspondent at the moment. As for the mistake, thanks, I'll fix it.
 
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Nope, for the sole reason, I copied the NI act as much as possible, albiet with larger numbers due to Scotlands bigger population. Would be a good introduction at one point though...;)

So, university constituencies in the Commons, then? IIRC the GoI Act of 1920, 4 seats were allocated to graduates of Queen's University in Belfast - unless you're abolishing those, too.

Brian Taylor is the BBCs main Scottish political correspondent at the moment. As for the mistake, thanks, I'll fix it.

Interesting and you're welcome. :D I'm typing up something ATM that you might be interested in - the Scottish system from a Commonwealth (more specifically, a Canadian) perspective - if you're interested, I can PM you what I've written. I don't want to steal your thunder, though.
 
So, university constituencies in the Commons, then? IIRC the GoI Act of 1920, 4 seats were allocated to graduates of Queen's University in Belfast - unless you're abolishing those, too.
:D
Good, good! I just read up on the Senate, with the 12 members and the Lord Mayors of Belfast and Derry. University Consituencies in the Commons then..
Interesting and you're welcome. :D I'm typing up something ATM that you might be interested in - the Scottish system from a Commonwealth (more specifically, a Canadian) perspective - if you're interested, I can PM you what I've written. I don't want to steal your thunder, though.
Would love to hear the idea old boy. Not stealing my thunder at all.
 
With huge thanks to Dan1988, who is the author, in large part, of the following piece. It shows the Scotish Parlaiemtn from a Commonwealth viewpoint. Enjoy. :)

What made the Scottish form of Home Rule unique was that, in a way, the political system (in its original form) that came into place was, by and large, similar to the forms of government found in the Dominions – in particular, the Scottish system would have been largely familiar to Canadians and Australians, since it seemed similar to their own federal systems. The Scottish Senate, like the Canadian Senate, seemed to be based on the House of Lords and functioned as such, the chamber of “sober second thought” of Canadian constitutional theory; however, like the Australian Senate, the voting system was deliberately designed to give equal representation among the regions, and thus had an air of the United States Senate. As such, to Australians, it would seem that their unique “Washminster” system had found its way to the U.K. – however, the Scottish Senate had the same constraints as the House of Lords. There was, however, a difference – whilst Australian state legislatures maintained their upper houses, the last upper house to be abolished amongst the Canadian provinces, the Conseil législatif du Québec, was becoming increasingly irrelevant as it was seen by some as a stooge of the régime of Premier Maurice Duplessis – a holdout amongst other provinces that already abolished their upper houses in the 19th century.

As one of the first experiments in federalism in the United Kingdom – though it didn’t seem like that at the time, since the press preferred to call it “a special case” – the Scots seemed to take their lessons from Northern Ireland’s experience with Home Rule. There, the Scots saw, in essence, what not to do in the operation of Parliament – among them, the setting up of electoral ridings and the near-irrelevance of the Senate of Northern Ireland, amongst other issues they watched. [1] Thus, amongst the features peculiar to the Scottish Parliament (as compared to the rest of the U.K. at the time) were:

*Direct election of Senate seats, on a regional basis, via STV, as already mentioned, instead of the election of Senate seats from the House of Commons, as in Northern Ireland
*an independent electoral boundaries commission

One area over which both the Scottish and Northern Irish Parliaments had much power was over the area of taxation. Almost all taxation raised for the Scottish Parliament, was indeed raised by the Scottish Parliament.

The end result was something like a quasi-federal unitary state regarding Scotland’s relationship with Westminster – which would seem familiar to students of Canadian politics and Canadian history since that was the plan of Sir John A. Macdonald. [2] Indeed, the air of federalism was seen in how Scottish MPs at Westminster would be acting following the passage of Home Rule – they were to vote only on matters that affect the U.K. as a whole, including Scotland, so as to prevent accusations of having too much influence over local English politics. [3]

From Vachon, Guillaume. [4] Nationalism and Identity Politics in a Global Society: The Case for Federalism. 1990: Oxford University Press/McGill-Queen’s University Press, Kingston, Ontario. Translated and updated from the French Le nationalisme civique et le fédéralisme dans la société internationale. 1979 : Presses universitaires de France.


OOC Notes :
[1] Indeed, there were probably some areas of Northern Ireland’s system that could use some improvement, at least for those living outside of Northern Ireland.
[2] Canada’s first Prime Minister.
[3] An echo of the West Lothian question?
[4] Fictional, obviously.
 
