Scottish Liberals, Scottish Nationalists and Dreams of a Common Front Sometimes allies, sometimes enemies: Graham Watson MEP analyses the history of relations between Scottish Liberals and Scottish Nationalists.
From the passing of the Great Reform Act in As so often in history, however, the need did not call forth its own fulfilment; the Liberal Party to the end of Victoria’s reign, the Liberals won every went into decline and those opposed to Lon- general election in Scotland. While there was often don rule were divided on issues ranging from a Tory majority, in Scotland the Liberals’ nadir (in pacifism to social reform, many of which seemed more pressing after the Great War than the me- ) was a majority of nine seats over the Tories; chanics of governing Scotland. in November the Liberal Party won no fewer In the s the Liberal Party split, and al- than fifty-three of the sixty Scottish constituencies. though Herbert Samuel reiterated the commit- ment of mainstream Liberals to Scottish Every Liberal government of the period relied on self-government, the party was by now pow- Scottish Liberals. erless to put its policies into effect. The cause of home rule was destined, between the wars, Scottish Liberals demanded and achieved to rely on the energies of a few outstanding recompense in the devolution of government, individuals – John McCormick, Eric Linklater, with major pieces of reforming legislation in- Roland Muirhead, Sir Alexander MacEwen cluding the creation, in , of the post of and others – as Unionist coherence triumphed Secretary for Scotland, and the establishment over Liberal disorder. ten years later of the Scottish Grand Commit- After the second world war, home rule was tee. The concern of many Liberals, that Scot- briefly back on the agenda. In April , Dr land had been betrayed in the Union of the Robert Mclntyre won an important byelection parliaments, was assuaged as definite steps were victory in Motherwell in a straight fight against taken towards Scottish self-government within Labour, becoming the first modern ‘Scottish the Union. National’ MP. In February John To add impetus to the process the Scottish McCormick stood as a ‘National’ candidate in Home Rule Association was formed in , a byelection in Paisley, again in a straight fight and the break-away of the Liberal Unionists with Labour, and was a close runner-up. In over Irish home rule shortly thereafter left the , two million Scots put their signatures to field clear for the Liberal home rulers. With the Covenant organised by the Scottish Con- the new century they founded the Young Scots vention. Despite these events, however, Society, whose principal aim was to work to- self-government was hardly an issue at the gen- wards self-government. In June , some eral elections of and . Social reform twenty Liberal MPs established the Scottish and the welfare state were the orders of the Nationalist Committee and historians have ar- day. Liberal energies were committed to see- gued that, had it not been for the outbreak of ing through the Beveridge reforms, which were the first world war, logic would have forced being implemented badly by the Labour gov- the Liberal government to follow Irish home ernment, and to ensuring the survival of a Lib- rule with similar provisions for Scotland. eral Party whose decline seemed terminal.
journal of liberal democrat history 22: spring 1999 3 to forge pacts with other parties to and almost topple the Unionist can- Jo Grimond and advance the cause of home rule didate from second into third place. cooperative politics Grimond’s thesis was that al- Derek Michael Henderson though the Liberal Party had lost Starforth-Jones, a tertiary education It was not until the surprising Lib- much of its former glory, Liberals adviser of colourful hue who trav- eral revival of the early s that could expand their influence elled according to whim under dif- home rule began once more to fire through seeking cooperation wher- ferent combinations of his name, was the imagination of the political class. ever possible with those of like mind. despatched as one of the Liberal rep- Many Liberals saw in Jo Grimond, This could mean working together resentatives to the cross-party Scot- whose maiden speech in had with different parties on different is- tish National Congress. Though the majored on self-government for sues. At Westminster he sought a rea- SNP did not formally join the Con- Scotland, and who assumed the lead- lignment of the left to put an end gress, some of its members attended; ership of the Liberal Party in , to thirteen years of Tory misrule. In and Starforth began talking with a Westminster leader willing to Scotland, his supporters argued, he them about the idea of a possible champion Scotland’s interests. They sought cooperation between all Liberal–Nationalist pact. The believed that however wide the dif- those in favour of self-government byelections in Paisley and Woodside ference between the home rule ad- to complete the process of devolu- had shown each party’s potential; if vocated by the Liberals and the com- tion begun by Gladstone and they had competed on the same plete independence of the emerging Rosebery. ground such a strong showing would SNP, it was narrower than the gulf The general election restored have eluded them. Did this not mili- between two large unionist parties some Liberal confidence after the dis- tate in favour of a formal agreement? on the one hand and two small appointment of the three general elec- That idea was subsequently to re- self-government parties on the other. tions since . The Liberal vote had main prominent on both parties’ Elected as Rector of Edinburgh started to creep back up and a agendas for more than a decade. University in , Grimond in- byelection in North Edinburgh the The death of John Taylor MP spired in a generation of younger following year showed a gratifying caused a byelection in West Lothian politicians the idea that cross-party % support for the party. But it was in June . An Edinburgh Univer- cooperation was the key to achiev- the Paisley byelection in April , sity law graduate and promising ing their aims. before Orpington was even heard of, young Liberal called David Steel Little has yet been written about which set the Liberal heather alight. (soon to become Assistant General the way Grimond’s proposals for a Paisley had traditionally been a