2011 Scottish Parliament election

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

2011 Scottish Parliament election

← 2007 5 May 2011 (2011-05-05) 2016 →
← outgoing members elected members →
All 129 seats to the Scottish Parliament 65 seats needed for a majority
Turnout	Constituency - 50.5% 3.4pp Regional - 50.5% 3.5pp
First party Second party Third party   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 23* 7* 2* Constituency vote 902,915 630,461 276,652 % and swing 45.4% 12.5% 31.7% 0.5% 13.9% 2.7% Regional vote 876,421 523,469 245,967 % and swing 44.0% 13.0% 26.3% 2.9% 12.4% 1.5%   Fourth party Fifth party   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 12* 1* Constituency vote 157,714 Did not contest % and swing 7.9% 8.2% Did not contest Regional vote 103,472 86,939 % and swing 5.2% 6.1% 4.4% 0.3%
The left side shows constituency winners of the election by their party colours. The right side shows regional winners of the election for the additional members by their party colours. * Indicates boundary change - so this is a nominal figure
First Minister before election Alex Salmond SNP First Minister after election Alex Salmond SNP

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.

Date

Under the Scotland Act 1998, an ordinary general election to the Scottish Parliament was held on the first Thursday in May four years after the 2007 election.^[4]

Because of the problems of voter confusion and a high number of spoilt ballots in 2007 due to holding Scottish parliamentary and local elections simultaneously and under different voting systems, the next Scottish local elections were held in 2012 instead of 2011. This policy decision was contradicted, however, by the staging of the Alternative Vote referendum on 5 May 2011 as well.^[5] Labour MP Ian Davidson expressed opposition to the referendum being staged on the same date as other elections.^[5] Scottish Secretary Michael Moore stated that having the referendum on another date would cost an additional £17 million.^[5]

British, Irish, Commonwealth and European Union citizens living in Scotland who were aged 18 or over on election day were entitled to vote. The deadline to register to vote in the election was midnight on Friday 15 April 2011, though anyone who qualified as an anonymous elector had until midnight on Tuesday 26 April 2011 to register.^[6]

It was held on the same day as elections for Northern Ireland's 26 local councils, the Northern Irish Assembly and Welsh Assembly elections, a number of local elections in England and the United Kingdom Alternative Vote referendum.

Boundary Review

Main article: First Periodic Review of Scottish Parliament Boundaries

 

The notional results of the 2007 election, based on the new boundaries

The table below shows the notional figures for seats won by each party at the last election. The Conservatives have been the biggest gainers as a result of the boundary changes, winning an extra three seats, while Labour has lost the most seats, losing two overall.

Party	Constituency seats	Regional seats	Total seats	Seat change
SNP	21	25	46	–1
Labour	35	9	44	–2
Conservative	6	14	20	+3
Liberal Democrat	11	6	17	+1
Scottish Green	0	1	1	–1

Election system, seats, and regions

Main article: Scottish Parliament constituencies and electoral regions from 2011

The total number of Members of the Scottish Parliament (MSPs) elected to the Parliament is 129.

The First Periodical Review of the Scottish Parliament constituencies and electoral regions by the Boundary Commission for Scotland was announced on 3 July 2007. The Commission published its provisional proposals for the regional boundaries in 2009.

The Scottish Parliament uses an Additional Members System, designed to produce approximate proportional representation for each region. There are 8 regions each sub-divided into smaller constituencies. There are a total of 73 constituencies. Each constituency elects one (MSP) by the plurality (first past the post) system of election. Each region elects seven additional member MSPs using an additional member system. A modified D'Hondt method, using the constituency results, is used to calculate which additional member MSPs the regions elect.^[7][8]

The Scottish Parliament constituencies have not been coterminous with Scottish Westminster constituencies since the 2005 general election, when the 72 former Westminster constituencies were replaced with a new set of 59, generally larger, constituencies (see Scottish Parliament (Constituencies) Act 2004).

For details of the Revised proposals for constituencies at the Next Scottish Parliament election - Scottish Parliament constituencies and electoral regions from 2011

The Boundary Commission have also recommended changes to the electoral regions used to elect "list" members of the Scottish Parliament. The recommendations^[9] can be summarised below;

