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

(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

, ''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.

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

History

Campaign for a Scottish Assembly

Scottish Constitutional Convention

Further reading

See also

References