Lib- Secretary of the Scottish Liberal Liberal–SNP pact were continually eral stronghold and John Bannerman, Party) called a meeting at St. Michael’s to resurface in non-unionist politics the Scottish rugby international, can- manse in Linlithgow which decided until the s. Now, with the ad- vassed on a home rule platform ‘like a to invite William Wolfe, a local char- vent of a Scottish parliament and the thing possessed’. He polled % of the tered accountant and outspoken likelihood of Grimond’s successors vote, rocking (like John McCormick home ruler, to stand as the Liberal in the Scottish Liberal Democrats in the previous Paisley byelection in candidate. Mr Wolfe declined; he was being coalition partners of either ) the foundations of a complacent to stand for election, but as the SNP’s Labour or the SNP in the first Scot- Labour establishment. candidate. The Scottish Liberals, una- tish government for years, it In Paisley there had been no ware that Wolfe had joined the SNP seems appropriate to look back at Scottish National candidate, a fact three years earlier, were not a little the history of attempts by Liberals which had undoubtedly helped rally embarrassed. For the first time since the wider non-un- they fielded a candidate of their Gladstone’s governments relied on Scottish Liberal MPs. ionist vote to the own in West Lothian despite having Liberal cause. Seven only a skeleton constituency organi- months later, at a sation. Unsurprisingly, and like many byelection in the Liberals before and since (including Bridgeton division the author), he failed even to save his of Glasgow caused deposit. by the resignation Starforth pursued the idea of of the sitting La- electoral cooperation with a draft bour MP, the ab- pamphlet entitled ‘A Scottish Gov- sence of a Liberal ernment and Parliament’, advocat- candidate helped ing openly a pact between Liberals Scottish National and the SNP. His enthusiasm was not candidate Ian shared by all his fellow Liberals, how- Macdonald poll ever. At a meeting in their Atholl % of the vote Place, Edinburgh headquarters on
4 journal of liberal democrat history 22: spring 1999 June the Scottish Liberals’ executive for contesting a byelection in the December he moved that the two committee refused to publish it. But Labour–Liberal National marginal parties’ office-bearers should meet to they agreed simultaneously not to constituency of Dundee West, a con- negotiate a pact, though he was adopt parliamentary candidates for test in Kinross & West Perthshire out-voted. But on February , the coming general election in with the chance of defeating or at at an extraordinary meeting of the North Aberdeen, Stirling or either least embarrassing the Prime Min- SNP council, Wolfe moved success- of the Perthshire constituencies. The ister of the day was a prospect nei- fully to gain a commitment that the non-unionist opposition should not ther could resist. matter would feature on the agenda be split. Alasdair Duncan-Miller, the son of the party’s next regular council On December the Liberals’ ex- of a former member for East Fife, had meeting on March. ecutive gave ‘sanction, but not ap- previously spoken in favour of the The SNP resolved in March proval’, for talks between their Chair- SNP candidate Arthur Donaldson. to ask the Scottish Liberals whether they would put self-government at the head of their programme and re- Grimond’s thesis was that although the quire all general election candidates to pledge themselves to it and to forc- Liberal Party had lost much of its former ing self government if the two par- glory, Liberals could expand their influence ties between them held a majority of Scottish constituencies. Starforth re- through seeking cooperation wherever sponded warmly, but John possible with those of like mind. Bannerman, quizzed by the press, re- plied that the issue ranked alongside other key priorities and that the Scot- man, John Bannerman and the SNP But Duncan-Miller himself was per- tish Liberals, as part of a wider UK President Dr Robert McIntyre. ceived by the Liberals and by some party, could not contemplate unilat- Meeting a fortnight later at the North Nationalists as the candidate more eral action. Bannerman would not British hotel, the Liberal Party council likely to dent Tory prestige. Ap- allow the SNP to dictate the terms added the rider that ‘there should be proaches were made to the SNP to of cooperation. no appeasement’. But in the light of allow Duncan-Miller a free run, but The Scottish Liberals resolved in the byelection in Glasgow Woodside in vain. And though the Liberal band- April to establish a study group to the previous month, where the Lib- wagon made much noise and investigate measures that could has- erals and the SNP between them had achieved second place for their can- ten the achievement of self-govern- polled almost as many votes as the didate, (‘a gratifying result in difficult ment, ‘not precluding discussion Labour victor, Bannerman was con- circumstances’, as John Bannerman with outside bodies’. That month vinced that talks aiming at a described it), the Tories romped home the Liberals fielded their largest-ever non-aggression pact could prove to victory with more votes than all slate of candidates for the local elec- fruitful. The meeting with McIntyre the other parties combined. tions and prepared for what was by in March identified good will The government decided that Liberal standards a major onslaught on both sides. The two men agreed the time was opportune to elevate at the general election in October. to consider the respective strength of Niall Macpherson to the peerage, Alec Douglas-Home’s return to each party when deciding which seats provoking a byelection in Dumfries the Commons had done little to re- to contest. Though both recognised the following month. The Scottish vive Tory fortunes. A byelection in that without the party discipline Liberals and the SNP again both May in the Lanarkshire seat of which the prospect of government fielded candidates; both lost their Rutherglen, a Tory–Labour mar- can offer, the decision about whether deposits, though their intervention ginal, was to prove unappetising to to field a candidate would rest ulti- almost cost the Conservatives the both Liberals and Nationalists. The mately with the local constituency seat. John Bannerman noted that the Conservatives entrusted Iain Sproat