The Scottish Senior Citizens Unity Party (SSCUP), later the All-Scotland Pensioners Party from March 2011, was a minor Scottish political party. It was formed on 3 February 2003, in time to contest that year's

elections An election is a formal group decision-making process whereby a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative democracy has operated ...

to the

Scottish Parliament The Scottish Parliament ( ; ) is the Devolution in the United Kingdom, devolved, unicameral legislature of Scotland. It is located in the Holyrood, Edinburgh, Holyrood area of Edinburgh, and is frequently referred to by the metonym 'Holyrood'. ...

. The leading figure in its formation and its first leader was John Swinburne, previously a director of Motherwell Football Club. Swinburne was inspired to form the party after reading the UK government's plans for pensions in December 2002: he felt it was unfair that people might have to work longer in the future and consequently have less time to enjoy their

retirement Retirement is the withdrawal from one's position or occupation or from one's active working life. A person may also semi-retire by reducing work hours or workload. Many people choose to retire when they are elderly or incapable of doing their j ...

. To fight elections, the SSCUP registered with the UK

Electoral Commission An election commission is a body charged with overseeing the implementation of electioneering process of any country. The formal names of election commissions vary from jurisdiction to jurisdiction, and may be styled an electoral commission, a c ...

and under the provisions of the

Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000 The Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000 (c. 41) is an Act of Parliament of the United Kingdom that sets out how political parties, elections and referendums are to be regulated in the United Kingdom. It formed an important par ...

, the party also registered alternative names for use on ballot papers, including "Scottish Senior Citizens and Pensioners", and "Alliance of Scots Greys". On the same day the SSCUP was launched, the Scottish Pensioners Party was formed in

Fife Fife ( , ; ; ) is a council areas of Scotland, council area and lieutenancy areas of Scotland, lieutenancy area in Scotland. A peninsula, it is bordered by the Firth of Tay to the north, the North Sea to the east, the Firth of Forth to the s ...

. The SSCUP made an electoral pact with this party for the Scottish Parliamentary elections, whereby they did not stand candidates against each other. Former Scottish international footballers

Billy McNeill William McNeill (2 March 1940 – 22 April 2019) was a Scottish association football, football player and manager (association football), manager. He had a long association with Celtic F.C., Celtic, spanning more than sixty years as a player, m ...

, who played for

Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language *Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Foot ...

and Eric Caldow, who played for Rangers, both stood for the SSCUP in these elections. John Swinburne was the SSCUP's sole representative in the Scottish Parliament, representing Central Scotland from 2003 until 2007.

Party aims and elections

The party listed nine key aims on its website:Aims and Manifesto
sscup.org # An index-linked basic weekly

state pension A pension (; ) is a fund into which amounts are paid regularly during an individual's working career, and from which periodic payments are made to support the person's retirement from work. A pension may be either a "defined benefit plan", wher ...

of £160 for all

senior citizens Old age is the range of ages for people nearing and surpassing life expectancy. People who are of old age are also referred to as: old people, elderly, elders, senior citizens, seniors or older adults. Old age is not a definite biological sta ...

# Remove all senior citizens from

poverty Poverty is a state or condition in which an individual lacks the financial resources and essentials for a basic standard of living. Poverty can have diverse Biophysical environmen ...

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 ...

# Abolition of

means-testing A means test is a determination of whether an individual or family is eligible for government benefits, assistance or welfare, based upon whether the individual or family possesses the means to do with less or none of that help. Means testing is i ...

for senior citizens # Replace council tax with a fairer system based on ability to pay #

Local authorities Local government is a generic term for the lowest tiers of governance or public administration within a particular sovereign state. Local governments typically constitute a subdivision of a higher-level political or administrative unit, such a ...

to set up more residential homes for senior citizens # Free nationwide travel for all senior citizens - outside peak travelling times # 50% reduction in

television licence A television licence or broadcast receiving licence is a payment required in many countries for the reception of television broadcasts or the possession of a television set. In some countries, a licence is also required to own a radio or rece ...

s for senior citizens aged 60 to 75 # 50% reduction in vehicle excise duty for all senior citizens # Establish a Scottish Lottery, with all profits going back into the community In the 2007 Scottish Election the SSCUP lost its only seat in Holyrood, despite polling as the sixth best party and a slight increase in its vote share. However, that was possibly due to the party putting up more candidates. In 2011 their vote decreased, but they still remained the sixth placed party. The party was de-registered in 2015.

References

{{Defunct political parties in Scotland Political parties established in 2003 Political parties disestablished in 2015 Pensioners' parties Defunct political parties in Scotland 2003 establishments in Scotland 2015 disestablishments in Scotland