Events from the year 2018 in Scotland.

Incumbents

* First Minister and Keeper of the Great Seal –

Nicola Sturgeon Nicola Ferguson Sturgeon (born 19 July 1970) is a Scottish politician serving as First Minister of Scotland and Leader of the Scottish National Party (SNP) since 2014. She is the first woman to hold either position. She has been a member of ...

Secretary of State for Scotland The secretary of state for Scotland ( gd, Rùnaire Stàite na h-Alba; sco, Secretar o State fir Scotland), also referred to as the Scottish secretary, is a Secretary of State (United Kingdom), secretary of state in the Government of the Unit ...

– David Mundell

Law officers

* Lord Advocate – James Wolffe * Solicitor General for Scotland – Alison Di Rollo *

Advocate General for Scotland His Majesty's Advocate General for Scotland ( gd, Àrd-neach-tagraidh an Rìgh airson Alba) is one of the Law Officers of the Crown, whose duty it is to advise the Crown and His Majesty's Government on Scots law. The Office of the Advocate Gener ...

– Lord Keen of Elie

Judiciary

* Lord President of the Court of Session and Lord Justice General – Lord Carloway * Lord Justice Clerk – Lady Dorrian * Chairman of the Scottish Land Court – Lord Minginish

Events

1 January January 1 or 1 January is the first day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. There are 364 days remaining until the end of the year (365 in leap years). This day is also known as New Year's Day since the day marks the beginning of the year. ...

– More than 1,000 people brave the icy waters of the

Firth of Forth The Firth of Forth () is the estuary, or firth, of several Scottish rivers including the River Forth. It meets the North Sea with Fife on the north coast and Lothian on the south. Name ''Firth'' is a cognate of ''fjord'', a Norse word meani ...

for the annual New Year's Day Loony Dook. *

7 February Events Pre-1600 * 457 – Leo I becomes the Eastern Roman emperor. * 987 – Bardas Phokas the Younger and Bardas Skleros, Byzantine generals of the military elite, begin a wide-scale rebellion against Emperor Basil II. *1301 &ndash ...

– The chief constable of Police Scotland,

Phil Gormley Philip Gormley, is the current CEO for EACH (East Anglia Childrens Hospices) based in Norfolk, England. Early life Gormley studied at the University of Gloucestershire, graduating in 1984. He later undertook postgraduate study at the University ...

, resigns amid a series of investigations into claims of gross misconduct. * 26 April – Scottish Conservative Party leader Ruth Davidson announces that she is three months pregnant after receiving IVF treatment with her partner, Jen Wilson and is due to give birth in October. *

1 May Events Pre-1600 * 305 – Diocletian and Maximian retire from the office of Roman emperor. * 880 – The Nea Ekklesia is inaugurated in Constantinople, setting the model for all later cross-in-square Orthodox churches. * 1169 &ndas ...

- Price of cheap high-strength increases as the Alcohol (Minimum Pricing) (Scotland) Act 2012 comes into force. *

28 May Events Pre-1600 * 585 BC – A solar eclipse occurs, as predicted by the Greek philosopher and scientist Thales, while Alyattes is battling Cyaxares in the Battle of the Eclipse, leading to a truce. This is one of the cardinal dates from w ...

– Lesley Laird is elected unopposed as deputy leader of the

Scottish Labour Party Scottish Labour ( gd, Pàrtaidh Làbarach na h-Alba, sco, Scots Labour Pairty; officially the Scottish Labour Party) is a social democratic political party in Scotland. It is an autonomous section of the UK Labour Party. From their peak o ...

. *

15 June Events Pre-1600 *763 BC – Assyrians record a solar eclipse that is later used to fix the chronology of Mesopotamian history. * 844 – Louis II is crowned as king of Italy at Rome by pope Sergius II. * 923 – Battle of Sois ...