organisations, they nonetheless shared SNP had now lost four deposits in to maintain their narrow majority in the view that the cause of home rule succession, but with little satisfaction; a straight run against Labour. Not for could best be advanced by maximis- he deplored the fact that the lack of the last time, he was to disappoint ing the third-party devolutionist vote. agreement between the two parties them. meant ‘the Scottish vote’ remained The Scottish Liberals entered the ineffective. For the SNP, William election on a platform of fed- Discord Wolfe became similarly convinced eralist fervour. They gained three The balmy days of spring were not that a pact was the way forward. In new MPs – Russell Johnston in In- to last, however, and the autumn a letter to the Scots Independent in verness, Alasdair Mackenzie in Ross brought renewed discord. While nei- November he laid out his stall. & Cromarty and George Mackie in ther party showed much enthusiasm At the SNP’s national council on Caithness & Sutherland – and took journal of liberal democrat history 22: spring 1999 5 Roxburgh, Selkirk & Peebles at a cooperation with the SNP, though fissiparous affair. Party Vice Chair- byelection less than a year later. one or two members dissented. man Russell Johnston MP used a Though these gains owed something speech to a session chaired by to the successful appeal of Liberal Donald Wade to accuse Grimond for plans for rural regeneration, pre- 1967: Nationalist incoherence and lack of self-disci- sented in the Liberal pamphlet ‘A strength grows pline, criticising especially Grimond’s better deal for the Highlands’, their visit to the SNP headquarters in plans for Scottish self-government If Liberal doubts about a pact had Ardmillan Terrace. The stage was set had featured prominently in their grown in the latter half of , the for a battle. In what the Scotsman de- campaign. Even the Daily Record, following year was to produce two scribed as ‘the most lively and not known for its attention to Lib- events which were to strengthen the hackle-raising debate .... in the eral politics, was moved to report on hand of those SNP members op- steaming political cauldron of the the Liberals’ plans in a series of arti- posed to a Nationalist–Liberal agree- Salutation Hotel’, Kennedy and cles on the Liberal revival. ment. Parliamentary byelections in Starforth called for the drawing up In the following general election Pollok (March ) and Hamilton of an electoral pact with the SNP eighteen months later, Scottish Lib- (November) were to change radi- ‘to avoid splitting the self-govern- erals held most of their gains of cally the SNP’s perception of their ment vote and to join in achieving and added to them West Aberdeen, chances of going it alone. a Scottish parliament before Britain’s though they lost Caithness to Labour In Pollok a prominent National- entry into the Common Market’. In (by just sixty-four votes). In none of ist candidate in the shape of George a stormy session, with a number of the five constituencies they now held Leslie, a local folk singer, polled more close votes, the conference narrowly had there been a Nationalist chal- than , votes to the Liberals’ . accepted a compromise amendment lenger. The value of this was clear to The SNP executive met three days put by two of the Scottish Liberal Liberals, and a resolution from Ross later and decided to take no action MPs, Jim Davidson and David Steel, & Cromarty Liberal Association to on electoral pacts; instead they urged rejecting a Liberal approach to the their national council in June , all who wanted a Scottish parliament SNP but inviting them to take the calling again for a formal Liberal– to join the SNP. initiative ‘if they recognised the need SNP pact, was debated at length. A special meeting was called of .... to place the national interests of By September, Scottish Liberal the Scottish Liberals’ executive to Scotland before short-term party in- Chairman George Mackie had re- discuss the Pollok result and the terests’. The SNP reaction was a ceived a letter from his SNP coun- SNP’s move. Once again, Liberals statement from their Chairman, terpart asking for a formal approach favouring an agreement with the Arthur Donaldson, that any ap- from the Liberals. There was division SNP pushed their case: James proaches for cooperation must come in the Liberal camp on the ripeness Davidson MP announced that he from the Liberals. Partisan pride had of the time, but renewed discussions would try another approach to the the upper hand: both sides were on an informal basis were agreed ‘to SNP; Grimond, who had resigned playing hard to get. see what common basis there was for the Westminster leadership of the With Jo Grimond on the back- a joint effort to promote Scottish Liberals, supported him. Broadcaster benches and John Bannerman in the interests’. and prominent Liberal Ludovic House of Lords, Mackie and Clouds were gathering from the Kennedy and his comrade-at-arms Johnston put out a statement the fol- south, however. A joint meeting that Michael Starforth handed round the lowing month to all Liberal constitu- summer between the office-bearers text of a resolution to go to the SLP’s ency organisations outlining the of the Scottish and English Liberal annual conference in May, formally SLP’s opposition to cooperation Parties and Liberal parliamentarians seeking links with the SNP. with the Nationalists. For the Lib- had reached no agreement on The Liberal executive resolved to erals, it seemed that the matter was whether a pact would serve Liberal express its opposition to a pact, how- firmly closed. There were to be no interests; whilst the Liberal Party in ever, defeating the Kennedy- dealings with a party which a young parliament relied on Scotland for al- Starforth proposal by sixteen votes Liberal spokesman had derided in most half its MPs, the vanity induced to two and resolving to release the Perth as ‘a motley collection of fa- by its victories across Britain had figures to the press. The hard-liners, natics, ragamuffins and comic sing- fuelled belief in a nation-wide revival led by George Mackie and Russell ers’. In the SNP, too, the advocates and had drawn some of the fluid from Johnston, appeared to be in the as- of a pact were losing ground. The the Scottish self-government boil. cendant, reasserting their distinctive cause of nationalism in the UK had The following month the SNP Liberal identity. But it was clear the been given a boost by a stunning issued press statements to the effect issue would dominate the Liberals’ victory for Welsh nationalist that it would contest all seventy-one conference agenda. Gwynfor Evans in Carmarthen in Scottish constituencies. In January the The Scottish Liberal Party con- July. The SNP themselves came tan- Liberals’ executive saw no basis for ference in Perth (– May) was a talisingly close to winning a local
