2003 Scottish Parliament election

The 2003 Scottish Parliament election was the second election of members to the Scottish Parliament. It was held on 1 May 2003 and it brought no change in terms of control of the Scottish Executive. Jack McConnell, the Labour Party MSP, remained in office as First Minister for a second term and the Executive continued as a Labour and Liberal Democrat coalition. As of 2023, it remains the last Scottish Parliament election victory for the Scottish Labour Party, and the last time the Scottish National Party lost a Holyrood election.

2003 Scottish Parliament election

← 1999 1 May 2003 (2003-05-01) 2007 →
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All 129 seats to the Scottish Parliament 65 seats were needed for a majority
Turnout	Constituency - 49.7% 8.7pp Regional - 49.7% 8.6pp
First party Second party Third party   Leader Jack McConnell John Swinney David McLetchie Party Labour SNP Conservative Leader's seat Motherwell and Wishaw North Tayside Edinburgh Pentlands Last election 56 seats 35 seats 18 seats Seats won 50 27 18 Seat change 6 8 Constituency vote 663,585 455,722 318,279 % and swing 34.6% 4.2% 23.8% 4.9% 16.6% 1.2% Regional vote 561,375 399,659 296,929 % and swing 29.3% 4.3% 20.9% 6.4% 15.6% 0.1%   Fourth party Fifth party Sixth party   Leader Jim Wallace Robin Harper Tommy Sheridan Party Liberal Democrats Scottish Green Scottish Socialist Leader's seat Orkney Lothians Glasgow Last election 17 seats 1 seat 1 seat Seats won 17 7 6 Seat change 6 5 Constituency vote 294,347 Did not stand 118,764 % and swing 15.4% 1.2% Did not stand 6.2% 5.2% Regional vote 225,774 132,138 128,026 % and swing 11.8% 0.6% 6.9% 3.3% 6.7% 4.7%
The map shows the election results in single-member constituencies. The additional member MSPs in the 8 regions are shown around the map.
First Minister before election Jack McConnell Labour First Minister after election Jack McConnell Labour

The results also showed rises in support for smaller parties, including the Scottish Green Party and the Scottish Socialist Party (SSP) and declines in support for the Labour Party and the Scottish National Party (SNP). The Conservative and Unionist Party and the Scottish Liberal Democrats each polled almost exactly the same percentage of the vote as they had in the 1999 election, with each holding the same number of seats as before.

Three independent MSPs were elected: Dennis Canavan, Margo MacDonald and Jean Turner. John Swinburne, leader of the Scottish Senior Citizens Unity Party, was also elected. This led to talk of a "rainbow" Parliament, but the arithmetic meant that the coalition of Labour and Scottish Liberal Democrats could continue in office, which they did until the 2007 election.

The decline in support for the SNP was viewed by some as a rejection of the case for Scottish independence. Others argued against this, pointing out that the number of MSPs in favour of independence actually rose because most of the minor parties such as the SSP share this position with the SNP.

Retiring MSPs

At the dissolution of Parliament on 31 March 2003, ten MSPs were not seeking re-election.^[1]

Constituency/Region	Departing MSP	Party
Glasgow	Dorothy-Grace Elder		Independent
West of Scotland	Colin Campbell		SNP
Highlands and Islands	Duncan Hamilton		SNP
Highlands and Islands	Winnie Ewing		SNP
West of Scotland	Kay Ullrich		SNP
North East Scotland	Ben Wallace		Conservative
West of Scotland	John Young		Conservative
Central Fife	Henry McLeish		Labour
Tweeddale, Ettrick and Lauderdale	Ian Jenkins		Liberal Democrats
Lothians	David Steel		Liberal Democrats

Campaign

The parliament was dissolved on 31 March 2003 and the campaign began thereafter.

Party leaders in 2003

• Labour – Jack McConnell
• SNP – John Swinney
• Conservative – David McLetchie
• Liberal Democrat – Jim Wallace
• Greens – Robin Harper & Eleanor Scott (co-chairs)
• SSP – Tommy Sheridan

Defeated MSPs

Labour

• Brian Fitzpatrick, Strathkelvin and Bearsden
• Rhoda Grant, Highlands and Islands
• Iain Gray, Edinburgh Pentlands
• Angus MacKay, Edinburgh South
• Richard Simpson, Ochil
• Elaine Thomson, Aberdeen North

SNP

• Kenneth Gibson, Glasgow
• Irene McGugan, North East Scotland
• Fiona McLeod, West of Scotland
• Gil Paterson, Central Scotland
• Lloyd Quinan, West of Scotland
• Michael Russell, South of Scotland
• Andrew Wilson, Central Scotland

The New Party

• Keith Harding, Mid Scotland and Fife (elected as a Conservative)
• Lyndsay McIntosh, Central Scotland (elected as a Conservative)

