Scottish Party

2023-09-10T06:12:42Z

83.35.70.248:

{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2017}}
{{Use British English|date=May 2017}}
{{Infobox political party
| country = Scotland
| name = Scottish (Self-Government) Party
| colorcode = #99CCFF
| logo =
| chairman = [[James Graham, 6th Duke of Montrose]]
| leader = [[John Kevan McDowall]]
| foundation = November 1932
| dissolution = 7 April 1934
| ideology = [[Scottish nationalism]]<br />[[Scottish independence]]<br />[[Imperial Federation|Imperial federalism]]
| position = [[Centre-right politics|Centre-right]]
| membership = <1,000
| international =
| european =
| europarl =
| split = [[Unionist Party (Scotland)|Unionist Party]]
| colours =
| headquarters =
| merged = [[Scottish National Party]]
}}
The '''Scottish (Self-Government) Party''' was a [[Scottish nationalism|Scottish nationalist]] [[political party]] formed in 1932 by a group of members of the [[Unionist Party (Scotland)|Unionist Party]] who favoured the establishment of a [[Dominion]] [[Scottish Parliament]] within the [[British Empire]]. The Scottish Party differed from the existing [[National Party of Scotland]] (NPS) on the grounds that the NPS and the form of [[Scottish independence]] it advocated was ambiguous about the Empire, and they also disagreed with the [[Centre-left|left-of-centre]] platform of the NPS.

==Origins==
The Scottish Party emerged in November 1932 as a breakaway from the [[Glasgow Cathcart (UK Parliament constituency)|Cathcart]] [[Unionist Party (Scotland)|Unionist]] Association in [[Glasgow]]. In June that same year, members of the Association had set up an 'Imperial Committee', which was a pro-[[History of Scottish devolution|Scottish Home Rule]] front. The committee arranged meetings, made statements in support of Home Rule, and produced a manifesto which proposed replacing the Westminster Parliament with an Imperial Parliament, containing representatives from the British Empire, and establishing [[dominion]] Parliaments for Scotland, [[England]], and Wales. This provoked outrage amongst the leadership of the Unionist Party, who were opposed to the establishment of a Scottish Parliament.<ref name="Kempr">{{cite book|author=Arnold Kemp|title=The Hollow Drum: Scotland since the war|year=1993|publisher= Mainstream|page=50}}</ref>

[[John Kevan McDowall]], a Glasgow [[solicitor]] and the chairman of the committee, was accused by the Glasgow Unionist Association of disloyalty and unconstitutional practices. McDowall, [[Andrew Dewar Gibb]], and around thirty other pro-Home Rule rebels resigned from the Unionist Party and founded the Scottish Party.<ref name="Mitchell">{{cite book|author=James Mitchell|title=The Scottish Question|year=2014|publisher= Oxford University Press|page=93}}</ref><ref name="Kempr"/>

==Activities==
McDowall and Gibb were able to enlist the support of [[James Graham, 6th Duke of Montrose]] (who became the party's chairman) and [[Alexander MacEwen|Sir Alexander MacEwen]], both champions of moderate Home Rule. Broadly, the Scottish Party consisted mainly of [[Unionist Party (Scotland)|Unionist]] and [[Liberal Party (UK)|Liberal]] elements (a mixture of [[laird]]s, [[Provost (civil)|provost]]s and business people).<ref name="Kempr"/> The party also included some distinguished figures in Scottish public life, such as [[John Bannerman, Baron Bannerman of Kildonan|John Bannerman]], Sir Henry Keith and Sir Daniel Stevenson. The Scottish Party functioned more as a [[think tank]] than as an active political party. Its membership was less than 1,000,<ref name="Mitchell"/> and it fielded one candidate, MacEwen, only in the [[1933 Kilmarnock by-election]]. He was backed by the [[National Party of Scotland]] (NPS) but came fourth with 6,098 votes.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=c6JAAAAAIBAJ&sjid=i6UMAAAAIBAJ&pg=5777%2C447721 |title=Kilmarnock By-election Result. National Government Success. Mr Lindsay's majority over Labour candidate. Scottish National Champion Last |work=[[The Glasgow Herald]] |date=3 November 1933 |page=11}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.scotsman.com/news/opinion/letters/focus-plus-ca-change-snp-and-rest-us-2467126 |title=Focus: Plus ça change… for SNP and the rest of us |work=The Scotsman |date=6 April 2009}}</ref>

==Merger==
By 1933 the Scottish Party had received overtures from [[John MacCormick]], secretary of the NPS, who sought to negotiate a merger between the two parties in order to unify these two elements of the Scottish independence movement. Gibb was especially enthusiastic about the merger, but it was met with scepticism from McDowell. In 1934 the NPS and Scottish Party merged to form the [[Scottish National Party]].<ref>{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=eKRAAAAAIBAJ&sjid=j6UMAAAAIBAJ&pg=2659%2C4639120 |title=Scottish Nationalists to Unite |work=[[The Glasgow Herald]] |date=1 February 1934 |page=8 |accessdate=25 April 2017}}</ref>

==References==
{{reflist|colwidth=30em}}

==Further reading==
* Brand, Jack, ''The National Movement in Scotland'', Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1978
* Hanham, H.J., ''Scottish Nationalism'', [[Harvard University Press]], 1969
* [[Christopher Harvie]], ''Scotland and Nationalism: Scottish Society and Politics 1707 to the Present'', Routledge (4th edition), 2004
* Kemp, Arnold, ''The Hollow Drum: Scotland since the war'', Mainstream, 1993
* Lynch, Peter, ''SNP: The History of the Scottish National Party'', Welsh Academic Press, 2002
* Mitchell, James, ''The Scottish Question'', [[Oxford University Press]], 2014

{{Defunct political parties in Scotland}}
{{Scottish National Party}}

[[Category:Defunct political parties in Scotland]]
[[Category:Political parties established in 1932]]
[[Category:Political parties disestablished in 1934]]
[[Category:Scottish National Party]]
[[Category:Scottish nationalist parties]]
[[Category:1932 establishments in Scotland]]
[[Category:1934 disestablishments in Scotland]]

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Scottish Party