Scottish Voice (provisionally named the Scottish Democrats) was a

Scottish Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including: *Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland *Scottish English *Scottish national identity, the Scottish ide ...

centre-right Centre-right politics lean to the right of the political spectrum, but are closer to the centre. From the 1780s to the 1880s, there was a shift in the Western world of social class structure and the economy, moving away from the nobility and m ...

political party A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular country's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific political ideology ...

, launched in February 2007 by Archie Stirling, a wealthy businessman and landowner. The party headquarters were at Craigarnhall, by the town of

Bridge of Allan Bridge of Allan ( sco, Brig Allan, gd, Drochaid Ailein), also known colloquially as ''Bofa'', is a town in the Stirling council area in Scotland, just north of the city of Stirling. Overlooked by the National Wallace Monument, it lies on the ...

, in the historical parish of

Lecropt Lecropt (''Leac Croit'' in Gaelic) is a rural parish lying to the west of Bridge of Allan, Scotland. The population of the parish of Lecropt is estimated to be around 75, consisting entirely of isolated farms and houses, as well as the Keir Estat ...

. Although Stirling personally is a Unionist, in a statement he said "The position of Scotland within the union is not central to this movement." Many of the new party's supporters were formerly in the

Scottish Conservatives The Scottish Conservative & Unionist Party ( gd, Pàrtaidh Tòraidheach na h-Alba, sco, Scots Tory an Unionist Pairty), often known simply as the Scottish Conservatives and colloquially as the Scottish Tories, is a centre-right political par ...

, but have found themselves in disagreement with it, particularly after its massive decline in

Scottish politics The politics of Scotland operate within the constitution of the United Kingdom, of which Scotland is a home nation. Scotland is a democracy, being represented in both the Scottish Parliament and the Parliament of the United Kingdom since the Sc ...

in the 1980s and 1990s. At the beginning of April ''

The Scotsman ''The Scotsman'' is a Scottish compact newspaper and daily news website headquartered in Edinburgh. First established as a radical political paper in 1817, it began daily publication in 1855 and remained a broadsheet until August 2004. Its pa ...

'' website reported an opinion poll which suggested 21 per cent of voters could cast their regional vote for Scottish Voice. If this support had held until the Scottish Parliament election in May they could have secured a

regional list The Scottish Parliament ( Holyrood), created by the Scotland Act 1998, has used a system of constituencies and electoral regions since the first general election in 1999. The parliament has 73 constituencies, each electing one Member of th ...

seat. Other news suggested that the Scottish Voice campaign was failing despite importing

election agent An election agent in elections in the United Kingdom, as well as some other similar political systems such as elections in India, is the person legally responsible for the conduct of a candidate's political campaign and to whom election material ...

s from

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tota ...

to support it. Polling information published on the eve of the election by ''The Scotsman'' suggested there was considerably less support for Scottish Voice than the earlier quoted opinion poll. No minor parties, other than the

Scottish Green Party The Scottish Greens (also known as the Scottish Green Party; gd, Pàrtaidh Uaine na h-Alba ; sco, Scots Green Pairtie) are a green political party in Scotland. The party has seven MSPs in the Scottish Parliament as of May 2021. As of the 202 ...

were returned in the election, and Scottish Voice failed to win any seats. Scottish Voice received a total of 8,782 votes across the whole of Scotland and this resulted in no Scottish Voice MSPs being elected.

reported on 31 August 2007 that figures published by the

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 ...

revealed Scottish Voice spent £184,920 on its campaign for the Scottish elections that year. This is equivalent of £21.06 for every vote. This made it the most expensive party per vote generated. In April 2012, Stirling announced that he was winding-up the party.

References

External links

Official websiteParty details
from the

website {{Defunct political parties in Scotland Political parties established in 2007 2007 in Scotland 2007 establishments in Scotland Conservative parties in the United Kingdom Defunct political parties in Scotland Lecropt