• Glasgow was reduced from 10 constituency seats to 9. Glasgow Govan was largely replaced by Glasgow Southside. The seats of Glasgow Maryhill, Glasgow Springburn and Glasgow Baillieston were abolished and their territory was divided between the newly created Glasgow Maryhill and Springburn and Glasgow Provan, as well as the existing Glasgow Shettleston seat which was moved eastwards.
• Highlands and Islands retained 8 constituency seats. Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross was replaced with the larger Caithness, Sutherland and Ross seat. Ross, Skye and Inverness West and Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber were abolished with most of their area being divided between Skye, Lochaber and Badenoch and Inverness and Nairn.
• West of Scotland was renamed West Scotland. It was increased from 9 constituency seats to 10, as Cunninghame South was transferred from the South Scotland region. The seats of Paisley North, Paisley South and West Renfrewshire were abolished and their area was divided between the new seats of Paisley, Renfrewshire North and West and Renfrewshire South
• Central Scotland was reduced from 10 constituency seats to 9, as the territory of Kilmarnock and Loudoun was transferred to South Scotland. Some territory to the south was also transferred to South Scotland, reducing the land area of East Kilbride. Hamilton North and Bellshill was largely replaced by Uddingston and Bellshill. Hamilton South was largely replaced by Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse.
• Lothians was renamed Lothian and retained 9 constituency seats. The seat of Midlothian was split, with its southern areas transferred to South Scotland. Its northern parts merged with Musselburgh to form Midlothian North and Musselburgh. Edinburgh East and Musselburgh, thus with Musselburgh removed, was replaced by Edinburgh Eastern. The seats of Edinburgh North and Leith, Edinburgh South and Edinburgh West were respectively renamed Edinburgh Northern and Leith, Edinburgh Southern and Edinburgh Western while redrawn. In West Lothian, Livingston was replaced by Almond Valley, which traded territory with the retained Linlithgow seat.
• Mid Scotland and Fife retained 9 constituencies. North Tayside was mostly replaced by Perthshire North, with some of the former's territory being transferred to North East Scotland. Ochil was split, with its eastern parts merging with the former seat of Perth to form Perthshire South and Kinross-shire. Clackmannanshire and Dunblane was created, consisting mostly of the more populous western part of Ochil. In Fife, Dunfermline West, Dunfermline East and Fife Central were respectively largely replaced by Dunfermline, Cowdenbeath and Mid Fife and Glenrothes.
• North East Scotland was increased from 9 to 10 constituency seats. The seat of Angus was split between two new seats: Angus South, which included territory transferred from Mid Scotland and Fife, and Angus North and Mearns. Both West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine and Gordon were split. The former was divided between the new seat of Aberdeenshire West, Angus North and Mearns and an enlarged Aberdeen South, which under new boundaries was named Aberdeen South and North Kincardine. A redrawn Aberdeen North was renamed Aberdeen Donside. Gordon was split between Aberdeenshire West and another new seat: Aberdeenshire East. Some territory was also traded with Banff and Buchan, which was largely replaced by Banffshire and Buchan Coast. The two Dundee seats were redrawn and renamed from Dundee West and Dundee East to Dundee City West and Dundee City East.
• South of Scotland was renamed South Scotland. It retained 9 constituencies, losing Cunninghame South to West Scotland but gaining the new Kilmarnock and Irvine Valley constituency, which replaced the previous constituency of Kilmarnock and Loudoun. Some territory was transferred from Galloway and Upper Nithsdale to Dumfries; the redrawn seats were then renamed Galloway and West Dumfries and Dumfriesshire. Tweeddale, Ettrick and Lauderdale lost territory to Roxburgh and Berwickshire but gained some from the Lothian area to the north. These seats were redrawn and renamed Midlothian South, Tweeddale and Lauderdale and Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire.

Retiring MSPs

At the dissolution of Parliament on 22 March 2011, twenty MSPs were not seeking re-election.^[10]

Constituency/Region	Departing MSP	Party
Mid Scotland and Fife	Christopher Harvie		SNP
Argyll and Bute	Jim Mather
Lothians	Ian McKee
South of Scotland	Alasdair Morgan
Angus	Andrew Welsh
Paisley North	Wendy Alexander		Scottish Labour
Midlothian	Rhona Brankin
Glasgow Baillieston	Margaret Curran
Lothians	George Foulkes
North East Scotland	Marlyn Glen
West Renfrewshire	Trish Godman
Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley	Cathy Jamieson
Motherwell and Wishaw	Jack McConnell
Highlands and Islands	Peter Peacock
Ross, Skye and Inverness West	John Farquhar Munro		Liberal Democrats
Aberdeen South	Nicol Stephen
Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross	Jamie Stone
Glasgow	Bill Aitken		Conservative
Mid Scotland and Fife	Ted Brocklebank
Lothians	Robin Harper		Green

Campaign

The parliament was dissolved on 22 March 2011 and the campaign began thereafter. The Conservatives saw 3 of their candidates drop out of the election during the period 25–28 March: Malcolm McAskill from the Glasgow regional ballot, Iain Whyte from the Glasgow Maryhill & Springburn constituency ballot and David Meikle from the Glasgow regional ballot.

The Liberal Democrat regional candidate for the Central Scotland region Hugh O'Donnell also withdrew on 27 March, citing discontent with the Conservative-Lib Dem coalition at Westminster.^[11] Another Liberal Democrat, John Farquhar Munro, came out in support of Alex Salmond for First Minister, even though he also claimed not to support the SNP.^[12] In the Clydesdale constituency, the Liberal Democrat candidate John Paton-Day failed to lodge his papers in time for the nomination deadline, leaving the constituency as the only one in Scotland with no Liberal Democrat candidate.^[13] On 17 April, the Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Tavish Scott described himself as 'uncomfortable' with his Scottish party being 'related' to the Conservatives due to the coalition at Westminster.

A televised debate between the four main party leaders was shown on STV on 29 March, with SNP leader Alex Salmond and Conservative leader Annabel Goldie identified as the strongest performers.^[14] The Scottish Sun newspaper came out in support of the SNP's campaign to win a second term, even though the newspaper does not back independence.

