Scotland

D

Local Government

For the purposes of local government, Scotland is divided into 32 unitary authorities. Each of the unitary authorities is administered by an elected council.

E

Political Parties

For most of the 20th century the major political parties in Scotland were the mainstream British parties, the Conservative Party, the Labour Party, and the Liberal Party. In the 1950s the Conservative Party was the most influential in Scotland, gaining more than 50 percent of the vote in the 1955 general election. However, by 1964 the factors that had traditionally tied Scottish voters to the Conservative Party—support for the British Empire, industrial prosperity, and Protestantism—had become less important for many voters. At that time the Labour Party became the largest political party in Scotland.

During the late 1960s and early 1970s the Scottish National Party (SNP), founded in 1934 to press for Scottish independence, gained political momentum. By the 1970s the SNP had attained sufficient influence to encourage both Labour and Conservative leaders to discuss the possibility of greater Scottish autonomy, or home rule. In the 1980s and 1990s support for the Conservative Party fell dramatically in Scotland. Policies of the Conservative-led national government, including privatization of coalmines and other state-owned industries, proved especially unpopular in Scotland, and many Scots began to support the SNP. By the late 1990s the SNP had become Scotland’s second most popular party, and in 2007 it narrowly defeated the Labour Party in parliamentary elections. The SNP leader became Scotland’s first minister.

V

Economy

Many aspects of the economy of Scotland are covered in the article on the United Kingdom. The Scottish economy changed dramatically during the second half of the 20th century, with services—including banking, retailing, public administration, and tourism—emerging as the leading economic sector. Today, services contribute 66 percent of Scotland’s gross domestic product (GDP). Industry, particularly manufacturing, remains an important part of the Scottish economy, contributing 32 percent of GDP. Agriculture, including forestry and fishing, contributes just 2 percent of GDP.

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The chief exports of Scotland are petroleum and natural gas and manufactured goods, including microelectronics, textiles, and whiskey. The chief imports are food and iron. The center of Scottish trade unionism is the Scottish Trades Union Congress, which in 1996 had an affiliated membership of approximately 670,000.

A

Agriculture

More than three-fourths of land in Scotland is used for agriculture, with approximately equal areas devoted to farming and grazing. The most important crops are wheat, oats, and potatoes. Other crops include barley, turnips, and fruit. Livestock and livestock products are also of major importance. Sheep are raised in both the Highlands and island groups and the Southern Uplands. Scotland is also known for its beef and dairy cattle and for its dairy products.

B

Forestry and Fishing

About 607,000 hectares (about 1.5 million acres) of Scotland is forested, the majority of which is publicly owned. In Scotland fishing is economically more important than forestry. The principal fishing ports are Aberdeen, Peterhead, Fraserburgh, and Lerwick. The catch consists mainly of whitefish, herring, crab, and lobster. In recent years, overfishing in the North Sea, particularly of herring, has led the European Union (EU) to impose restrictions on the total tonnage of catch that can be landed. As a result, the Scottish fishing industry has undergone a significant reduction in employment and value of exports. At the same time, however, the commercial farming of fish—especially of salmon—has expanded.

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