Unionism in Scotland () is a political movement which favours the continuation of the political union between Scotland, England, Wales and Northern Ireland as one United Kingdom, and hence is opposed to Scottish independence. Scotland is one of four countries of the United Kingdom which has its own devolved government (the Scottish Government) and its own parliament (the Scottish Parliament), as well as representation in the UK Parliament. There are many strands of political Unionism in Scotland, some of which have ties to Unionism and Loyalism in Northern Ireland. The two main political parties in the UK – the Conservatives and Labour — both support Scotland remaining part of the UK.
The Scottish unionism movement consists of many factions with varying political views but which are united in being politically opposed to Scottish independence, which would mean Scotland leaving the UK and becoming an independent state. Political parties which support Scottish independence include: the Scottish National Party (SNP) and the Scottish Greens. The SNP have formed the devolved Scottish Government since 2007. After the SNP won an overall majority in the 2011 Scottish Parliament election, the UK and Scottish governments agreed to hold a referendum on Scottish independence, which was held on 18 September 2014. The three main UK political parties formed the Better Together campaign, supporting Scotland remaining part of the UK. The referendum resulted in a victory for the "No" (unionist) campaign, with 55.3% of votes cast for "No" to Scottish independence, and 44.7% cast for "Yes" to Scottish independence. Following the referendum, Better Together ceased to be active and Scotland in Union was established the following year in March 2015.
Status of the term
Before its merger with the Conservative and Unionist Party in England and Wales in 1965, the Unionist Party in Scotland was often known simply as "Unionist". Both the Conservative and Unionist and Scottish Unionist parties were formed by the merger of Conservatives and Liberal Unionists in 1912. The union referred to is the 1800 Act of Union (between Great Britain and Ireland), not the Acts of Union 1707 (between England and Scotland).
The term may also be used to suggest an affinity with Northern Irish unionism.
The former Secretary of State for Scotland, Michael Moore, has written that he does not call himself a Unionist, despite being a supporter of the union. This he ascribes to the Liberal Democrat position in regard to Home Rule and decentralisation within the United Kingdom, noting that: "for me the concept of 'Unionism' does not capture the devolution journey on which we have travelled in recent years." He suggests the connotations behind Unionism are of adherence to a constitutional status quo.
History of the Union
Kingdom of Scotland
Scotland emerged as an independent polity during the Early Middle Ages, with some historians dating its foundation from the reign of Kenneth MacAlpin in 843. The independence of the Kingdom of Scotland was fought over between Scottish kings and by the Norman and Angevin rulers of England. A key period in the Kingdom of Scotland's history was a succession crisis that started in 1290, when Edward I of England claimed the Scottish throne. The resulting wars of Scottish Independence which led to Scotland securing its independent status, with Robert the Bruce (crowned in 1306) winning a major confrontation at Bannockburn in 1314.
England, Ireland and Scotland shared the same monarch in a personal union from 1603, when King James VI of Scotland also became King James I of England and Ireland, resulting in the "Union of the Crowns". A political union between the Kingdoms of Scotland, England and Ireland was temporarily formed when the crowns were overthrown as a result of the English Civil War, with Oliver Cromwell ruling over the whole of Great Britain and Ireland as Lord Protector. This period was known as the Protectorate, or to monarchists as the interregnum. The monarchies were subsequently restored in 1660, with Scotland reverting to an independent kingdom sharing the same monarch as England and Ireland.
Union between England and Scotland (1707)
The political union between the Kingdoms of Scotland and England (also including Wales) was created by the Acts of Union, passed in the parliaments of both kingdoms in 1707 and 1706 respectively. Causes for this included English fears that Scotland would select a different (Catholic) monarch in future, and the failure of the Scottish colony at Darien.
The Union was brought into existence under the Acts of Union on 1 May 1707, forming a single Kingdom of Great Britain. Scottish Jacobite resistance to the union, led by descendants of James VII of Scotland (II of England), continued until 1746 and the Jacobite defeat at Culloden.
Union with Ireland (1801)
With the Acts of Union 1800, Ireland united with Great Britain into what then formed the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. The history of the Unions is reflected in various stages of the Union Flag, which forms the flag of the United Kingdom. Ireland was partitioned in the early 1920s: Southern Ireland, now known as the Republic of Ireland, left the United Kingdom, while Northern Ireland chose to stay within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
Devolution (1999)
The Liberal Democrats, and their predecessor Liberal Party, have long been supportive of Home Rule as part of a wider belief in subsidiarity and localism. In a mirror image of how the Liberal Democrat Party is itself structured, that party is generally supportive of a federal relationship between the countries of the United Kingdom. The Liberal governments of the late 19th century and early 20th century supported a "home rule all round" policy, which would have meant creating national parliaments in England, Ireland and Scotland with common and external matters (such as defence and foreign affairs) decided by the UK Parliament. A "Government of Scotland Bill" was introduced to the UK Parliament by the Liberal government in 1913, and its second reading was passed in the House of Commons by 204 votes to 159. The bill did not become law, and home rule fell off the agenda after most of Ireland became independent in 1922.
