Events from the year 2008 in

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

Incumbents

First Minister A first minister is any of a variety of leaders of government cabinets. The term literally has the same meaning as "prime minister" but is typically chosen to distinguish the office-holder from a superior prime minister. Currently the title of ' ...

and Keeper of the Great Seal – Alex Salmond *

Secretary of State for Scotland The secretary of state for Scotland (; ), also referred to as the Scottish secretary, is a Secretary of State (United Kingdom), secretary of state in the Government of the United Kingdom, with responsibility for the Scotland Office. The incum ...

–

Des Browne Desmond Henry Browne, Baron Browne of Ladyton, (born 22 March 1952) is a Scottish politician who served in the Cabinet of the United Kingdom under Tony Blair and Gordon Brown as Secretary of State for Defence 2006 to 2008 and Secretary of ...

until 3 October; then Jim Murphy

Law officers

* Lord Advocate – Elish Angiolini * Solicitor General for Scotland – Frank Mulholland * Advocate General for Scotland – Lord Davidson of Glen Clova

Judiciary

Lord President of the Court of Session The Lord President of the Court of Session and Lord Justice General () is the most senior judge in Scotland, the head of the judiciary, and the presiding judge of the College of Justice, the Court of Session, and the High Court of Justiciary. ...

and Lord Justice General – Lord Hamilton * Lord Justice Clerk – Lord Gill * Chairman of the Scottish Land Court – Lord McGhie

Events

January

* January – first phase of Whitelee Wind Farm, which will be the largest

wind farm A wind farm, also called a wind park or wind power plant, is a group of wind turbines in the same location used to produce electricity. Wind farms vary in size from a small number of turbines to several hundred wind turbines covering an exten ...

in Europe, begins feeding electricity to the grid.

February

* 1 February – Eigg Electrical begins generation of the island's entire electricity supply from

renewable energy Renewable energy (also called green energy) is energy made from renewable resource, renewable natural resources that are replenished on a human lifetime, human timescale. The most widely used renewable energy types are solar energy, wind pow ...

sources.

April

* 6 April – the Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act 2007 comes into force.

May

* 19 May –

First ScotRail First ScotRail was a train operating company in Scotland owned by FirstGroup. It operated the ScotRail franchise between October 2004 and March 2015. On 17 October 2004, First ScotRail took over operations from the incumbent franchisee, ScotRai ...

reopens the railway line from

Stirling Stirling (; ; ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city in Central Belt, central Scotland, northeast of Glasgow and north-west of Edinburgh. The market town#Scotland, market town, surrounded by rich farmland, grew up connecting the roya ...

to Alloa for passengers.

June

* 4 June – Gretna F.C., just relegated from the

Scottish Premier League The Scottish Premier League (SPL) was the Scottish football league system, top-level league competition for professional Association football, football clubs in Scotland. The league was founded in 1998, when it broke away from the Scottish Foo ...

, go out of business with debts of £4,000,000.

July

* 7 July – The

Antonine Wall The Antonine Wall () was a turf fortification on stone foundations, built by the Romans across what is now the Central Belt of Scotland, between the Firth of Clyde and the Firth of Forth. Built some twenty years after Hadrian's Wall to the south ...

, part of the ancient Roman ''limes'', is designated as a

World Heritage Site World Heritage Sites are landmarks and areas with legal protection under an treaty, international treaty administered by UNESCO for having cultural, historical, or scientific significance. The sites are judged to contain "cultural and natural ...

. * 25 July – Old Monach lighthouse on Shillay, Monach Islands, re-lit.

November

* 6 November – Lindsay Roy retains the seat for the Labour Party at the Glenrothes by-election with a majority of 6,737 votes. The previous Labour MP John MacDougall died on 13 August 2008 from pleural mesothelioma. * 14 November – Sixteen-year-old Nicolle Earley kills 63-year-old Ann Gray at her home in Crosshill, Fife. * 19 November – Clackmannanshire Bridge over the

Firth of Forth The Firth of Forth () is a firth in Scotland, an inlet of the North Sea that separates Fife to its north and Lothian to its south. Further inland, it becomes the estuary of the River Forth and several other rivers. Name ''Firth'' is a cognate ...

at Kincardine is opened to traffic. * 20 November – Health Secretary

Nicola Sturgeon Nicola Ferguson Sturgeon (born 19 July 1970) is a Scottish politician who served as First Minister of Scotland and Leader of the Scottish National Party (SNP) from 2014 to 2023. She has served as a member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) sin ...

is named Scottish Politician of the Year.

December

* 18 December – Woolworths announce their 807 UK stores will close by 5 January 2009. * 27 December – first seventeen of Woolworths branches in Scotland close, with the rest to follow shortly.

Deaths

* 27 July – Bob Crampsey, historian, author and broadcaster (born 1930) * 8 October – John Bannerman, historian of Gaelic Scotland (born

1932 Events January * January 4 – The British authorities in India arrest and intern Mahatma Gandhi and Vallabhbhai Patel. * January 9 – Sakuradamon Incident (1932), Sakuradamon Incident: Korean nationalist Lee Bong-chang fails in his effort ...

) * 5 November –

Ian Anderson Ian Scott Anderson (born 10 August 1947) is a British musician best known for being the chief vocalist, Flute, flautist, and acoustic guitarist of the British rock band Jethro Tull (band), Jethro Tull. He is a multi-instrumentalist who also p ...

, footballer (born 1954) * 18 December – Hannah Frank, visual artist (born 1908)

The arts

* Alternative hip hop group Young Fathers forms in Edinburgh. * Peter Maxwell Davies composes his String Trio. * Supermarionation band is formed in Edinburgh.

References

{{Years in Scotland , state=collapsed

Years of the 21st century in Scotland 2000s in Scotland