6 journal of liberal democrat history 22: spring 1999 council seat in the Ruchill ward of impression that .... we are hostile to Johnston nor George Mackie had Glasgow in a massive swing against self-government itself’. been consulted, and Lord Banner- Labour; they stormed to victory in To g rassroots Liberals in Scotland man’s attack on the Tories earlier that a Stirling county council byelection it was clear that the extent of the day for sending Ted Heath up to pro- in October. Their optimism about SNP’s enthusiasm for complete se- nounce on Scottish problems looked their own success grew. cession from the UK had risen in mighty hollow. ‘It is riot for Mr In the second of the two deci- direct proportion to their promi- Thorpe to say what kind of govern- sive events of , the Hamilton nence. The SNP’s substantial gains in ment we should have,’ stormed SNP byelection in November, the SNP the local elections in May had president Robert Mclntyre in an polled % of the vote, returning given many enthusiastic but inexpe- impeccably targeted reply, ‘it is for Winnie Ewing to parliament in a rienced Nationalists a platform from the Scottish people’. spectacular victory and putting which Liberals were frequently at- Scottish Liberal leaders convened self-government back in the head- tacked. SLP Chairman George a swift emergency meeting with lines. The absence of a Liberal can- Mackie, on the brink of resignation, their UK leader and a statement was didate had been due not to any demanded that the MPs listen to the issued saying: ‘Mr Thorpe offered no agreement between the two parties voices from the constituencies. He pact, which he would not do with- but to the absence of an active Lib- persuaded the Scottish Liberal Par- out the approval of the Scottish Lib- eral Association in the constituency. ty’s executive to state their unani- eral Party ….’ But Jo Grimond seized Ludovic Kennedy went to speak on mous agreement that ‘the gulf be- the opportunity, and two days later Winnie Ewing’s behalf but to do so tween the separatist policy of the used the conference debate on fed- he resigned from the Liberal Party, SNP and the federalist system of eralism to appeal to the people of thus denting any hopes of a joint self-government proposed by the Scotland to unite in a quest for a campaign. SLP shows no prospect of being Scottish democracy, ‘ready to col- Nationalist sentiment in Scotland bridged. The response from the SNP laborate in equal partnership with seemed to be on the up, and on has been completely negative.’ the other nations of Great Britain’. December Jo Grimond broke si- By the summer of the following Appealing to Nationalists and Lib- lence. If hitherto some had doubted year, however, while blacks in erals over the heads of their leaders, the amount of energy Grimond was America and students in Paris were he seemed almost to propose a Scot- prepared to invest in the cause of caught up in a whirlwind of new tish Party with the sole aim of home rule, there doubts were now ideas about how individuals could self-government and to offer him- dissipated. Grimond calculated that take power over their own lives, the self as its leader. Russell Johnston despite the rise of the SNP and the mechanisms of self-empowerment in took the floor to launch a stinging development of a Nationalist theol- Scotland through a home rule pact attack on Grimond, and by thirty ogy, there had been no decline in the were to erupt once again on the Lib- votes the Grimond plan was voted Liberal vote; indeed, the SNP was eral and Nationalist agendas. At a down. The joint conference backed taking votes mainly from Labour. In press briefing during a joint confer- a comprehensive plan for devolution, a speech in Kirkwall, well-reported ence of Scottish and English Liber- but wanted nothing of a Liberal– SNP ‘dream ticket’. Following Ludo Kennedy’s lead There were to be no dealings with a party at Hamilton, Starforth resigned from the Scottish Liberal Party and which a young Liberal spokesman had joined the SNP, and though scat- derided in Perth as ‘a motley collection of tered individuals in both parties made occasional rumblings, talk of fanatics, ragamuffins and comic singers’. a pact again receded. In preparation for the general election of the SNP adopted in the national press, he raised once als in September in Edinburgh, candidates in eight of the most again the banner of common cause Jeremy Thorpe chose as his subject promising Liberal territories. As between Liberals and the SNP. Hard the advocacy of a common front Chris Baur reported in The Scotsman on the heels of his speech came a between the Liberals and National- in November , ‘The Scottish letter to the Scottish Liberal head- ists on limited home rule ‘which Liberals and the Nationalists have quarters from four of the five Scot- could sweep Scotland and Wales at become so entrenched in their offi- tish Liberal MPs arguing that the the next general election and bring cial attitudes towards cooperation party ‘should cease passing resolu- about national parliaments within with each other that .... a pact be- tions or making statements hostile to three or four years’. tween the two parties .... to preserve the Nationalists since it is impossi- Scottish Liberals were more than and enhance the Home Rule vote ble to do this without giving the a little surprised. Neither Russell is an almost hopeless proposition’. journal of liberal democrat history 22: spring 1999 7 from the Scottish Liberal HQ, cooperation developed. ‘and as a matter of courtesy the By the time the election SLP executive will hear what they approached, excitement in both have to say. But in the light of re- camps had all but died. The cinders cent press statements from the were to flicker briefly in January SNP the Liberal executive have , after ten SNP members and not seen any great change in their four Liberals met in Perth, at the ini- attitude.’ The Liberal delegation tiative of SNP Angus candidate was led by Russell Johnston, who Malcolm Slessor and the Liberals’ had already put on record his op- John Russell of Kingussie, reviving position to exchanging his Lib- the proposal for a limited eral birthright for a mess of non-aggression pact. But the plan unsalted secessionist porridge. was thrown out by the SNP’s con- Wolfe and Steel saw two ways ference in May and met a similar fate of bending the post-election cir- at the Scottish Liberal conference At the election the intervention cumstances to the purpose of their later the same month. of an SNP candidate in Ross & common cause. The first was to use Why had the two parties failed, Cromarty almost certainly caused the election results to persuade their over the course of thirty years, to the defeat of the sitting Liberal respective parties to agree on a fist advance the cause of self-govern- member, and in Caithness prevented of constituencies where one party ment, reborn in ? The failure of George Mackie from recapturing the would stand down, easing the task the non-unionist parties to agree a seat from Labour’s Robert of the holder or the best-placed chal- common front certainly prevented Maclennan. The Scottish Liberals lenger to the major parties; the sec- the issue from achieving the sus- refrained from contesting the SNP’s ond would be to seek common can- tained prominence it would have re- best prospect seats, but to little avail: didatures in seats where the com- quired to elicit a government re- the Nationalists gained only one sur- bined vote of the two parties was sponse. Prior to the s, neither prise victory, in the Western Isles, and substantial. Such agreements would party had many candidates and there lost their byelection gain in Hamil- rely heavily, however, on the good were few, if any, constituencies where ton. In two other seats, Banff and will of both parties’ local constitu- both had a local organisation wor- East Aberdeenshire, the combined ency associations; as Steel was to dis- thy of the name. While many in the vote for the Liberal and SNP candi- cover in different circumstances a Liberal Party were seized with the dates was greater than the number decade later, such good will would idea in the late s, enthusiasm for cast for the winner. prove difficult to foster. pluralism within the SNP did not Despite William Wolfe’s insist- come to a head until after the The 1970s ence at the three-hour meeting that general election. But by then the Disillusion within both parties at their poor election performances While both parties were unhappy with the sparked calls for a fresh look at the idea of a pact. The election to the Union, one advocated home rule, the other SNP leadership some months before – increasingly – independence. The former of William Wolfe, an admirer of Grimond’s and an advocate of co- cause held an intellectual attraction, the operation, and the insistence on the latter a more populist appeal. Liberal side of Grimond disciple David Steel, led to an exchange of correspondence between the parties’ the two parties’ views on self-gov- idea had been soured for Liberals by presidents and a meeting to discuss ernment were less far apart than was the SNP’s costly intervention in their the matter in July. But if the matter thought, Johnston and his team po- best constituencies. Moreover, while caused dispute privately among the litely showed the door to the SNP. the SNP could attract votes from the Scottish Liberals, Wolfe could not A joint statement issued after the Scottish Liberals in rural constituen- contain his dissenters. The Nation- meeting reported that: ‘The objec- cies, it was by no means clear that alists were publicly divided on the tions to making electoral pacts were the Liberals appealed to the voters issue and it was an infinitely cautious recognised and the subject was not in urban west central Scotland team of Liberal leaders who con- pursued’; and though scope was among whom the SNP had found fronted their SNP counterparts in foreseen for cooperation at West- fertile ground. Edinburgh. ‘The SNP have asked for minster on Scottish issues, there is In the s, an electoral pact these talks’, read a terse statement precious little evidence that such would have been a logical arrange-
8 journal of liberal democrat history 22: spring 1999 ment between the third and fourth Government on a programme for lines along with the issue of home parties in an essentially two-party national recovery. rule. Though the Scottish Liberals system. But did they share enough Shortly after the October entered the s with the same common ground? While both were election, a split in the Labour Party three MPs as a decade earlier, their unhappy with the Union, one ad- in Scotland put the issue of devo- emerging pact with the SDP was to vocated home rule, the other – in- lution back on the government’s swell their ranks in Scotland before creasingly – independence. The agenda. But the breakdown of talks the general election, and the former cause held an intellectual at- between those in favour of self gov- Liberal-SDP Alliance’s performance traction, the latter a more populist ernment meant that when the ref- was to take them into double fig- appeal. Both parties were divided erendum finally came, at the fag end ures. about the wisdom of working to- of a tired parliamentary term, the Liberal leader David Steel be- gether. pro-devolution forces were divided came the country’s second most into separate camps and unable to popular politician. His campaign for mount a campaign to inspire the merger between the Liberal Party 1974–79: An end to electorate with the half-baked fare and the SDP for the best part of the the debate? on offer from Labour in March . s diverted Liberal attention from Even the governing party could not common fronts with other parties. The two general elections unite its supporters in favour of its But with the SDP led by Dr David changed the fortunes of both par- devolution proposals; Tam Dalyell’s Owen, the Alliance was doomed to ties in a way which silenced the de- ‘West Lothian’ question was simply failure. The new party which arose bate. Though Scottish Liberal num- the most striking feature of its divi- from its ashes saw public support fall bers remained constant, across Brit- sion into ‘Labour says Yes’ and ‘La- to just three per