The Shetland Movement was a pressure group and political party created in 1978 to advocate for greater autonomy in

Shetland Shetland, also called the Shetland Islands and formerly Zetland, is a subarctic archipelago in Scotland lying between Orkney, the Faroe Islands and Norway. It is the northernmost region of the United Kingdom. The islands lie about to the ...

. The group called for the creation of a Shetland Assembly or 'Althing' with limited legislative powers and control over direct taxation. The Movement's membership included several key public figures in Shetland, including local author, politician and compiler of the ''Shetland Dictionary'', John Graham and Shetland Islands Council Convener from 1986 to 1994, Edward Thomason.

History

The Shetland Movement did not begin as a political party. In the

1982 Shetland Islands Council election An election to Shetland Islands Council was held on 6 May 1982 as part of the 1982 Scottish regional elections and yielded a swing to candidates supportive of Home Rule for the islands. Whilst no candidates appeared on the ballot as members of the ...

the movement promoted candidates supportive of autonomy for Shetland, who won a majority of council seats. In the 1986 council election the Shetland Movement nominated candidates for the first time, winning 13.7% of the vote and five seats. The Shetland Movement decided to contest the 1987 general election for the

Orkney and Shetland constituency Orkney and Shetland is a United Kingdom constituencies, constituency of the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), Member of Parlia ...

, running John Goodlad as a joint candidate with Orcadian autonomists under the party label 'Orkney and Shetland Movement.' 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 ...

agreed to stand aside in favour of Goodlad, who won 14.5% of the vote. It took part in the 1989 Scottish Constitutional Convention that developed a framework for the eventual

Scottish devolution Devolution is the process in which the central British parliament grants administrative powers (excluding principally reserved matters) to the devolved Scottish Parliament. Prior to the advent of devolution, some had argued for a Scottish Pa ...

in 1999. In the 1990 council election the Shetland Movement increased its representation to six seats, a level it maintained in 1994. However this marked the high point of the movement's electoral success. After 1994 the group dissolved, never contesting another local or general election. In 2015 a cross party movement, Wir Shetland was created to campaign for greater self-government for the islands, comparing itself to the Shetland Movement.

Electoral performance

UK general elections ( Orkney and Shetland)

Shetland Islands Council elections

References

Politics of Shetland Defunct political parties in Scotland 1978 establishments in Scotland Political parties established in 1978 Political parties with year of disestablishment missing Regionalist parties in the United Kingdom {{Shetland-stub