IFES
 

May 1, 2003 Held

Scotland (part of the United Kingdom)
Scotland
Election for Pàrlamaid na h-Alba (Scottish Parliament)


General Information

At stake in this election:

  • 129 seats in the Scottish Parliament (Pàrlamaid na h-Alba)

Description of government structure:

  • Chief of State: Queen ELIZABETH II
  • Head of Government: First Minister Jack McCONNELL
  • Assembly: Scotland (part of the United Kingdom) has a unicameral Scottish Parliament (Pàrlamaid na h-Alba) with 129 seats.

Description of electoral system:

  • The Queen is the hereditary head of state.
  • The First Minister is appointed by the monarch.
  • In the Scottish Parliament (Pàrlamaid na h-Alba), 73 members are elected by plurality vote in single-member constituencies to serve 4-year terms and 56 members are elected through a closed-list proportional representation system to serve 4-year terms.***

*** Seats in the proportional tier are allocated using the d'Hondt method.

Main parties in the electoral race:

Last Parliamentary election:

  • Parliamentary elections were last held in Scotland on May 6, 1999.

Population and number of registered voters:

  • Population: 5,100,000 (July 2001 approx.)
  • Registered Voters: 3,877,603 ( 2003 )
Election Modified: Jun 21, 2024

Most Recent Elections in Scotland (part of the United Kingdom)

With Participation Rates