cent in opinion polls ain the Liberals more than doubled bour No’ campaigns. Nor could in Scotland in ; yet despite this their number of MPs, vastly in- pro-devolutionists rally four-square the Liberal Democrats retained in creased their share of the popular behind the plans. Scottish Liberal the general election the nine vote and looked on the verge of a MP Russell Johnston and Conserva- Scottish seats they had won in . breakthrough. Talk of coalition, first tive MP Alick Buchanan-Smith ran The Scottish Liberal Democrats with Heath’s Conservative Govern- their own distinctive brand of ‘Yes’ were born into a changed political ment and then with Wilson’s Labour, campaign. climate. The economic recession hit the headlines. Liberal coalition- Although % voted in favour of which followed the Scottish ist energies were thus absorbed else- devolution in the March refer- oil-financed boom years of the mid where. The SNP meanwhile gained endum, a wrecking amendment in- eighties hit Scotland hard. While in six seats in the February election and serted in the legislation by Islington the early years of her premiership a further four in October, taking Labour MP George Cunningham Mrs Thatcher had allowed the Scot- their numbers from one MP to (requiring the support of at least % tish Office to continue Keynesian eleven within as many months. They of those eligible to vote before the economic policies, the re-election of were now substantially more impor- measure could proceed) saw the de- the Conservatives in signalled tant than the Liberals in Scotland. feat of the plan for devolution worked the arrival of a new, harsher ap- While the Liberals’ David Steel, ever out during the Lib–Lab agreement. proach. It did not go down well with a dogged campaigner, clung to his The opportunity to unite those in fa- Scotland’s voters. In the Scot- mentor Grimond’s idea of common vour of self-government and to drive tish Conservatives suffered their fronts, the – parliament was forward a convincing agenda had been worst defeat since , returning to deliver to him the prize of Brit- lost once again by its advocates. only ten MPs out of seventy-two. A ish Liberal leadership and the oppor- decade later they were to be elimi- tunity for a pact with the Callaghan nated totally. The democratic deficit Unrepentant, Mrs Thatcher ad- Much to the dismay of those who dressed the General Assembly of the had believed Alec Douglas-Home’s Church of Scotland in and re- last minute promise, on the eve of stated her opposition to devolution. the referendum, that the Conserva- She believed in the primacy of the tives would come up with a better individual over the collectivity. To plan for self-government, the Con- some observers at the General As- servative victory in the general sembly, the forum which most election under Margaret Thatcher closely approximated to a Scottish ushered in nearly two decades of Parliament, the Prime Minister Westminster hostility to devolution. showed a lack of understanding and The SNP, reduced from eleven MPs an incapacity for generosity. To one to just two, was relegated to the side- cleric, her speech was ‘a disgraceful journal of liberal democrat history 22: spring 1999 9 travesty of the gospel.’ and the Scottish Liberal Democrats. alist fundamentalists over the mod- Scotland’s ‘nanny state’ was in- The election of John Smith as leader erates who were genuinely in favour creasingly under attack from Lon- of the Labour Party in allowed of a cross-party approach. In oppo- don. Yet many took pride in the the self-government question free sition to the Tories, many SNP standard of social welfare provision. expression in Scottish Labour circles. members believed the key to suc- With government ministers such as Suddenly, all opposition parties were cess lay in differentiating themselves Chancellor Nigel Lawson openly advocating a change to the Union, from Labour – thus independence scolding the Scots for their ‘depend- backed by stronger voices in the rather than home rule. ency culture’ and Scots being used churches, the trades unions and in The withdrawal of the SNP be- as guinea pigs for measures such as local government. fore the Convention began talks the hated poll tax, dissent grew. It worried the Scottish Liberal Demo- found expression on a wider canvass crats. Fearful of a Convention domi- too. While it had been in Scotland’s The Constitutional nated by the much larger Labour interest to help the English run the Convention Party, they had hoped the SNP’s British Empire, did not the gradual presence would allow Liberals to retreat from Empire and the immi- A century after the creation of the occupy the middle ground between nent loss of Hong Kong, in which post of Scottish Secretary under a minimalist and maximalist ap- Scots had played a significant role, Liberal government, Home Rule proaches to devolution. In fact they mean the English were fast outliv- was fully back in the spotlight of found allies in the smaller parties and ing their usefulness? Moreover, the mainstream politics. The Campaign the churches and discovered that the Single European Act of , pav- for a Scottish Assembly, erected from SNP’s withdrawal actually increased ing the way for a closer European the debris of the referendum Labour’s reliance on the Liberal Union, threw into sharp relief the campaign, decided to repeat some of Democrats to give the Convention measure of self-government enjoyed the tactics of the Covenant of . cross-party legitimacy. Moreover, on the continent from Bavaria to It launched a Scottish ‘Claim of Labour proved to be less monolithic Barcelona. Right’ in July to demonstrate than some Liberal Democrats had More and more Scots began to the breadth of support for reform. feared, with groups such as the question the Conservative Govern- On March the emerging STUC and the Scottish Labour ment’s legitimacy north of the bor- Scottish Constitutional Convention, Women’s Caucus siding with the der. The Scottish Grand Committee, set up under the joint chairmanship Liberal Democrats in favour of a composed of Westminster MPs rep- of Sir David Steel and Lord Ewing proportional election system and tax-raising powers for the Scottish Parliament. A ‘democratic deficit’ was becoming By , however, prominent Scottish Liberal Democrats were los- apparent. If Scotland voted consistently for ing enthusiasm for cooperation with