Whilst campaigning in Glasgow Central station, the Scottish Labour leader Iain Gray was ambushed by a group of anti-cuts protestors who chased him into a nearby fast-food outlet.^[15] The same protesters had already targeted Conservative leader Annabel Goldie a month earlier. On 27 April, Iain Gray and SNP leader Alex Salmond were both present simultaneously in an Ardrossan branch of the Asda supermarket chain; both parties alleged that the other party's leader 'ran away' from the possibility of an encounter with the other.^[16]

Policy platforms

The main parties contesting the election all outlined the following main aims:^[17]

Scottish National Party

• Legislate to give Scotland a referendum on independence.
• Maintain the council tax freeze throughout the next parliament.
• Attempt to generate 100% of Scotland's electricity from renewable sources by 2020.
• Continue offering free university tuition to Scottish students.
• Maintain high police numbers.

Labour

• Introduce Scottish Living Wage of £7.15 an hour, starting in the public sector.
• Abolish youth unemployment and aim to create 250,000 jobs by 2020.
• Compulsory six-month jail sentences for people convicted of knife-carrying.
• Initiate two-year council tax freeze.
• Re-instate the proposed rail link between Glasgow Central station and Glasgow International Airport, which was cancelled in 2009.
• Continue free University tuition fees for all Scottish students.

Conservatives

• A council tax freeze during the period 2012–2013.
• Re-introduce prescription charges at 2009 standards (£5 for a single item).
• Consider building new nuclear power stations, but not on new sites.
• Bring in Variable University Graduate Fee, with no more than £4,000 being paid annually per student.
• Replace community service with short prison sentences.
• Centralising the Scottish police forces into a single police force.

Liberal Democrats

• Maintain free university tuition for Scottish students.
• Aim to create 100,000 new jobs through selling off Scottish Water which would free £1.5 billion for investment purposes.
• Oppose moves to create a centralised Scottish police force.
• Maintain the Scottish bus pass, but progressively bring the qualifying age up to 65.
• Reform the council tax.

Greens

• Bring in large-scale ecosystem restoration projects.
• Replace council tax with land value tax.
• Maintain free university tuition for Scottish students.
• Focus on bringing restorative justice within Scotland's justice system.
• Abolish the Forth Replacement Crossing.

Parties contesting the election

Contesting constituency and regional ballot

Only the Scottish National Party, the Scottish Labour Party and the Scottish Conservative Party contested all constituencies.^[18][19]

• Scottish National Party (SNP)
• Scottish Labour
• Scottish Conservatives
• Scottish Liberal Democrats – Contesting all constituencies except Clydesdale^[20]
• All Scotland Pensioner's Party/Scottish Senior Citizens Unity Party – Contesting Mid Fife & Glenrothes and Motherwell & Wishaw
• Scottish Christian Party – Contesting Inverness & Nairn and Motherwell & Wishaw
• Liberal Party – Contesting Argyll & Bute
• National Front – Contesting Aberdeen Central, Aberdeen Donside, Aberdeen South & North Kincardine, Almond Valley, Linlithgow and only the North East Scotland region
• UK Independence Party (UKIP) – Contesting Inverness & Nairn, Moray and North East Fife

Contesting regional ballot only

• Scottish Greens
• Solidarity – all regions except Glasgow
• Respect Party 'Coalition Against Cuts' – Glasgow only ^[21]
• Scottish Socialist Party
• British National Party (BNP)
• Socialist Labour Party
• Scottish Homeland Party^[22] – contesting Glasgow and Central regions
• Pirate Party
• Scottish Unionist Party
• Christian Peoples Alliance
• Ban Bankers Bonuses^[23] – contesting the Highlands and Islands and West of Scotland regional lists.

Contesting constituency ballot only

• Communist Party of Britain – Contesting Glasgow Anniesland
• Land Party – Contesting Cowdenbeath

Opinion polls

Further information: Opinion polling for the 2011 Scottish Parliament election

In March 2011, two months before the election, Labour held a double-digit lead over the SNP in the opinion polls,^[24] 44% to 29%.^[25] The SNP's support subsequently rallied, with the two parties level in April polling. In the final poll on the eve of the election, the SNP were eleven points clear of Labour.^[24][26]

The chart shows the relative state of the parties since polling began from 2009, until the date of the election. The constituency vote is shown as semi-transparent lines, while the regional vote is shown in full lines.

 

Average 30-day trend line of poll results for the 2011 Scottish Parliament election. Results from 30 January 2009 to 4 May 2011

Result

The election produced a majority SNP government, making this the first time in the Scottish Parliament where a party had commanded a parliamentary majority. The SNP took 16 seats from Labour, many of whose key figures failed to be returned to parliament, although Labour leader Iain Gray retained East Lothian by 151 votes. The SNP took a further eight seats from the Liberal Democrats and one seat from the Conservatives. The SNP overall majority meant that there was sufficient support in the Scottish Parliament to hold a referendum on Scottish independence.^[27]

Labour's defeat was attributed to several factors: the party focused too heavily on criticising the Conservative-led coalition at Westminster, and assumed that former Lib Dem voters would automatically switch their vote to Labour, when in fact they appeared to have haemorrhaged support to the SNP.^[28] Jackie Baillie compared the result to Labour's performance in the 1983 UK general election.^[27] Iain Gray conceded defeat to Alex Salmond and announced his intention to resign as leader of the Labour group of MSPs that autumn.^[27]