Results

Election result with constituency names labeled

← 2003 Scottish Parliament election^[2] →

Party		Constituencies					Regional additional members					Total seats
		Votes	%	±	Seats	±	Votes	%	±	Seats	±	Total	±	%
	Labour	663,585	34.6	4.2	46	7	561,375	29.3	4.3	4	1	50	6	38.8
	SNP	455,722	23.8	4.9	9	2	399,659	20.9	6.4	18	10	27	8	20.9
	Conservative	318,279	16.6	1.2	3	3	296,929	15.5	0.1	15	3	18		14.0
	Liberal Democrats	294,347	15.4	1.2	13	1	225,774	11.8	0.6	4	1	17		13.2
	Scottish Green	–	–	–	–	–	132,138	6.9	3.3	7	6	7	6	5.4
	Scottish Socialist	118,764	6.2	5.2	0		128,026	6.7	4.7	6	5	6	5	4.7
	Scottish Senior Citizens	1,597	0.1	new	0	new	28,966	1.5	new	1	new	1	new	0.8
	Margo MacDonald	–	–	–	–	–	27,143	1.4	new	1	new	1	new	0.8
	MSP for Falkirk West	14,703	0.8		1		–	–	–	–	–	1		0.8
	Save Stobhill Hospital	10,988	0.6	new	1	new	–	–	–	–	–	1	new	0.8
	Pensioners Party	–	–	–	–	–	28,655	1.5	new	0	new	0	new	0.0
	Socialist Labour	–	–	–	–	–	21,657	1.1	1.3	0		0		0.0
	New Party	5,598	0.3	new	0	new	7,718	0.4	new	0	new	0	new	0.0
	UKIP	–	–	–	–	–	11,969	0.6	new	0	new	0	new	0.0
	Scottish Unionist	–	–	–	–	–	6,113	0.3		0		0		0.0
	Local Health Concern	5,582	0.3	new	0	new	–	–	–	–	–	0	new	0.0
	Fishing Party	–	–	–	–	–	5,566	0.3	new	0	new	0	new	0.0
	BNP	–	–	–	–	–	2,344	0.1	new	0	new	0	new	0.0
	Protect Rural Scotland	–	–	–	–	–	1,438	0.1	new	0	new	0	new	0.0
	Independent Green Voice	1,300	0.1	new	0	new	–	–	–	–	–	0	new	0.0
	Christian Independent Alliance	–	–	–	–	–	1,064	0.1	new	0	new	0	new	0.0
	Adam Lyal's Witchery Tour	–	–	–	–	–	964	0.1	new	0	new	0	new	0.0
	Parents Excluded	141	0.0	new	0	new	–	–	–	–	–	0	new	0.0
	Others	25,968	1.4	0.8	0		28,323	1.5	0.8	0		0		0.0
Valid votes		1,916,574	99.4	0.3			1,915,851	99.4	0.3
Spoilt votes		12,303	0.6	0.3			11,938	0.6	0.3
Total		1,928,877	100		73	–	1,927,789	100		56	–	129	–	100
Electorate/Turnout		3,877,460	49.7	8.7			3,877,460	49.7	8.6

Notes:

• The Scottish Greens did not stand in any constituencies, instead concentrating their resources on winning the largest possible share of the "second" vote for 'list' seats.

Popular Vote (Constituency) Labour   34.62% SNP   23.78% Conservative   16.61% Liberal Democrats   15.36% Scottish Socialist   6.20% Other   3.43%

Popular Vote (Regional) Labour   29.44% SNP   20.94% Conservative   15.56% Liberal Democrats   11.83% Green   6.92% Scottish Socialist   6.71% Independents   1.67% SSCUP   1.52% Pensioners   1.50% Socialist Labour   1.13% Other   2.74%

Parliament seats Labour   38.76% SNP   20.93% Conservative   13.95% Liberal Democrats   13.18% Green   5.43% Scottish Socialist   4.65% Independents   2.33% SSCUP   0.78%

Constituency and regional summary

Central Scotland

2003 Scottish Parliament election: Central Scotland

Constituency		Elected member	Result
	Airdrie and Shotts	Karen Whitefield	Labour hold
	Coatbridge and Chryston	Elaine Smith	Labour hold
	Cumbernauld and Kilsyth	Cathie Craigie	Labour hold
	East Kilbride	Andy Kerr	Labour hold
	Falkirk East	Cathy Peattie	Labour hold
	Falkirk West	Dennis Canavan	Independent hold
	Hamilton North and Bellshill	Michael McMahon	Labour hold
	Hamilton South	Tom McCabe	Labour hold
	Kilmarnock and Loudoun	Margaret Jamieson	Labour hold
	Motherwell and Wishaw	Jack McConnell	Labour hold