left-of-centre government, why should it put Labour. As they had feared, they suf- fered by being perceived as too close up with right-wing governments foisted on it to the larger party. They blamed the by the English? drop in their party’s share of the vote at the general election on their involvement with Labour in the resenting Scottish constituencies, had to draw up a practical blueprint for Convention. Liberal Democrat seen its powers progressively reduced a Scottish Assembly, endorsed the leader and Gordon MP Malcolm under the Conservative Governments Claim of Right. Bruce, who had seen his own par- since ; in , having lost most The Scottish Constitutional liamentary majority sharply reduced of their Scottish seats, the Tories de- Convention enjoyed the support of and a byelection gain in neighbour- cided to boycott the committee, thus all opposition parties plus the ing Kincardine blown away like effectively killing it off. For Scotland churches and the trade unions. The snow off a dyke, led the change of this added insult to injury. SNP were concerned, however, that tack; but the new course was not to A ‘democratic deficit’ was be- it would deprive them of identity be long held, for concern for his own coming apparent. If Scotland voted and electoral advantage. In Novem- re-election led to Bruce handing consistently for left-of-centre gov- ber they had overturned a La- over the leadership in to Ork- ernment, why should it put up with bour majority to win % of the ney & Shetland member Jim Wallace, right-wing governments foisted on vote in a byelection in Glasgow’s whose constituents’ concerns about it by the English? Opposition to the Govan constituency. Their gen- government from Edinburgh, which Union now found expression be- eral election slogan, ‘Free by ’’, he understood, were balanced by the yond the narrow ranks of the SNP represented the triumph of Nation- strong personal commitment to
10 journal of liberal democrat history 22: spring 1999 Scottish self-government bred in the gest at one point that scions of the Scottish establishment. they would not exceed Many felt that the SNP’s refusal those enjoyed by parish to join forces with other parties in councils south of the the Constitutional Convention had border. Any tax-raising delayed the project for home rule powers were to require and played into the hands of the un- a separate endorsement ionists. Frustrated by the surprising in the referendum. The re-election of a unionist government Scottish National in and the slow progress of the Party seized the op- Convention following John Smith’s portunity to accuse untimely death, Scottish Liberal Labour of insincerity; Democrats and leading Scottish La- even Scottish Liberals bour figures began to pool ideas felt obliged to con- about how to ensure that an incom- demn Labour’s new ing Labour government would de- policy as ‘a gross breach of liver the devolved government trust’. To some, dreams of a common one vote needed for a which seemed to many axiomatic of front seemed once again dashed. Scottish parliament’, needing to dif- the trend within the ever-more ferentiate themselves sharply from a prominent European Union. Labour Party which they argued In December the forces in A nation again could not be trusted on home rule, favour of home rule staged the larg- The determination of a small group and an SNP which now sought out- est political rally ever held in Scot- of prominent Scots politicians, how- right independence. In an important land. The leaders of the Scottish La- ever, brought together by institutions shift from previous election cam- bour, Scottish Liberal and Scottish such as the John Wheatley centre, paigns, however, they sought to con- National parties led over , in was undiminished. Under Labour centrate their campaigning not on the a demonstration, at the Meadows in front-bencher Robin Cook and Lib- constitutional issue but on issues of Edinburgh, against the democratic eral Democrat President Robert greater concern to the electorate such deficit. This was followed by a Maclennan, a series of talks on con- as health, crime and education. twenty-four hour vigil outside the stitutional reform narrowed down On the morning of May , old Royal High School on Calton the options for a Scottish Parliament, Scotland woke up to a changed po- Hill (the site of the proposed Scot- building on the measure of agree- litical landscape. Westminster had a tish parliament) which was main- ment that cooperation in the Con- Labour government with a landslide tained until the passing of the Scot- stitutional Convention had spawned. majority; just as importantly, there land Bill under the Labour govern- A new agreement on a voting sys- was not a single Conservative MP ment nearly five years later. tem was drawn up allowing for the left in Scotland. The unionists had The Liberal Democrats’ coopera- election of a reduced but nonethe- been routed. The Liberal Democrats tion with Labour proceeded, but not less substantial number of Members themselves had more than doubled without hiccup. The death of Labour of the Scottish Parliament (MSPs) their Westminster representation to leader John Smith in deprived under proportional representation a total of forty-six MPs, ten of whom the home rule movement of a pow- top-up lists. Professor Bernard Crick, were from Scotland. Though halved erful ally. In , Labour leader for Labour, and the Liberal Demo- as a percentage of their party’s West- To ny Blair declared a shift in his par- crats’ David Millar of Edinburgh minster contingent, the Scottish Lib- ty’s position on devolution. A Labour University’s Europa Institute even eral Democrats were now without government, he said, would hold a prepared draft standing orders for the doubt the official opposition in Scot- referendum before proceeding to parliament. Liberal Democrat leader land. Despite significant tactical vot- legislate. It would not support the Paddy Ashdown used his growing ing to oust the Conservatives, pub- terms of the ‘electoral contract’ relationship with Labour leader Tony lic demand for devolution had not agreed between Scottish Liberals and Blair to coax him into viewing Scot- swept the SNP to great prominence; Scottish Labour under which the tish and Welsh self- government in their numbers had increased from Scottish Parliament would be com- domestic matters as necessary parts three MPs to six, but