The election saw a rout of the Liberal Democrats, with no victories in mainland constituencies^[29] and 25 lost deposits (candidates gaining less than five per cent of the vote).^[29] Leader Tavish Scott said their performance was due to the Liberal Democrats' involvement in the Westminster Government, which had been unpopular with many former LibDem supporters.^[30] Scott resigned as leader two days after the election.^[30]

For the Conservatives, the main disappointment was the loss of Edinburgh Pentlands, the seat of former party leader David McLetchie, to the SNP. McLetchie was elected on the Lothian regional list and the Conservatives only made a net loss of five seats, with leader Annabel Goldie claiming that their support had held firm.^[27] Prime Minister David Cameron congratulated the SNP on the result, but vowed to campaign for the Union in any independence referendum.^[27]

The Scottish Greens won two seats, including their co-convenor Patrick Harvie.^[27] Margo MacDonald again won election as an independent on the Lothian regional list.^[27] George Galloway, under a Unionist anti-cuts banner, failed to receive enough votes to be elected to the Glasgow regional list.^[27]

The SNP's overall majority assured Salmond of another term as First Minister, and he was reelected unopposed on 18 May.^[31]

↓

69	37	15	5	2
SNP	Labour	Conservative	LD

← Scottish general election, 2011 (+/- seats based on notional 2007 result)^[32] →

Party		Constituencies					Regional additional members					Total seats
		Votes	%	±	Seats	±	Votes	%	±	Seats	±	Total	±	%
	SNP	902,915	45.4	12.5	53	32	876,421	44.0	13.0	16	9	69	23	53.5
	Labour	630,461	31.7	0.5	15	20	523,469	26.3	2.9	22	13	37	7	28.7
	Conservative	276,652	13.9	2.7	3	3	245,967	12.4	1.5	12	2	15	5	11.6
	Liberal Democrats	157,714	7.9	8.2	2	9	103,472	5.2	6.1	3	3	5	12	3.9
	Scottish Green	—	—	0.1	0		86,939	4.4	0.3	2	1	2	1	1.6
	Margo MacDonald	—	—	—	—	—	18,732	0.9		1		1		0.8
	Scottish Senior Citizens	1,618	0.1		0		33,253	1.7	0.2	0		0		0.0
	UKIP	2,508	0.1	0.1	0		18,138	0.9	0.5	0		0		0.0
	Scottish Christian	1,193	0.1	0.2	0		16,466	0.8	0.5	0		0		0.0
	Socialist Labour	—	—	—	—	—	16,847	0.9	0.2	0		0		0.0
	BNP	—	—	—	—	—	15,580	0.8	0.4	0		0		0.0
	Scottish Socialist	—	—	—	—	—	8,272	0.4	0.2	0		0		0.0
	Respect	—	—	—	—	—	6,972	0.4	new	0	new	0	new	0.0
	Scottish Unionist	—	—	—	—	—	3,002	0.2	0.1	0		0		0.0
	Ban Bankers Bonuses	—	—	—	—	—	2,968	0.1	new	0	new	0	new	0.0
	Solidarity	—	—	—	—	—	2,837	0.1	1.4	0		0		0.0
	Liberal	436	0.0	new	0	new	2,393	0.1	new	0	new	0	new	0.0
	National Front	1,515	0.1	new	0	new	640	0.03	new	0	new	0	new	0.0
	Angus Independents Representatives	1,321	0.1	new	0	new	471	0.03	new	0	new	0	new	0.0
	Pirate	—	—	—	—	—	1,431	0.1	new	0	new	0	new	0.0
	CPA	—	—	—	—	—	1,191	0.1	0.7	0		0		0.0
	Scotland Homeland Party	—	—	—	—	—	616	0.0	new	0	new	0	new	0.0
	Land Party	276	0.0	new	0	new	—	—	—	—	—	0	new	0.0
	Communist	256	0.0	new	0	new	—	—	—	—	—	0	new	0.0
	Independent	12,411	0.6	0.6	0		4,759	0.2	0.1	0		0		0.0
Valid votes		1,989,276	99.7	3.8			1,990,836	99.7	2.0
Spoilt votes		6,363	0.3	3.8			5,987	0.3	2.0
Total		1,995,639	100		73	–	1,996,823	100		56	–	129	–	100
Electorate/Turnout		3,950,626	50.5	3.4			3,950,626	50.5	3.5

Votes summary

Popular Vote (Constituency) SNP   45.39% Labour   31.69% Conservative   13.91% Liberal Democrats   7.93% Other   1.08%

Popular Vote (Regional) SNP   44.04% Labour   26.31% Conservative   12.36% Liberal Democrats   5.20% Green   4.38% Other   7.71%

Parliament seats SNP   53.49% Labour   28.68% Conservative   11.63% Liberal Democrats   3.88% Green   1.55% Other   0.78%

Constituency and regional summary

Central Scotland

Scottish Parliament general election, 2011: Central Scotland

Constituency		Elected member	Result
	Airdrie and Shotts	Alex Neil	SNP gain from Labour
	Coatbridge and Chryston	Elaine Smith	Labour hold
	Cumbernauld and Kilsyth	Jamie Hepburn	SNP gain from Labour
	East Kilbride	Linda Fabiani	SNP gain from Labour
	Falkirk East	Angus MacDonald	SNP gain from Labour
	Falkirk West	Michael Matheson	SNP hold
	Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse	Christina McKelvie	SNP gain from Labour
	Motherwell and Wishaw	John Pentland	Labour hold
	Uddingston and Bellshill	Michael McMahon	Labour hold