2003 Scottish Parliament election: Central Scotland

Party		Elected candidates	Seats	+/−	Votes	%	+/−%
	SNP	Alex Neil Michael Matheson Linda Fabiani	3	−2	59,274	22.53%	-5.25%
	Conservative	Margaret Mitchell	1	±0	24,121	9.17%	+0.02%
	Scottish Socialist	Carolyn Leckie	1	+1	19,016	7.23%	+5.49%
	Scottish Senior Citizens	John Swinburne	1	+1	17,146	6.52%	N/A
	Liberal Democrats	Donald Gorrie	1	±0	15,494	5.89%	-0.31%

Glasgow

2003 Scottish Parliament election: Glasgow

Constituency		Elected member	Result
	Glasgow Anniesland	Bill Butler	Labour hold
	Glasgow Baillieston	Margaret Curran	Labour hold
	Glasgow Cathcart	Mike Watson	Labour hold
	Glasgow Govan	Gordon Jackson	Labour hold
	Glasgow Kelvin	Pauline McNeill	Labour hold
	Glasgow Maryhill	Patricia Ferguson	Labour hold
	Glasgow Pollok	Johann Lamont	Labour hold
	Glasgow Rutherglen	Janis Hughes	Labour hold
	Glasgow Shettleston	Frank McAveety	Labour hold
	Glasgow Springburn	Paul Martin	Labour hold

2003 Scottish Parliament election: Glasgow

Party		Elected candidates	Seats	+/−	Votes	%	+/−%
	SNP	Nicola Sturgeon Sandra White	2	−2	34,894	17.1%	-8.4%
	Scottish Socialist	Tommy Sheridan Rosie Kane	2	+1	31,216	15.2%	+8.0%
	Conservative	Bill Aitken	1	±0	15,299	7.5%	-0.4%
	Liberal Democrats	Robert Brown	1	±0	14,839	7.5%	-0.4%
	Scottish Green	Patrick Harvie	1	+1	14,570	7.1%	+3.1%

Highlands and Islands

2003 Scottish Parliament election: Highlands and Islands

Constituency		Elected member	Result
	Argyll and Bute	George Lyon	Liberal Democrats
	Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross	Jamie Stone	Liberal Democrats
	Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber	Fergus Ewing	SNP
	Moray	Margaret Ewing	SNP
	Orkney	Jim Wallace	Liberal Democrats
	Ross, Skye and Inverness West	John Farquhar Munro	Liberal Democrats
	Shetland	Tavish Scott	Liberal Democrats
	Western Isles	Alasdair Morrison	Labour

2003 Scottish Parliament election: Highlands and Islands

Party		Elected candidates	Seats	+/−	Votes	%	+/−%
	SNP	Jim Mather Rob Gibson	2	±0	39,497	23.43%	-4.3%
	Labour	Peter Peacock Maureen Macmillan	2	−1	37,605	22.31%	-3.16%
	Conservative	Jamie McGrigor Mary Scanlon	2	±0	26,989	16.01%	+1.07%
	Scottish Green	Eleanor Scott	1	+1	13,935	8.27%	+4.52%

Lothians

2003 Scottish Parliament election: Lothians

Constituency		Elected member	Result
	Edinburgh Central	Sarah Boyack	Labour hold
	Edinburgh East and Musselburgh	Susan Deacon	Labour hold
	Edinburgh North and Leith	Malcolm Chisholm	Labour hold
	Edinburgh Pentlands	David McLetchie	Conservative gain from Labour
	Edinburgh South	Mike Pringle	Liberal Democrats gain from Labour
	Edinburgh West	Margaret Smith	Liberal Democrats hold
	Linlithgow	Mary Mulligan	Labour hold
	Livingston	Bristow Muldoon	Labour hold
	Midlothian	Rhona Brankin	Labour hold

2003 Scottish Parliament election: Lothians

Party		Elected candidates	Seats	+/−	Votes	%	+/−%
	SNP	Kenny MacAskill Fiona Hyslop	2	−1	43,142	16.2%	-9.5%
	Conservative	James Douglas-Hamilton	1	−1	40,173	15.1%	-0.6%
	Scottish Green	Robin Harper Mark Ballard	2	+1	31,908	12.0%	+5.1%
	Independent	Margo MacDonald	1	+1	27,143	10.2%	N/A
	Scottish Socialist	Colin Fox	1	+1	14,448	5.4%	+3.8%

Mid Scotland and Fife

2003 Scottish Parliament election: Mid Scotland and Fife

Constituency		Elected member	Result
	Dunfermline East	Helen Eadie	Labour
	Dunfermline West	Scott Barrie	Labour
	Fife Central	Christine May	Labour
	Fife North East	Iain Smith	Liberal Democrats
	Kirkcaldy	Marilyn Livingstone	Labour
	North Tayside	John Swinney	SNP
	Ochil	George Reid	SNP
	Perth	Roseanna Cunningham	SNP
	Stirling	Sylvia Jackson	Labour