the general prised of almost equal numbers of of the modernisation of Britain. election result was viewed by some members elected under a constitu- The Scottish Liberal Democrats in the SNP as a disappointment. ency system plus proportional rep- were to approach the general The new government moved resentation top-up lists. He also election determined not to repeat quickly to introduce a bill on Scot- questioned the proposed Scottish their mistakes of five years earlier. tish devolution and to set a date for Parliament’s powers, causing wide- They campaigned on the theme: ‘one a referendum. For Scottish Liberal spread dismay by appearing to sug- vote for the Liberal Democrats is the Democrats, the referendum required journal of liberal democrat history 22: spring 1999 11 a ‘double yes’, since there were to be command a majority of votes in the Scottish Liberals their strongest ne- two questions, one on the principle parliament. Liberal Democrats offi- gotiating position. of devolution and one on whether cially remain neutral on their prefer- Whatever the outcome of the the new parliament should have rev- ence for a coalition partner, but many elections in May , Scotland’s enue-raising powers. Could the three believe inevitably that the choice will parliament is likely to have a gov- non-unionist parties decide to put be Labour. Labour and the Liberal ernment in which parties are obliged aside their differences and to cam- Democrats both believe in devolution to find common ground. It seems paign together for a ‘yes, yes’ vote? within the Union and worked to- almost certain that Liberal Demo- Prospects for cooperation be- gether in the Scottish Constitutional crats will follow the advice of the tween Labour and the Liberal Demo- Convention. The seats held by the now deceased Jo Grimond to ‘ex- crats were good: they had worked Liberal Democrats are unlikely to be pand their influence through seek- together in the Constitutional Con- won by Labour, and vice versa. The ing cooperation wherever possible vention and both had included a SNP, by contrast, remained aloof from with those of like mind’. commitment to a Scottish parliament the Convention and see devolution Graham Watson was Chair of Paisley in their election manifestos. Se- as a stepping stone to independence; Liberal Association, and a member of the SLP executive, from –. He con- tested byelections in Glasgow Central in The system of proportional representation June and Glasgow Queen’s Park for the election of MSPs is only the most in December . From – he was head of the private office of Liberal leader evident of the results of the common front David Steel. In he became the first with other parties which Jo Grimond and Scottish and British Liberal ever to be elected to the European Parliament – for David Steel had advocated. a constituency south of the border! Notes: curing the support of the SNP was indeed they have pledged themselves G. S. Pryde, Scotland from to the more problematic; they opposed to a referendum on independence if Present Day, p. . home rule, seeing independence as they gain office. H. H. Asquith was MP for Paisley – , and it had been solidly Liberal be- the only solution for Scotland. Even- Liberal Democrat collaboration fore then; the Liberals held the seat again tually their leader Alex Salmond MP, with Labour at Westminster adds to from –. under pressure from the other par- the likelihood of cooperation in the John McCormick, ‘Flag in the Wind’. ties, decided to support the campaign Scottish Parliament, though some The other Scottish Liberal representa- since his party’s constitution required argue that the Liberals have rarely tive was John J. Mackay, who fought Ar- gyll as a Liberal in and be- it to ‘further Scotland’s interests’; home gained from pacts with Labour, cit- fore contesting the seat as a Conserva- rule would be presented as a step down ing the s and the s, and tive in and winning it for the To- the road to independence. A the prospect of a new Liberal Demo- ries in . cross-party umbrella group, ‘Scotland crat leader may throw the party’s The pamphlet was subsequently pub- FORward’, was established to promote cooperation strategy into question. lished in October as ‘Having been agreed by a panel of Scottish Liberals’. the new parliament, but the lacklustre Many Scottish Liberal Democrats Scottish Liberal Party Council and Ex- nature of the opposition ‘Think twice’ favour an agreement with the SNP ecutive Committee minutes, Edinburgh campaign provided little competition. and would support a referendum on University Library. The Tories were in some disarray af- independence within the lifetime of The Earl of Home had assumed the pre- ter their election disaster. the first Scottish parliament. Donald miership on October and had re- Scotland voted unequivocally in Gorrie MP and party treasurer signed his peerage to seek election to the Commons. favour of a Scottish parliament with Dennis Robertson Sullivan are The SNP’s special council meeting had tax-varying powers. Through coop- among the most prominent advo- been convened to discuss a reorganisa- eration in the Constitutional Con- cates of this position, which has also tion plan drawn up by Gordon Wilson, vention, the Liberal Democrats had been discussed between MPs repre- later to lead his party. Towards the end achieved their aim of home rule for senting the two parties at Westmin- of the meeting Tom Gibson, a promi- nent Nationalist, editor of the Scots In- Scotland. The system of proportional ster. A further option, favoured by dependent and an opponent of a pact, representation for the election of some, would be to allow a minority had to leave. Wolfe saw his chance to MSPs is only the most evident of the government to operate, with Liberal get his issue on to the party’s agenda results of the common front with Democrats lending support on an and seized it. other parties which Jo Grimond and agreed programme. Most recognise SLP executive committee minutes. Despite the prestige of ministerial office, David Steel had advocated. that keeping their options open un- Iain Sproat was to fail in his bid to se- The voting system, however, will til after the votes have been counted cure re-election to Parliament in mean that no one party is likely to and the MSPs are known gives the Roxburgh & Berwickshire in . In
12 journal of liberal democrat history 22: spring 1999