Scottish parliamentary election, 2011: Central Scotland

Party		Elected candidates	Seats	+/−	Votes	%	+/−%
	SNP	Richard Lyle John Wilson Clare Adamson	3	−2	108,261	46.4%	+15.5%
	Labour	Siobhan McMahon Mark Griffin Margaret McCulloch	3	+3	82,459	35.3%	−4.6%
	Conservative	Margaret Mitchell	1	±0	14,870	6.4%	−1.9%
	Liberal Democrats		0	−1	3,318	1.4%	−3.8%

Glasgow

Scottish Parliament general election, 2011: Glasgow

Constituency		Elected member	Result
	Glasgow Anniesland	Bill Kidd	SNP gain from Labour
	Glasgow Cathcart	James Dornan	SNP gain from Labour
	Glasgow Kelvin	Sandra White	SNP gain from Labour
	Glasgow Maryhill and Springburn	Patricia Ferguson	Labour hold
	Glasgow Pollok	Johann Lamont	Labour hold
	Glasgow Provan	Paul Martin	Labour hold
	Glasgow Shettleston	John Mason	SNP gain from Labour
	Glasgow Southside	Nicola Sturgeon	SNP hold
	Rutherglen	James Kelly	Labour hold

Scottish parliamentary election, 2011: Glasgow

Party		Elected candidates	Seats	+/−	Votes	%	+/−%
	SNP	Humza Yousaf Bob Doris	2	−2	83,109	39.8%	+12.8%
	Labour	Hanzala Malik Drew Smith Anne McTaggart	3	+3	73,031	35.0%	−3.3%
	Conservative	Ruth Davidson	1	±0	12,749	6.1%	−0.6%
	Scottish Green	Patrick Harvie	1	±0	12,454	6.0%	+0.6%
	Liberal Democrats		0	−1	5,312	2.5%	−4.6%

Highlands and Islands

Scottish Parliament general election, 2011: Highlands and Islands

Constituency		Elected member	Result
	Argyll & Bute	Michael Russell	SNP hold
	Caithness, Sutherland & Ross	Rob Gibson	SNP gain from Liberal Democrats
	Inverness & Nairn	Fergus Ewing	SNP hold
	Moray	Richard Lochhead	SNP hold
	Na h-Eileanan an Iar	Alasdair Allan	SNP hold
	Orkney	Liam McArthur	Liberal Democrats hold
	Shetland	Tavish Scott	Liberal Democrats hold
	Skye, Lochaber & Badenoch	Dave Thompson	SNP gain from Liberal Democrats

Scottish parliamentary election, 2011: Highlands and Islands

Party		Elected candidates	Seats	+/−	Votes	%	+/−%
	SNP	John Finnie Jean Urquhart Mike MacKenzie	3	+1	85,028	47.5%	+13.1%
	Labour	Rhoda Grant David Stewart	2	−1	25,884	14.5%	−3.2%
	Liberal Democrats		0	±0	21,729	12.1%	−8.0%
	Conservative	Jamie McGrigor Mary Scanlon	2	±0	20,843	11.6%	−0.8%

Lothian

Scottish Parliament general election, 2011: Lothian

Constituency		Elected member	Result
	Almond Valley	Angela Constance	SNP hold
	Edinburgh Central	Marco Biagi	SNP gain from Labour
	Edinburgh Eastern	Kenny MacAskill	SNP hold
	Edinburgh Northern and Leith	Malcolm Chisholm	Labour hold
	Edinburgh Pentlands	Gordon MacDonald	SNP gain from Conservative
	Edinburgh Southern	Jim Eadie	SNP gain from Liberal Democrats
	Edinburgh Western	Colin Keir	SNP gain from Liberal Democrats
	Linlithgow	Fiona Hyslop	SNP gain from Labour
	Midlothian North & Musselburgh	Colin Beattie	SNP gain from Labour

Scottish parliamentary election, 2011: Lothian

Party		Elected candidates	Seats	+/−	Votes	%	+/−%
	SNP		0	−3	110,953	39.2%	+12.9%
	Labour	Sarah Boyack Kezia Dugdale Neil Findlay	3	+2	70,544	24.9%	−1.3%
	Conservative	David McLetchie Gavin Brown	2	+1	33,019	11.7%	−1.5%
	Scottish Green	Alison Johnstone	1	±0	21,505	7.6%	+0.5%
	Independent	Margo MacDonald	1	±0	18,732	6.6%	+0.0%
	Liberal Democrats		0		15,588	5.5%	−7.3

Mid Scotland and Fife

Scottish Parliament general election, 2011: Mid Scotland and Fife

Constituency		Elected member	Result
	Clackmannanshire & Dunblane	Keith Brown	SNP hold
	Cowdenbeath	Helen Eadie	Labour hold
	Dunfermline	Bill Walker	SNP gain from Liberal Democrats
	Fife North East	Roderick Campbell	SNP gain from Liberal Democrats
	Kirkcaldy	David Torrance	SNP gain from Labour
	Mid Fife & Glenrothes	Tricia Marwick	SNP hold
	Perthshire North	John Swinney	SNP hold
	Perthshire South & Kinross-shire	Roseanna Cunningham	SNP hold
	Stirling	Bruce Crawford	SNP gain from Labour