Following the Kilbrandon Report in 1973, recommending a devolved Scottish Assembly, the Labour government led by Jim Callaghan introduced the Scotland Act 1978. A majority voted in favour of the proposed scheme in a March 1979 referendum on the proposal, but the Act stipulated that 40% of the total electorate had to vote in favour. The result of the referendum did not meet this additional test, and the Labour government decided not to press ahead with devolution. When the party returned to power in 1997, they introduced a second devolution referendum which resulted in the enactment of the Scotland Act 1998 and the creation of the Scottish Parliament.
Unionists took different sides on the debates regarding devolution. Supporters argued that it would strengthen the Union, as giving Scotland self-government would remove the contention that independence was the only way to obtain control over internal affairs. Labour politician George Robertson said that devolution "will kill nationalism stone dead" for this reason. John Smith, a Labour leader who supported devolution, believed it was the "settled will" of the Scottish people. Unionist opponents of devolution argued that granting self-government would inevitably lead to the Union breaking, as they believed it would encourage nationalist sentiment and create tensions within the Union. Labour politician Tam Dalyell said devolution would be a "motorway to independence". His West Lothian question asked why MPs for Scottish constituencies should be able to decide devolved matters (such as health and education) in England, but MPs for English constituencies would have no say over those matters in Scotland.
The Conservatives, as a Britain-wide party, fielded candidates in Scotland until the creation of a separate Unionist Party in 1912. This was a separate party which accepted the Conservative whip in the UK Parliament until it was merged into the Conservative Party in 1965. The Declaration of Perth policy document of 1968 committed the Conservatives to Scottish devolution in some form, and in 1970 the Conservative government published Scotland's Government, a document recommending the creation of a Scottish Assembly. Support for devolution within the party was rejected and was opposed by the Conservative governments led by Margaret Thatcher and John Major in the 1980s and 1990s. The party largely remained opposed to devolution in the 1997 Scottish devolution referendum campaign. That referendum was passed with a large majority, the Conservatives have since accepted devolution in both Scotland and Wales. The governments led by David Cameron devolved further powers to the Scottish Parliament in 2012 and 2016. Cameron also attempted to answer the "West Lothian question" by changing the procedures of the UK Parliament (English votes for English laws).
Notable opponents of unionism are the Scottish National Party (SNP) and the Scottish Green Party. The Scottish Socialist Party (SSP) and Solidarity seek to make Scotland an independent sovereign state and a republic separate from England, Wales and Northern Ireland. Of these parties, only the SNP currently has representation in the UK Parliament, which it has had continuously since winning the 1967 Hamilton by-election. The SNP and the Scottish Greens both have representation within the Scottish Parliament, with the SNP having formed the Scottish Government since 2007.
Independence referendum (2014)
The SNP won an overall majority in the 2011 Scottish Parliament election. Following that election, the UK and Scottish Governments agreed that the Scottish Parliament should be given the legal authority to hold an independence referendum by the end of 2014.
The referendum was held on 18 September 2014, asking voters in Scotland the following question: "Should Scotland be an independent country?". At the poll, 2,001,926 voters (55%) rejected the proposal for Scotland to become an independent state over 1,617,989 (45%), who voted in favour of Scottish independence.
The referendum result was accepted by the Scottish and British governments, leading to Scotland remaining a devolved part of the United Kingdom. Further moves have since been made towards increased devolution of power to the Scottish Parliament, which has been incorporated into UK law via the Scotland Act of 2016.
Subsequent elections Following the September 2014 referendum, the pro-independence SNP benefitted from increased membership and political support. In the 2015 general election, the SNP won 56 of the 59 seats contested in Scotland, with the three main British parties winning one seat each. The pro-unionist Scottish Conservatives then also saw increased support in the 2016 Scottish Parliament and 2017 UK general elections.
Before the latter election, the Scottish Government (formed by the SNP) had proposed a second Scottish independence referendum, due to the "Leave" victory in the June 2016 referendum on UK membership of the European Union, which the majority of voters in Scotland voted against. The SNP won 35 seats in the 2017 UK general election, a loss of 21 from the 2015 election, with their vote dropping from 50% in 2015 to 37%.
In the 2019 UK general election, SNP support increased to 45% of the vote and they won 48 of the 59 seats contested in Scotland. The election was focused around Brexit, as the Conservative government led by Boris Johnson pledged to "get Brexit done". Despite losing seats in Scotland, the Conservatives won an overall majority and the UK left the European Union on 31 January 2020.