The Scottish Parliament election held on the 1st May, 1953 was the first ever of a democratically elected Scottish Parliament. At first, it caught the fire and imgination of the Scottish public, who through it were, seemingly or at least to the untrained eye, to become more politically engaged although this subsided more as the result became less in doubt.

The Unionists throughout were ahead in the polls, and James Stuart was certain of leading the largest bloc in the new body, despite the vigourous and strong campaigning of Labour under Tom Johnston. The theme of the campaign was the future of the nation. The Unionists argued for reform of local government so there would be less waste, and privatising elements of Scottish industry, with an argument for a more enterprising , or as they put it, a more canny culture. Labour argued for a more egalitarian system, stating that the Tories would destroy the work put in since the war to build a fairer Scotland.

The Liberals, under Jo Grimmond, who unlike the leaders of the Unionists and Labour, decided to remain in Westminster and enter the Scottish Parliament had a quiet campaign. Making headway in the campaign were also the SNP, who for the first time reached the Scottish public, with the suggestion that they could even win two seats, as were the Communists under Willie Gallagher, who famously came out of retirement, stating that he would fight "with every fire of his being, for a fair just land for the working people".

As it was, as the campign went on, and it became more and more obvious that a squeeze was going to occur on the smaller parties between the Labour Party, funded by the Unions and the Unionists, backed by the cash of industrialists and small businesses the chances of a massive breakthrough became smaller and smaller.

As the election drew nearer to a close, Tom Johnston, whose appearance was, sadly appearing more and more disconsolate as the campaign was going on, was overheard by a journalist of the Glasgow Herald making an off the record remark "Of course we're going to bloody lose! These bastards are going to whip us." With even their Scottish leader stating they would lose, little else could be done. When the election came, the Unionists were clearly the largest party, although not in a majority. The biggest shock, it must be said was the election of the elderly Willie Gallagher. The biggest question now though was whether the Liberals under Jo Grimmond would agree to a coalition with the Unionists, or whether they would rule as a minority.

Scottish Election 1st May 1953, result.


Commons.(1)

Unionist Party. 51 Seats.
Labour Party 46 Seats.
Liberal Party 8 Seats.
SNP 2 Seats.
Communist 1 Seat.


Senate.

Unionist Party. 9 Seats.
Labour Party. 7 Seats.
Liberal Party. 2 Seats.

(1) In the post on the creation of the Commons, I stated it would have 145 elected members by FPTP, I have changed my mind, it shall have 108 elected members by STV.
 
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This will be a novel parliament in a nation used to a two party system. Sitting communists? :D
Willie Gallagher was around at the time. I admit, there will be no internationale in this timeline, where Scotland votes Communist, but Gallagher will play a role, I thought it was interesting, and plausible that a Communist would get elected. :D
 
ScottB said:
The first 2 of the OTL Scottish Parliament has pseudo communist SSP MSPs...

Oh, well I remember them. Who could our Mr. Sheridan and his merry bunch of misfits? :D

In the 1950s though, at the midst of the Cold War, I imagine the presence of communists to be a bit more intimidating.
 
A building may not be important in the grand scheme of things. When thinking of buildings such as the Houses of Parliament in London, or the White House in Washington DC, the first thought that springs to mind is not "I wonder how much this building cost to design and whether it met its budget", but that was exactly the problem which faced the Scots following the yes vote in the referendum in 1952.

It was agreed that initially, the Scottish Commons would be given temporary homes in the General Assembly Hall of the Church of Scotland on the Mound, and the Senate would share Edinburgh City Chambers with the local council. The question of location was the first real dilemma the body faced.

Upon his election as the first First Minister of Scotland, James Stuart established a corporate body charged with overseeing the creation of the new Parliament. This body would be led by John McCormack, elected from the university seat of Glasgow, and who was the first speaker of the Commons. He set about attempting to find suitable locations within the city of Edinburgh.

Following two months of deliberations, four possible locations were put forward.

The first was a combination of the old Parliament House and Edinburgh City Chambers. It was agreed that the Commons would sit in the old Parliament, with the Senate and most of the Commitee rooms situated in the Council offices. For this to work a new Edinburgh City Council Chambers would need to be built though, which would be combined with the Court. Transport links by car would be an issue with this site, although within walking distance of both the local Train and bus stations. This site had the historical advantage.