Scottish Parliament election, 2011: Mid Scotland and Fife

Party		Elected candidates	Seats	+/−	Votes	%	+/−%
	SNP	Annabelle Ewing	1	±0	116,691	45.2%	+12.7%
	Labour	John Park Claire Brennan-Baker Richard Simpson	3	0	64,623	25.0%	−2.1%
	Conservative	Murdo Fraser Liz Smith	2	−1	36,458	14.1%	−1.5%
	Liberal Democrats	Willie Rennie	1	+1	15,103	5.9%	−7.7%

North East Scotland

Scottish Parliament general election, 2011: North East Scotland

Constituency		Elected member	Result
	Aberdeen Central	Kevin Stewart	SNP gain from Labour
	Aberdeen Donside	Brian Adam	SNP hold
	Aberdeen South & North Kincardine	Maureen Watt	SNP gain from Liberal Democrats
	Aberdeenshire East	Alex Salmond	SNP hold
	Aberdeenshire West	Dennis Robertson	SNP gain from Liberal Democrats
	Angus North & Mearns	Nigel Don	SNP hold
	Angus South	Graeme Dey	SNP hold
	Banffshire & Buchan Coast	Stewart Stevenson	SNP hold
	Dundee City East	Shona Robison	SNP hold
	Dundee City West	Joe Fitzpatrick	SNP hold

Scottish Parliament election, 2011: North East Scotland

Party		Elected candidates	Seats	+/−	Votes	%	+/−%
	SNP	Mark McDonald	1	±0	140,749	52.7%	+12.2%
	Labour	Richard Baker Jenny Marra Lewis MacDonald	3	±0	43,893	16.4%	−3.2%
	Conservative	Alex Johnstone Nanette Milne	2	±0	37,681	14.1%	−1.1%
	Liberal Democrats	Alison McInnes	1	±0	18,178	6.8%	−8.4%

South Scotland

Scottish Parliament general election, 2011: South Scotland

Constituency		Elected member	Result
	Ayr	John Scott	Conservative hold
	Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley	Adam Ingram	SNP gain from Labour
	Clydesdale	Aileen Campbell	SNP gain from Labour
	Dumfriesshire	Elaine Murray	Labour hold
	East Lothian	Iain Gray	Labour hold
	Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire	John Lamont	Conservative hold
	Galloway and West Dumfries	Alex Fergusson	Conservative hold
	Kilmarnock and Irvine Valley	Willie Coffey	SNP hold
	Midlothian South, Tweeddale and Lauderdale	Christine Grahame	SNP hold

Scottish Parliament election, 2011: South Scotland

Party		Elected candidates	Seats	+/−	Votes	%	+/−%
	SNP	Joan McAlpine Aileen McLeod Paul Wheelhouse Chic Brodie	4	−1	114,270	40.96%	+12.4
	Labour	Claudia Beamish Graeme Pearson	2	+2	70,596	25.3%	−3.5
	Conservative		0	−1	54,352	19.48%	−2.8
	Liberal Democrats	Jim Hume	1	±0	15,096	5.41%	−4.5

West Scotland

Scottish Parliament general election, 2011: West Scotland

Constituency		Elected member	Result
	Clydebank & Milngavie	Gil Paterson	SNP gain from Labour
	Cunninghame North	Kenneth Gibson	SNP hold
	Cunninghame South	Margaret Burgess	SNP gain from Labour
	Dumbarton	Jackie Baillie	Labour hold
	Eastwood	Ken Macintosh	Labour hold
	Greenock & Inverclyde	Duncan McNeil	Labour hold
	Paisley	George Adam	SNP gain from Labour
	Renfrewshire North & West	Derek Mackay	SNP gain from Labour
	Renfrewshire South	Hugh Henry	Labour hold
	Strathkelvin & Bearsden	Fiona McLeod	SNP gain from Labour

Scottish Parliament election, 2011: West Scotland

Party		Elected candidates	Seats	+/−	Votes	%	+/−%
	SNP	Stewart Maxwell Stuart McMillan	2	−2	117,306	41.5%	+13%
	Labour	Mary Fee Neil Bibby Margaret McDougall	3	+3	92,530	32.8%	−1.8%
	Conservative	Annabel Goldie Jackson Carlaw	2	±0	35,995	12.7%	−2.0%
	Liberal Democrats		0	−1	9,148	3.2%	−4.9%

Top target seats of the main parties

Below are listed all the constituencies which required a swing of less than 5% from the 2007 result to change hands. Because the election was fought under new boundaries, the figures are based on notional results from 2007.^[33]

