The Scottish Constitutional Convention (SCC) was an association of Scottish political parties, churches and other civic groups, that developed a framework for
Scottish devolution.
History
Campaign for a Scottish Assembly
The Convention has its roots in the Campaign for a Scottish Assembly (CSA), which was formed in the aftermath of the
1979 referendum that failed to establish a devolved
Scottish Assembly. The all-party Campaign for a Scottish Assembly, which was launched at a rally in
Edinburgh
Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...
on 1st March 1980,
[Ascherson, Neal (1980), ''After Devolution'', in ''The Bulletin of Scottish Politics'' No. 1, Autumn 1980, Edinburgh, pp. 1 - 6] was led by Jack Brand, and later headed by Jim Boyack. By July, a Labour Campaign for a Scottish Assembly had been established to build support in the party at constituency level and exert influence at the party conference.
[Boyack, Jim (1981), ''No Mass Movement: Wheeling and Dealing for a Scottish Assembly'', in Easton, Norman (ed.), ''Crann Tara'' No. 15, Autumn 1981, pp. 16 & 17] The CSA contained individuals committed to some form of
Home Rule
Home rule is the government of a colony, dependent country, or region by its own citizens. It is thus the power of a part (administrative division) of a state or an external dependent country to exercise such of the state's powers of governan ...
for
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 ...
. Activists were drawn from the
Labour Party, the
Scottish National Party
The Scottish National Party (SNP; ) is a Scottish nationalist and social democratic party. The party holds 61 of the 129 seats in the Scottish Parliament, and holds 9 out of the 57 Scottish seats in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, ...
(SNP), the
Scottish Liberal Party
The Scottish Liberal Party, the section of the Liberal Party in Scotland, was the dominant political party of Victorian Scotland, and although its importance declined with the rise of the Labour and Unionist parties during the 20th century, it ...
, the
Scottish Ecology Party, the
Communist Party and the trade union movement. Some were formerly members of the
Scottish Labour Party
Scottish Labour (), is the part of the UK Labour Party active in Scotland. Ideologically social democratic and unionist, it holds 23 of 129 seats in the Scottish Parliament and 37 of 57 Scottish seats in the House of Commons. It is repres ...
(SLP).
The CSA kept up the pressure for
devolution
Devolution is the statutory delegation of powers from the central government of a sovereign state to govern at a subnational level, such as a regional or local level. It is a form of administrative decentralization. Devolved territori ...
in the early years of the
Conservative
Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civiliza ...
government of
Margaret Thatcher
Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher (; 13 October 19258 April 2013), was a British stateswoman who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990 and Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of th ...
, which was totally opposed to any form of Home Rule. Eventually, the CSA came to the stance that the cause of Scottish devolution would be best served by a convention with more democratic legitimacy invested in it.
The CSA organised the committee, chaired by
Professor Sir Robert Grieve, that published the
Claim of Right for Scotland. The Claim held that it was the Scottish people's right to choose the form of government that best suited them (a long-established principle, first formally stated in the
Declaration of Arbroath, 1320 ), and which also recommended the establishment of a convention to discuss this.
Scottish Constitutional Convention
The Scottish Constitutional Convention was then established in 1989 after prominent Scottish individuals signed the Claim of Right, and superseded the role of the CSA.
The first meeting was held in the
Assembly Hall in Edinburgh on 30 March 1989.
Canon Kenyon Wright, the convener of the executive committee, opened the meeting.
David Steel
David Martin Scott Steel, Baron Steel of Aikwood (born 31 March 1938) is a retired Scottish politician. Elected as Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), Member of Parliament for Roxburgh, Selkirk and Peebles (UK Parliament constituency), Roxb ...
and
Harry Ewing were adopted as co-chairmen.
A second meeting on 7 July was held in Inverness. Various organisations participated in the Convention, such as the
Labour Party, the
Liberal Democrats, the
Scottish Green Party
The Scottish Greens (also known as the Scottish Green Party; ) are a green party, green List of political parties in Scotland, political party in Scotland. The party has 7 MSPs of 129 in the Scottish Parliament, the party holds 35 of the 1226 ...
, the
Communist Party, the
Scottish Trades Union Congress
The Scottish Trades Union Congress (STUC) is the national trade union centre in Scotland. With 40 affiliated unions as of 2020, the STUC represents over 540,000 trade unionists.
The STUC is a separate organisation from the English and Welsh ...
, the
Scottish Council for Development and Industry, the Small Business Federation and various bodies representing other strands of political opinion as well as civic society in general.
Representatives of the two largest churches – the
Church of Scotland
The Church of Scotland (CoS; ; ) is a Presbyterian denomination of Christianity that holds the status of the national church in Scotland. It is one of the country's largest, having 245,000 members in 2024 and 259,200 members in 2023. While mem ...
and the
Roman Catholic Church
The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...
– were involved, as well as smaller church groups, and some non-Christian communities which decided to participate.
Initially, the
Scottish National Party
The Scottish National Party (SNP; ) is a Scottish nationalist and social democratic party. The party holds 61 of the 129 seats in the Scottish Parliament, and holds 9 out of the 57 Scottish seats in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, ...
(SNP) participated, but the then party leader
Gordon Wilson, along with
Jim Sillars, decided to withdraw the SNP from participation owing to the convention's unwillingness to discuss
Scottish independence
Scottish independence (; ) is the idea of Scotland regaining its independence and once again becoming a sovereign state, independent from the United Kingdom. The term Scottish independence refers to the political movement that is campaignin ...
as a constitutional option.
The Conservative government of the day was very hostile to the convention, and challenged the local authorities' right to finance the convention, although the courts found that they were in fact entitled to do so.
Under its executive chairman, Canon
Kenyon Wright, the convention published its blueprint for
devolution
Devolution is the statutory delegation of powers from the central government of a sovereign state to govern at a subnational level, such as a regional or local level. It is a form of administrative decentralization. Devolved territori ...
, ''Scotland's Parliament, Scotland's Right'', on 30 November 1995,
Saint Andrew's Day. The report had proposals for a devolved arrangement.
In December 2013,
John McAllion, who participated in the convention as a Labour MP, claimed that it was "self-appointed", "elitist", and "ultimately unrepresentative" of Scottish society, and should not be a model for a future constitutional convention.
Further reading
* McLean, Bob (2005), ''Getting it Together: The History of the Campaign for a Scottish Assembly/Parliament 1980 - 1999'', Luath Press, Edinburgh,
See also
*
Scotland Act 1978
*
Scotland Act 1998
The Scotland Act 1998 (c. 46) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom which legislated for the establishment of the devolved Scottish Parliament with tax varying powers and the Scottish Government (then Scottish Executive). It was o ...
*
1997 Scottish devolution referendum
*
Scotland Forward
*
Self-determination
Self-determination refers to a people's right to form its own political entity, and internal self-determination is the right to representative government with full suffrage.
Self-determination is a cardinal principle in modern international la ...
br>
Nationl Convention On Scottish Independependece
References
{{Reflist
Political advocacy groups in Scotland
Scottish devolution
Constitution of the United Kingdom
Constitutional conventions (political meeting)
Political organisations based in Scotland
1989 establishments in Scotland
1999 disestablishments in Scotland
Organizations established in 1989
Church of Scotland