– Second major fire at Glasgow School of Art. *

15 August Events Pre-1600 * 636 – Arab–Byzantine wars: The Battle of Yarmouk between the Byzantine Empire and the Rashidun Caliphate begins. * 717 – Arab–Byzantine wars: Maslama ibn Abd al-Malik begins the Second Arab Siege of Const ...

–

Iain Livingstone Sir Iain Thomas Livingstone, (born 6 October 1966) is a Scottish police officer who is currently Chief Constable of Police Scotland. He was previously Deputy Chief Constable Designate of the force. He was named as the next Chief Constable on 15 ...

is confirmed as the new Chief Constable of Police Scotland, having been in interim charge of the national force since last autumn. *

24 August Events Pre-1600 * 367 – Gratian, son of Roman Emperor Valentinian I, is named co-Augustus at the age of eight by his father. * 394 – The Graffito of Esmet-Akhom, the latest known inscription in Egyptian hieroglyphs, is written. * ...

– Former SNP First Minister Alex Salmond describes sexual misconduct allegations against him as "patently ridiculous" and is taking the Scottish Government to court to challenge the complaints procedure which has been activated against him. *

3 September Events Pre-1600 *36 BC – In the Battle of Naulochus, Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa, admiral of Octavian, defeats Sextus Pompey, son of Pompey, thus ending Pompeian resistance to the Second Triumvirate. * 301 – San Marino, one of the s ...

– Latest available data shows that SNP membership has overtaken the Conservatives across the UK for the first time ever, pushing the party of government into third place by quantity of members. * 6 October – In the latest march organised by

All Under One Banner All Under One Banner (AUOB) is a Scottish independence pressure group created on 12 October 2014 with the objective of staging public processions for independence at regular intervals. Neil Mackay, AUOB founder, argued that a strategy of marches ...

, somewhere between 20,000 and 100,000 people are estimated to have marched through Edinburgh in support of

Scottish independence Scottish independence ( gd, Neo-eisimeileachd na h-Alba; sco, Scots unthirldom) is the idea of Scotland as a sovereign state, independent from the United Kingdom, and refers to the political movement that is campaigning to bring it about. S ...

. *

12 October Events Pre-1600 *539 BC – The army of Cyrus the Great of Persia takes Babylon, ending the Babylonian empire. ( Julian calendar) * 633 – Battle of Hatfield Chase: King Edwin of Northumbria is defeated and killed by an alliance u ...

– Fair Isle gains its first 24-hour electricity supply, from renewable sources.

Deaths

*29 April – Michael Martin, Baron Martin of Springburn (born 1945), Labour politician and Speaker of the House of Commons 2000–2009. *31 May – Nairn MacEwan (born 1941), Scottish rugby union coach.

Arts and literature

7 June Events Pre-1600 * 421 – Emperor Theodosius II marries Aelia Eudocia at Constantinople (Byzantine Empire). * 879 – Pope John VIII recognizes the Duchy of Croatia under Duke Branimir as an independent state. *1002 – Henry II ...

– J. O. Morgan's war poem ''Assurances'' is published. *

18 August Events Pre-1600 * 684 – Battle of Marj Rahit: Umayyad partisans defeat the supporters of Ibn al-Zubayr and cement Umayyad control of Syria. * 707 – Princess Abe accedes to the imperial Japanese throne as Empress Genmei. * 1304 & ...

– 45 years after forming in 1973, folk rock band Runrig performs their last show against the backdrop of

Stirling Castle Stirling Castle, located in Stirling, is one of the largest and most important castles in Scotland, both historically and architecturally. The castle sits atop Castle Hill, an intrusive crag, which forms part of the Stirling Sill geological ...

. *

15 September Events Pre-1600 * 994 – Major Fatimid victory over the Byzantine Empire at the Battle of the Orontes. *1440 – Gilles de Rais, one of the earliest known serial killers, is taken into custody upon an accusation brought against him by ...

– V&A at Dundee, designed by Kengo Kuma, opens as a museum of design.

References

{{Year in Europe, 2018 2010s in Scotland Years of the 21st century in Scotland *Scotland