SNP targets

Rank Constituency Winning party 2007 Swing to gain SNP's place 2007 Result 1 Glasgow Southside Labour 0.07 2nd SNP gain 2 Linlithgow Labour 0.45 2nd SNP gain 3 Stirling Labour 0.61 2nd SNP gain 4 Edinburgh Eastern Labour 0.80 2nd SNP gain 5 Airdrie and Shotts Labour 1.32 2nd SNP gain 6 Clydesdale Labour 1.85 2nd SNP gain 7 Glasgow Kelvin Labour 2.23 2nd SNP gain 8 Midlothian North & Musselburgh Labour 2.59 2nd SNP gain 9 Dumbarton Labour 2.64 2nd Labour hold 10 Falkirk East Labour 3.05 2nd SNP gain 11 East Lothian Labour 3.76 2nd Labour hold 12 East Kilbride Labour 3.78 2nd SNP gain 13 Glasgow Cathcart Labour 3.50 2nd SNP gain 14 Edinburgh Northern & Leith Labour 3.63 2nd Labour hold 15 Aberdeen South & North Kincardine Liberal Democrats 3.66 2nd SNP gain 16 Galloway & West Dumfries Conservative 3.84 2nd Con hold 17 Cumbernauld & Kilsyth Labour 3.94 2nd SNP gain 18 Edinburgh Central Liberal Democrats 4.05 3rd SNP gain 19 Caithness, Sutherland & Ross Liberal Democrats 4.28 2nd SNP gain 20 Edinburgh Pentlands Conservative 4.49 3rd SNP gain 21 Dunfermline Liberal Democrats 4.55 3rd SNP gain 22 Cunninghame South Labour 4.61 2nd SNP gain Conservative targets Rank Constituency Winning party 2007 Swing to gain Con place 2007 Result 1 Perthshire South & Kinross-shire SNP 2.23 2nd SNP hold

Labour targets Rank Constituency Winning party 2007 Swing to gain Labour's place 2007 Result 1 Almond Valley SNP 0.007 2nd SNP hold 2 Cunninghame North SNP 0.07 2nd SNP hold 3 Dunfermline Liberal Democrats 0.14 2nd SNP gain 4 Aberdeen Central SNP 0.69 2nd SNP hold 5 Dumfriesshire Conservative 1.05 2nd Labour gain 6 Edinburgh Central Liberal Democrats 1.28 2nd SNP gain 7 Falkirk West SNP 1.28 2nd SNP hold 8 Clackmannanshire & Dunblane SNP 1.39 2nd SNP hold 9 Kilmarnock & Irvine Valley SNP 2.01 2nd SNP hold 10 Na h-Eileanan an Iar SNP 2.52 2nd SNP hold 11 Dundee City West SNP 4.22 2nd SNP hold 12 Edinburgh Pentlands Conservative 4.31 2nd SNP gain 13 Mid Fife & Glenrothes SNP 4.53 2nd SNP hold Liberal Democrat targets Rank Constituency Winning party 2007 Swing to gain LD's place 2007 Result 1 Argyll & Bute SNP 1.41 2nd SNP hold 2 Aberdeen Central SNP 1.70 3rd SNP hold 3 Midlothian South, Tweeddale & Lauderdale SNP 1.66 2nd SNP hold 4 Ettrick, Roxburgh & Berwickshire Conservative 2.61 2nd Con hold 5 Edinburgh Northern and Leith Labour 4.16 3rd Labour hold

Incumbents defeated

Constituency/Region	MSP	Party		MSP Since	Office previously held
Airdrie and Shotts	Karen Whitefield		Scottish Labour	1999
Cumbernauld and Kilsyth	Cathie Craigie		Scottish Labour	1999
East Kilbride	Andy Kerr		Scottish Labour	1999	Minister for Finance and Public Services
Falkirk East	Cathy Peattie		Scottish Labour	1999
Glasgow Anniesland	Bill Butler		Scottish Labour	2000
Glasgow Cathcart	Charlie Gordon		Scottish Labour	2005
Glasgow Kelvin	Pauline McNeill		Scottish Labour	1999
Glasgow Shettleston	Frank McAveety		Scottish Labour	1999	Minister for Tourism, Culture and Sport
Kirkcaldy	Marilyn Livingstone		Scottish Labour	1999
Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse	Tom McCabe		Scottish Labour	1999
Clydesdale	Karen Gillon		Scottish Labour	1999
Clydebank and Milngavie	Des McNulty		Scottish Labour	1999	Deputy Minister for Communities
Cunninghame South	Irene Oldfather		Scottish Labour	1999
Strathkelvin and Bearsden	David Whitton		Scottish Labour	2007
Edinburgh South	Mike Pringle		Scottish Liberal Democrats	2003
North East Fife	Iain Smith		Scottish Liberal Democrats	1999
West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine	Mike Rumbles		Scottish Liberal Democrats	1999
Glasgow	Robert Brown		Scottish Liberal Democrats	1999
West of Scotland	Ross Finnie		Scottish Liberal Democrats	1999	Minister for the Environment and Rural Development
Tweeddale, Ettrick and Lauderdale	Jeremy Purvis		Scottish Liberal Democrats	1999
Edinburgh West	Margaret Smith		Scottish Liberal Democrats	1999
Dunfermline West	Jim Tolson		Scottish Liberal Democrats	2007
Central Scotland	Hugh O'Donnell		Scottish Liberal Democrats	2007
South of Scotland	Derek Brownlee		Scottish Conservatives	2005
Glasgow	Anne McLaughlin		Scottish National Party	2009
Lothian	Shirley-Anne Somerville		Scottish National Party	2007
Lothian (was previously member in West of Scotland)	Bill Wilson		Scottish National Party	2007

See also

• Arbuthnott Commission
• 2011 National Assembly for Wales election
• 2011 Northern Ireland Assembly election
• Murphy and Boyack review of the Labour Party in Scotland
• 2011 Scottish Labour leadership election
• 2011 Scottish Conservatives leadership election
• 2011 Scottish Liberal Democrats leadership election

