Events from the year 2019 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 (until 24 July 2019); Alister Jack

Events

*2 January – Abellio ScotRail announces average rail fare increases of 2.8%, lower than the average 3.1% increase announced for England and Wales. *24 January – Former Scottish First Minister Alex Salmond is arrested and charged with multiple counts of sexual assault and two charges of attempted rape. *24 February – The new

BBC Scotland BBC Scotland (Scottish Gaelic: ''BBC Alba'') is a division of the BBC and the main public broadcaster in Scotland. It is one of the four BBC national regions, together with the BBC English Regions, BBC Cymru Wales and BBC Northern Ireland. I ...

channel has five of the top ten most-watched programmes across Scotland on its Sunday launch night. *19 March – Scotland's unemployment rate is reported to have fallen to a new record low of 3.4% between November and January, well below the UK average of 3.9%. *20 March – The Scottish economy grew by 0.3% in the final three months of 2018 compared to a figure of 0.2% for the UK as a whole. *29 March – The final episode of the popular sitcom ''

Still Game ''Still Game'' is a Scottish sitcom, produced by The Comedy Unit with BBC Scotland. It was created by Ford Kiernan and Greg Hemphill, who played the lead characters, Jack Jarvis, Esq and Victor McDade, two Glaswegian pensioners. The characte ...

'' is broadcast on

. *1 April – New legislation known as Frank's Law – extending free personal care to under-65s living with disabilities and degenerative conditions – has come into effect. *23 May –

2019 European Parliament election in the United Kingdom The 2019 European Parliament election was the United Kingdom's component of the 2019 European Parliament election, held on Thursday 23 May 2019 and the results were announced on Sunday 26 and Monday 27 May 2019, after all the other EU countri ...

is held. Results are announced on 27 May after the polls close in all EU member states. In the Scotland constituency, the

Scottish National Party The Scottish National Party (SNP; sco, Scots National Pairty, gd, Pàrtaidh Nàiseanta na h-Alba ) is a Scottish nationalist and social democratic political party in Scotland. The SNP supports and campaigns for Scottish independence from ...

wins the popular vote with 594,553 votes and has the highest share of the vote with 37.8%, finishing in sixth place overall and returning 3 MEPs. *6 June – Natalie McGarry, former SNP MP for Glasgow East is jailed for 18 months having earlier pleaded guilty to charges of embezzlement. In total, she stole more than £25,000, including donations for a local food bank, spending the funds on rent and a holiday in Spain. *16–28 July – Scotland hosted the

2019 UEFA Women's Under-19 Championship The 2019 UEFA Women's Under-19 Championship (also known as UEFA Women's Under-19 Euro 2019) was the 18th edition of the UEFA Women's Under-19 Championship (22nd edition if the Under-18 era is included), the annual international youth football champ ...

. *12 October – Plastic-stemmed cotton buds are prohibited in Scotland. *3 November – Scottish Conservative MP

Ross Thomson Ross Thomson (born 21 September 1987) is a former Scottish Conservative Party politician who was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Aberdeen South from June 2017 to November 2019. Thomson was the first Conservative MP elected for Aberdeen South ...

announces he will not stand for re-election following claims by Scottish Labour MP Paul Sweeney of 'groping' in the Palace of Westminster. *12 December – At the 2019 UK general election, the

wins a landslide in Scotland, winning 48 of the 59 seats. Their victory is not as large as it was in

2015 File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the Apri ...

, but the

Scottish Lib Dems The Scottish Liberal Democrats ( gd, Pàrtaidh Libearal Deamocratach na h-Alba, sco, Scots Leeberal Democrats) is a liberal, federalist political party in Scotland, a part of the United Kingdom Liberal Democrats. The party currently holds 4 of ...

replace

Scottish Labour 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 of ...

as the third party, pushing Labour into fourth place with one seat. Jo Swinson,

Leader of the Liberal Democrats The Liberal Democrats are a political party in the United Kingdom. Party members elect the leader of the Liberal Democrats, the head and highest-ranking member of the party. Liberal Democrat members of Parliament also elect a deputy leader of ...

, loses her East Dunbartonshire UK Parliament constituency seat to Amy Callaghan of the Scottish National Party by 150 votes. *18 December – Michael Matheson, Scottish Government

Cabinet Secretary for Transport, Infrastructure and Connectivity The Cabinet Secretary for Net Zero, Energy and Transport is a position in the Scottish Government Cabinet. The Cabinet Secretary has responsibilities for infrastructure, transport and energy. The Cabinet Secretary is assisted by the Minister for ...

, announces that it will exercise a break clause in the Abellio ScotRail railway passenger service franchise in March 2022. *28 December – Highest ever maximum temperature for December in the UK, 18.7 °C, recorded at Achfary in the Highlands.

Deaths

*1 January – Freddie Glidden, 91, footballer ( Hearts, Dumbarton). *19 January – Ted McKenna, 68, drummer ( The Sensational Alex Harvey Band). *22 January – Andrew Fairlie, 55, chef. *24 January – Hugh McIlvanney, 84, sports writer ('' The Sunday Times''). *10 March – Angus Sinclair, 73, serial killer. *16 November –

John Campbell Brown John Campbell Brown (4 February 1947 – 16 November 2019) was a Scottish astronomer who worked primarily in solar physics. He held the posts of Astronomer Royal for Scotland, the Regius Professor of Astronomy at the University of Glasgow, a ...

, 72,

Astronomer Royal for Scotland Astronomer Royal for Scotland was the title of the director of the Royal Observatory, Edinburgh until 1995. It has since been an honorary title. Astronomers Royal for Scotland See also * Edinburgh Astronomical Institution * City Observatory * R ...

(since 1995).

References

{{Year in Europe, 2019 2010s in Scotland Years of the 21st century in Scotland *Scotland