2003 Scottish Parliament election: Mid Scotland and Fife

Party		Elected candidates	Seats	+/−	Votes	%	+/−%
	SNP	Bruce Crawford Tricia Marwick	2	−1	57,631	23.0%	-5.7%
	Conservative	Murdo Fraser Brian Monteith Ted Brocklebank	3	±0	43,941	17.6%	-1.0%
	Liberal Democrats	Keith Raffan	1	±0	30,112	12.0%	-0.7%
	Scottish Green	Mark Ruskell	1	+1	17,147	6.9%	+3.0%

North East Scotland

2003 Scottish Parliament election: North East Scotland

Constituency		Elected member	Result
	Aberdeen Central	Lewis Macdonald	Labour hold
	Aberdeen North	Brian Adam	SNP gain from Labour
	Aberdeen South	Nicol Stephen	Liberal Democrats hold
	Angus	Andrew Welsh	SNP hold
	Banff and Buchan	Stewart Stevenson	SNP hold
	Dundee East	Shona Robison	SNP gain from Labour
	Dundee West	Kate Maclean	Labour hold
	Gordon	Nora Radcliffe	Liberal Democrats hold
	West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine	Mike Rumbles	Liberal Democrats hold

2003 Scottish Parliament election: North East Scotland

Party		Elected candidates	Seats	+/−	Votes	%	+/−%
	SNP	Richard Lochhead	1	−3	66,463	27.3%	-5.0%
	Labour	Marlyn Glen Richard Baker	2	+2	49,189	20.2%	-5.3%
	Conservative	David Davidson Nanette Milne Alex Johnstone	3	±0	42,318	17.4%	-0.9%
	Scottish Green	Shiona Baird	1	+1	12,724	5.2%	+2.4%

South of Scotland

2003 Scottish Parliament election: South of Scotland

Constituency		Elected member	Result
	Ayr	John Scott	Conservative
	Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley	Cathy Jamieson	Labour
	Clydesdale	Karen Gillon	Labour
	Cunninghame South	Irene Oldfather	Labour
	Dumfries	Elaine Murray	Labour
	East Lothian	John Home Robertson	Labour
	Galloway and Upper Nithsdale	Alex Fergusson	Conservative
	Roxburgh and Berwickshire	Euan Robson	Liberal Democrats
	Tweeddale, Ettrick and Lauderdale	Jeremy Purvis	Liberal Democrats

2003 Scottish Parliament election: South of Scotland

Party		Elected candidates	Seats	+/−	Votes	%	+/−%
	Conservative	Phil Gallie David Mundell	2	−1	63,827	24.2%	+2.6%
	SNP	Christine Grahame Adam Ingram Alasdair Morgan	3	±0	48,371	18.4%	-6.7%
	Scottish Green	Chris Ballance	1	+1	15,062	5.7%	+2.7%
	Scottish Socialist	Rosemary Byrne	1	+1	14,228	5.4%	+4.4%

West of Scotland

2003 Scottish Parliament election: West of Scotland

Constituency		Elected member	Result
	Clydebank and Milngavie	Des McNulty	Labour
	Cunninghame North	Allan Wilson	Labour
	Dumbarton	Jackie Baillie	Labour
	Eastwood	Kenneth Macintosh	Labour
	Greenock and Inverclyde	Duncan McNeil	Labour
	Paisley North	Wendy Alexander	Labour
	Paisley South	Hugh Henry	Labour
	Strathkelvin and Bearsden	Jean Turner	Independent
	West Renfrewshire	Patricia Godman	Labour

2003 Scottish Parliament election: West of Scotland

Party		Elected candidates	Seats	+/−	Votes	%	+/−%
	SNP	Campbell Martin Bruce McFee Stewart Maxwell	3	−1	50,387	19.6%	-6.3%
	Conservative	Annabel Goldie Murray Tosh	2	±0	40,261	15.7%	–
	Liberal Democrats	Ross Finnie	1	±0	31,580	12.3%	+1.3%
	Scottish Socialist	Frances Curran	1	+1	18,591	7.2%	+5.3

Coalition

As part of the coalition deal between Labour and the Scottish Liberal Democrats, Labour allowed proportional representation (a long-standing Lib Dem policy)^[3] to be used in Scottish local government elections.^[4][5] This system was first used in 2007.^[6]

Campaign spending

Party		Expenses[7]
	Scottish People's	£188,889
	Liberal Democrats	£130,358
	Scottish Socialist	£74,361
	Scottish Green	£65,852
	UKIP	£39,504
	Scottish Senior Citizens	£3,558

See also

• 2nd Scottish Parliament
• 2003 National Assembly for Wales election
• 2003 United Kingdom local elections