References

1. Newman, Cathy (6 May 2011). "SNP wins majority in Scottish elections". channel4.com. 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. 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. from the original on 10 May 2011. Retrieved 9 May 2011.
4. "Scotland Act 1998 - Section 2 Ordinary General Elections". Office of Public Sector Information. from the original on 19 May 2007. Retrieved 8 May 2007.
5. "Scots politicians oppose AV referendum date". BBC News. BBC. 30 September 2010. from the original on 20 May 2011. Retrieved 6 May 2011.
6. The deadline for the receipt and determination of anonymous electoral registration applications was the same as the publication date of the notice of alteration to the Electoral Register (i.e. the fifth working day before election day).
7. "Electoral system: How it works". BBC News Online. 2 April 2003. from the original on 4 September 2007. Retrieved 6 May 2011.
8. . BBC News. 28 September 2009. Archived from the original on 13 November 2011. Retrieved 4 May 2011.
9. (PDF). Boundary Commission for Scotland. Archived from the original (PDF) on 12 June 2011. Retrieved 26 April 2011.
10. Black, Andrew (22 March 2011). "Scottish election: MSPs bidding farewell to Holyrood". BBC News. from the original on 22 October 2018. Retrieved 20 June 2018.
11. "BBC News - Scottish elections: Lib Dem candidate quits party". BBC. 27 March 2011. from the original on 23 April 2011. Retrieved 6 May 2011.
12. Andrew Black (4 April 2011). "BBC News - Scottish election: John Farquhar Munro backs Salmond". BBC. from the original on 5 May 2011. Retrieved 6 May 2011.
13. "BBC News - Scottish election: Lib Dem fails to lodge papers". BBC. 4 April 2011. from the original on 20 May 2011. Retrieved 6 May 2011.
14. "Who won the first Scottish leaders' debate? | Election 2011 | STV News". News.stv.tv. 30 March 2011. from the original on 19 May 2011. Retrieved 6 May 2011.
15. "BBC News - Scottish election: Iain Gray targeted by protesters". BBC. 7 April 2011. from the original on 14 May 2011. Retrieved 6 May 2011.
16. "Asdagate: Alex Salmond and Iain Gray accused of 'hiding' from each other during supermarket visit". STV News. 27 April 2011. from the original on 3 January 2017. Retrieved 2 January 2016.
17. "BBC News - Scotland election: Issues guide". BBC. 20 April 2011. from the original on 6 May 2011. Retrieved 6 May 2011.
18. "Scottish Parliament Election 2011". STV News. from the original on 16 April 2011. Retrieved 26 April 2011.
19. "Scottish Election 2011". The Herald. from the original on 7 May 2011. Retrieved 26 April 2011.
20. "Lib Dem fails to lodge papers". BBC News. 4 April 2011. from the original on 7 April 2011. Retrieved 26 April 2011.
21. "George Galloway". from the original on 15 April 2011. Retrieved 26 April 2011.
22. "Scottish Homeland Party". from the original on 6 May 2011. Retrieved 26 April 2011.
23. (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 6 May 2011. Retrieved 5 May 2011.
24. Macnab, Scott (6 May 2011). . The Scotsman. Edinburgh. Archived from the original on 25 September 2011.
25. (PDF). TNS/bmrb. 7 March 2011. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2 April 2015.
26. (PDF) (Press release). TNS/bmrb. 3 May 2011. Archived from the original (PDF) on 12 September 2014.
27. "Scottish election: SNP wins election". BBC News. 6 May 2011. from the original on 12 January 2018. Retrieved 7 May 2011.
28. Black, Andrew (6 May 2011). "Scottish Election: Campaign successes and stinkers". BBC News. from the original on 6 May 2011. Retrieved 7 May 2011.
29. "Scottish election: SNP wins election". BBC News. 6 May 2011. from the original on 7 May 2011. Retrieved 7 May 2011.
30. "Scottish election: SNP press Cameron on Scotland Bill". BBC News. 7 May 2011. from the original on 20 May 2011. Retrieved 7 May 2011.
31. Scottish Parliament (18 May 2011). . Archived from the original on 16 February 2020 – via YouTube.
32. . Scottish Parliament. Archived from the original on 6 November 2020. Retrieved 12 April 2020.
33. "The New Scottish Parliament Constituencies 2011" (PDF). BBC News online. 8 September 2010. (PDF) from the original on 23 July 2017. Retrieved 30 November 2010.

External links

• Election 2011 3 January 2017 at the Wayback Machine, a Briefing by the Scottish Parliament Information Centre
• Scottish Election Study

Party manifestos

• British National Party Manifesto
• Communist Party of Britain Manifesto
• Respect Party 'Coalition Against Cuts' Manifesto 9 May 2011 at the Wayback Machine
• Scottish Christian Party Manifesto
• Scottish Green Party Manifesto
• Scottish Homeland Party Manifesto
• Scottish National Party Manifesto
• Scottish Socialist Party Manifesto

Party election broadcasts

• Scottish National Party
• Scottish Labour Party
• Scottish Conservative Party
• Scottish Liberal Democrats
• Scottish Green Party
• British National Party
• UK Independence Party
• Scottish Christian Party
• Scottish Socialist Party
• All Scotland Pensioner's Party
• Socialist Labour Party