The second option was in Leith. This had the advantage of being a cheap option, which would help regeneration of the area. It would also give the Parliament a waterfront view. This would also be good for transport links, as it was agreed that transport links would be improved between Leith and the City Centre, something which would not be possible with the first option, being stuck in the centre of the Old Town. A drawback was that it was not in the centre however, so accesibility between the site and the rest of the Scottish Executive, which would be based from St.Andrews House. The locals were fervently in favour of the idea.

The third option was Haymarket. It had the advantage of being a clear site in th city centre which was ready for development. It had all the advantages of the first option, with the obvious historical exception. A major sticking point, however was that it had all the same issues over parking that Parliament House had, and there were doubts over whether more landwould be needed, which would undoubtedly lead to people being forced out of their homes, so local opposition was prominent. Should Parliament House get chosen, the new City Chambers would be built here.

The final option was just off of Regent Road. the site was clear, large enough to ensure that there was no issue over CPOs, so the local populace, whilst not happy at the conversion of a park, were not totally against the idea. It was also just below the National monument, so the scenery was good. It also had good transport links. The major issue with it was that being built on a hill, whether costs would spiral, and whether one of the citys parks should be taken away for a building.

Following much debate, the Corporate body recommended the first option. James Stuart, along with McCormack was keen on the historical aspect of the choice and believed that it would ensure that the Parliament could bed down quickly. The major issue was that not having a majority in the Commons(including the votes of the Lord Provosts, they had a majority of one in the senate), the Unionists could not force it through. He did however have the support of the SNP.

Tom Johnston stated that he was opposed to the idea as it would in effect ensure that the whole of Scotland was paying for a new City Chambers for Edinburgh, whilst settling for in his words "the Councils cast-offs." As such he unified the Labour Party behind him on the issue, who as a man backed the Regent Road site.

The Liberals were divided on where the Parliament should be, and Willie Gallagher, the Communist was of the firm opinion that the Parliament should be in Glasgow, as it was the biggest city and in his opinion, "the peoples capital".

The first vote of the reconvened Scottish Parliament was over its own location. The question was still hanging over who would get their way.
 
The full debate over the location of the new Parliament ensured a packed house. The First Minister opened the debate making quite clearly his case for making Parliament House the location of the new Assembly stating that the new Parliament was a thread linking Scotlands past to Scotlands future as a nation.

He reminded Assembly of the fact that both before and following the enforced Commonwealth of Oliver Cromwell that Parliament sat in that chamber, that the chamber was used both before and after the Glorious Revolution until the act of Union which saw Great Britain established as a state. Furthermore he pointed out that the Assembly could provide a link to that past whilst helping shape Scotlands future, within theunion.

Tom Johnston sat silent throughout the opening speech and gave his reply. He had authored a book on a History of the Common people of Scotland. His was a decision that rather than celebrate the achievement of some long dead aristocrats and build a new Edinburgh City Chambers at a cost of which the nation would be burdened with, a new Assembly should be built. He pointed out for all the relevant costs the only reasonable choice would be the site just off of Regent Road. He stated that the Labour members would be voting for that site.

Jo Grimmond was more conciliatory in his statement. He made the point that whilst both Stuart and Johnston had valid points, he personally believed that the Regent Road site was the best value for money. That being said, he stated that it was up to each Liberal member to vote according to his or her consience.

The most entertaining contribution however, came from Willie Gallagher who was incedulous that millions would be spent on a "site fir aw the heid bummers oh the land", and that either the chambers of both the Commons and Senate travelled the land sitting in each council chamber for a period or a building should be bought in Glasgow, which after all, he pointed out was Scotlands largest city and in need of investment.

When the vote came, it was a close run thing, the University members turning it in the favour of the First Minister, all three of them voting for the line of the Government*, despite warnings from the opposition benches that some sort of Tory-entelism was taking place.

The results were as follows.

Support the Government. 56
Opposed 54

James Stuart had his first triumph as First Minister. As head of the Parliament, inwardly he was intent on making it his Assembly, in the building of his choosing. Within two years, after the new Edinburgh City Chambers were established in the Haymarket, the Assembly would meet in Parliament House. He could hardly keep the grin from his cheeks.

*4 Uni Seats, Edinburgh, St.Andrews, Dundee and Glasgow but the member for Glasgow Uni, John McCormack is the Speaker.
 
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