Unionist Party (Scotland)
The Unionist Party was the main centre-right political party in Scotland between 1912 and 1965.[1]
This article is about the historical party. For the unrelated modern party, see Scottish Unionist Party (1986).
Independent of, although associated with, the Conservative Party in England and Wales, it stood for election at different periods of its history in alliance with a small number of Liberal Unionist and National Liberal candidates. Those who became members of parliament (MPs) would take the Conservative Whip at Westminster as the Ulster Unionists did until 1972. At Westminster, the differences between the Scottish Unionist and the English party could appear blurred or non-existent to the external casual observer, especially as many Scottish MPs were prominent in the parliamentary Conservative Party. Examples include party leaders Bonar Law (1911–1921 and 1922–1923) and Sir Alec Douglas-Home (1963–1965), both of whom served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.
The party traditionally did not stand at local government level but instead supported and assisted the Progressive Party in its campaigns against the Labour Party. This relationship ended when the Conservatives started fielding their own candidates, who stood against both Labour and the Progressives.
Origins[edit]
The origins of the Scottish Unionist Party lie in the 1886 split of the Liberal Party and the emergence of the Liberal Unionists under Joseph Chamberlain. The Union in question was the 1800 Irish Union, not the Scottish Union of 1707. Before this, the Tory party in Scotland had never achieved parity with the dominant Whig and Scottish Liberal ascendancy since the election reforms of 1832. The Liberal Unionists quickly agreed to an electoral pact with the Tories, and in Scotland this overcame the former electoral dominance of the Scottish Liberals.
After the 1912 merger of Liberal Unionists and Conservatives as the Conservative and Unionist Party, the Scottish Unionist Party effectively acted as the Conservative Party in Scotland, although some candidates still stood on a Liberal Unionist ticket because of the latent appeal of the word "Liberal" in Scotland.
Merger with the Conservative Party[edit]
Following electoral defeat when the Party lost six seats in Scotland at the 1964 United Kingdom general election, reforms in 1965 brought an end to the Scottish Unionist Party as an independent force.[5]: 180 It was renamed "Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party" that constitutionally then came under the control of the mainstream UK party. These, and further reforms in 1977, saw the Scottish Conservatives transformed into a regional unit, with its personnel, finances, and political offices under the control of the party leadership in London.
Consequences of merger[edit]
As the British Empire came to an end, so too did the primacy of Protestant associations, as secularism and ecumenism rose. The decline of strictly Protestant associations, and the loss of its Protestant working-class base, spelled the erosion of the Unionist vote. Though many Conservatives would still identify with the Kirk, most members of the established Church of Scotland did not identify themselves as Conservatives.
With the Daily Record newspaper switching from endorsing the Unionists to the Labour Party,[5]: 180 the Conservative Party in the 1960s was mercilessly portrayed as a party of the Anglicised aristocracy. Combined with the new name, this helped turn previous Unionist voters to the Labour Party and the SNP, which advanced considerably at the two general elections of February and October 1974.
The relations between the Scottish Conservatives with the largely working-class Orange Order also became problematic because of the perceived aristocratic connection of the former, but it was The Troubles in Northern Ireland that created more concrete problems. On one level, there was the residual perception of a connection that many mainstream Protestant voters associated with the sectarian violence in Northern Ireland – a perception that is unfair to a large extent since the Scottish Orange Order has dealt more stringently with members associating with Loyalist paramilitaries than its Northern Irish equivalent. However, the ramifications of this perception also led to the Scottish Conservative Party downplaying and ignoring past associations, which further widened the gap with the Orange Order. Any links that lingered were ultimately broken when Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher signed the Anglo-Irish Agreement. This event witnessed Orange Lodges (amongst other supporters) setting up their own Scottish Unionist Party.