Scottish Parliament Elections

Part of the debate – in the Scottish Parliament at on 3 March 2011.

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Photo of Pauline McNeill Pauline McNeill Labour

The Scotland Act 1998 was the end result of years of campaigning and consultation on a devolved Parliament for Scotland. It represented an opportunity to style a different way of conducting and electing a Parliament, and to adopt a different system and approach from Westminster. That was to be achieved through a new voting system, the adoption of a committee system that was to be central to our Parliament’s openness and accountability, and the use of a four-year fixed-term system.

The UK coalition could have adopted a four-year fixed-term system for the UK Parliament instead of the five-year system, but it did not. The coalition’s political agenda and its harmful cuts and tax rises will be tested at the next general election. The UK Government opted for a longer fixed-term session immediately, despite the resulting clash with elections to the devolved Parliaments of Scotland and Wales.

It all began last summer when the Secretary of State for Scotland, Michael Moore, wrote to our Presiding Officer to consult on our Parliament having the power to move the Scottish Parliament election six months on either side of the fixed date in May 2015. That could have meant a three-and-a-half-year parliamentary session, but it would not be credible for a new Government to take forward its programme in three and a half years. It could also have meant a four-and-a-half-year session and a winter Scottish Parliament election six months after a general election, when the electorate would, arguably, be suffering from voter fatigue. The parties that contested such an election would be stretched and at a disadvantage in communicating their message to the electorate so soon after a general election.

It is argued that a clash could have happened anyway—it may have, although I do not believe that that was that likely—but that does not justify Westminster’s decision to cause a clash in 2015. We would rather not be in this position. We would prefer the UK Government to have respected our established four-year fixed terms and worked around that.

The lessons of the 2007 election, which were the subject of the Gould report that Jim Mather talked about, tell us that the use of two types of voting systems in elections that are held on the same day can lead to problems. We cannot ignore the principle of the Gould recommendations so soon after the chaos that ensued in that election. We owe it to voters to make that our primary concern. That is not the only reason for avoiding a clash, but it is a key consideration. It is not only that voters would have to deal with voting in two parliamentary elections on the same day; there would be many practical disadvantages.

There would be two high-profile campaigns; arguably, Westminster would dominate the airwaves, although it could be the other way around. It could cause confusion for voters when they watched the health debate being conducted around England and Wales in the national news, as we have a clearly distinct national health service in Scotland that is not accountable to Westminster. It is not a key factor, but political parties would have to split their resources in two big election campaigns. Those resources are necessary for parties to get their message across to the electorate.

Given the establishment and use of television debates in recent years, it would be hard to strike a balance between two large elections, to ensure that there was fair coverage—leaving aside the arguments that we have had in the past about fair time for additional parties. We do not want to put to the electorate on the key date a crowded agenda that involves the additional member system, with constituency and list candidates, alongside a first-past-the-post system or, depending on the result of the forthcoming referendum, a new alternative vote system.

With two elections on the same day, election communication would be unbelievable for the voter. I am sure that those who are already campaigning are getting grumblings from voters about the amount of communication that they get for one election, which would be doubled if we held both elections on the same day. Political coverage, which is important for voters, would also be more complex.

We are voting today to avoid a clash in 2015. People must be able to hold both Parliaments to account for what they do. The best way of doing that in the UK and Scottish elections, in the interests of democracy and accountability, is not to hold the elections on the same day. For that reason, the Parliament has no real choice but to vote today to give the electorate a clear choice. The next Parliament and Government should serve for five years to avoid a clash. As Jim Mather said, it is essential that—whoever is in charge—there is full consultation with the electorate, to allow them to have their say on whether there should be a permanent move to avoid such a clash in the future.