Twenty-five years of the Scottish Parliament - Edinburgh University Press Blog

By David McCrone

A large, open hall with rows of curved seating facing a stage. Most of the room is constructed from wood and glass. — The debating chamber of the Scottish Parliament Building

Who’d be a politician these days, still less a member of a governing party? According to the British Social Attitudes survey in 2011, only 1 person in 7 in Britain trusted Parliament at Westminster ‘a great deal or quite a lot’, and as many as half ‘not very much’ or ‘not at all’. In 2022, when asked ‘do you trust British governments in general?’, only 12% of the British public did so. Nowadays more than two in three people said they distrusted political parties, which were the least trusted of any UK public institution. The British Social Attitudes survey for 2024 reported that 45% of respondents trusted British governments ‘almost never’, the lowest figure ever recorded in BSA surveys.

It’s not just the Brits. Pew Research in USA observed that: ‘As of April 2024, 22% of Americans say they trust the government in Washington to do what is right “just about always” (2%) or “most of the time” (21%). Last year, 16% said they trusted the government just about always or most of the time, which was among the lowest measures in nearly seven decades of polling’.

Given that the Scottish Parliament is devolved, with limited powers, we might expect its public standing to be similarly low, or even lower. It is, after all, a secondary institution in terms of its powers, to the legal creature of Westminster. We’ve had 25 years of devolution. In 1999 hopes were high: nearly 4 out of 5 people expected the Parliament to be responsive to the people of Scotland; 70% expected it to give Scotland a stronger voice in the UK, and 60% in the EU. Back in the day – 1999 – Brown, McCrone and Paterson in The Scottish Electorate found that ‘there are strong expectations that the Parliament will enhance the quality of Scottish democracy, its democratic responsiveness will be judged primarily by the policies it pursues’.

What do we think of it so far?

So how has a devolved Scottish Parliament worked out, 25 years on? First of all, despite ups and downs, look at which institution, Scottish or British, people in Scotland think ought to have most power:

Line graph showing the percentage of voters who think different groups ought to have the most power in Scotland, with data from 1999 to 2023. The Scottish Government is consistently higher than the other groups. — *Figure 1: Who **ought to have** most influence over how Scotland is run, 1999-2023*
Key: SG – Scottish Executive/Government; UKG – UK Government; LA – local authority; EU – European Union

There is overwhelming and consistent support for the view that Scottish government should have most influence, and there has been a narrowing of gap from around 2010 between ‘has’ and ‘ought to have’ most influence. Scottish government has had a significant increase in influence rising from just over 10% in 2000, to over 40% in 2023.

Parliament and the People

Three measures provide an assessment of the devolved Scottish Parliament and its governments throughout the lifetime of the parliaments since 1999.

Having a say

Does the Scottish Parliament give ordinary people more or less say over how Scotland is governed?

Line graph showing the percentage of voters who think the Scottish Parliament gives people more say, less say and no difference over how Scotland is governed, with data from 1999 to 2023. The highest percentage of voters say either more say or no difference. — *Figure 2: Scottish Parliament gives ordinary people a say in how Scotland is governed, 1999-2023*

How good would you say the Scottish Government is at listening to people’s views before taking decisions?

Line graph showing the percentage of voters who think the Scottish Government vs the UK Government are very/quite good at listening to people's views, with data from 2004 to 2023. The Scottish Goverment received a higher percentage of votes. — *Figure 3: Good at listening, Scottish and UK governments, 2004-2023*
Key: SG – Scottish Executive/Government; UKG – UK Government

The differences are clear: Scottish governments get a consistently better rating than UK governments in terms of being good at listening to people, even when, as in later years, the trendlines are downward in both cases.

Trust

We can also compare Scottish and UK governments in terms of ‘trust’:

A Parliament of our Own

Summing up how people in Scotland judge their parliament after 25 years: not at all bad, and much better than Westminster. That may be a low bar, but it is a significant one, at a time when parliamentary democracy everywhere is undergoing an existential crisis. It is also a view which holds no matter which party is in (Scottish) government; and only the Conservatives have never been.

What lies behind this consistency to bestow credit on Scottish government even where it is undue? Because, for good or for ill, the parliament is ‘ours’. Regaining a parliament in 1999, it seems, allows for a modest degree of approval.

At a time when politics and governments have a very hard time – and Scottish government is no exception – there is something much more fundamental going on. The Scottish Parliament is underpinned by notions of ‘sovereignty’, the belief that people in Scotland have the right to decide for themselves how they wish to be governed. This doesn’t mean that they necessarily want ‘independence’ here and now – the times may not be right. It does mean that governing through choppy waters and when politics is a rough trade, people in Scotland invest their trust in the institution. We might find that unusual, even remarkable.

When all is said and done, ‘a parliament o’ oor ain’, as Walter Scott’s character Mrs Howden observed in his novel Heart of Midlothian, has much to recommend it:

“I dinna ken muckle about the law,” answered Mrs. Howden; “but I ken, when we had a king, and a chancellor, and parliament men o’ our ain, we could aye peeble them wi’ stanes when they werena gude bairns—But naebody’s nails can reach the length o’ Lunnon.”

Featured image credit: Scottish Parliament Communications Office; kind thanks to Andrew Cowan. Graph data: Scottish Government (2024), Scottish Social Attitudes Survey 2023: Attitudes to government, the economy, and the health service, Scottish Government: Official Statistics in Development.

Read the full article, ‘What Do We Think of it So Far? Twenty-Five Years of Devolution’, in the latest issue of Scottish Affairs

About the Journal

Scottish Affairs is Scotland’s longest running journal on contemporary political and social issues and is widely considered the leading forum for debate on Scottish current affairs. Articles provide thorough analysis and debate of Scottish politics, policy and society, and is essential reading for those who are interested in the development of Scotland.

About the Author

David McCrone is a sociologist at the University of Edinburgh. His latest book, Changing Scotland: Society, Politics and Identity, will be published by Edinburgh University Press in 2025. This blog is based on his article ‘What do we think of it so far? Twenty-five years of devolution’, Scottish Affairs, 34(1) 2025, 14-36.