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Scotland is a country which is part of the United Kingdom (UK). As the UK is ''de jure'' a unitary state, the Parliament of the United Kingdom, located at Westminster, London is sovereign over the whole state. However, since the late 1990s, a system of devolution has emerged in the UK, whereby Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have each been granted some measure of self-government whilst remaining within the UK. Scotland entered into a political union with England in 1707, and since then has sent representatives to the parliament in London, which became the British parliament. Currently, 59 Members of Parliament (MPs) represent Scottish constituencies at Westminster, and issues such as the constitution, foreign affairs, defence, social security, pensions, issues of medical ethics, and fiscal, economic and monetary policy are decided on at Westminster. In 1999, an 129-member Scottish Parliament was established in Edinburgh, which has full power to make law in Scotland, except in certain reserved matters. In the UK government, Scottish affairs are represented by the Secretary of State for Scotland, currently David Mundell MP, and the Scottish Government is headed by a First Minister, who is the leader of the political party with the most support in the Scottish Parliament, currently Nicola Sturgeon MSP. The head of state in Scotland is the British monarch, currently Queen Elizabeth II (since 1952). As the UK is part of the European Union, Scotland also elects 6 Members to sit in the European Parliament. Scotland can best be described as having a multi-party system. In the Scottish Parliament, the centre-left pro-independence Scottish National Party (SNP) is the party which forms government, currently holding a majority of seats in the parliament (65 out of 129). Opposition parties include the Scottish Labour Party (centre-left, social democratic), the Scottish Conservative Party (centre-right, conservative), the Scottish Liberal Democrats (centrist, social liberal), and the Scottish Green Party (left-wing, eco socialist). Elections are held once every four years, with 73 Members being elected to represent constituencies, and the remaining 56 elected via a system of proportional representation. At Westminster, Scotland is represented by 56 MPs from the Scottish National Party, 1 MP from the Labour Party, 1 MP from the Conservative Party and 1 MP from the Liberal Democrats. Today, the creation of an independent Scotland outside the United Kingdom remains a prominent issue. On 18 September 2014, the people of Scotland voted in a referendum on whether to become independent, however the majority opted to stay in the union. ==Current situation== The party with the largest number of seats in the Scottish Parliament is the Scottish National Party (SNP), which campaigns for Scottish independence. The current First Minister of Scotland is SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon, who has led a majority government since November 2014. The previous First Minister, Alex Salmond led the SNP to an overall majority victory in the May 2011 general election. Other parties represented in the parliament are the Labour Party, Conservative Party, Liberal Democrats and the Scottish Green Party. The next Scottish Parliament general election is due to be held in May 2016. Under devolution Scotland is represented by 59 MPs in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom elected from territory-based Scottish constituencies, out of a total of 650 MPs in the House of Commons. A Secretary of State for Scotland, who prior to devolution headed the system of government in Scotland, sits in the Cabinet of the United Kingdom and is responsible for the limited number of powers the office retains since devolution, as well as relations with other Whitehall Ministers who have power over reserved matters. The Scottish Parliament can refer devolved matters back to Westminster to be considered as part of United Kingdom-wide legislation by passing a Legislative Consent Motion — usually referred to as a Sewel Motion. This has been done on a number of occasions where it has been seen as either more efficient, or more politically expedient to have the legislation considered by Westminster. The Scotland Office is a department of the United Kingdom government, responsible for reserved Scottish affairs. The current Secretary of State for Scotland is David Mundell MP, a Conservative. Until 1999, Scottish peers were entitled to sit in the House of Lords. The main political debate in Scotland tends to revolve around attitudes to the constitutional question. Under the pressure of growing support for Scottish independence a policy of devolution had been advocated by all three GB-wide parties to some degree during their history (although Labour and the Conservatives have also at times opposed it). This question dominated the Scottish political scene in the latter half of the 20th century with Labour leader John Smith describing the revival of a Scottish parliament as the "settled will of the Scottish people".〔Cavanagh, Michael (2001) ''(The Campaigns for a Scottish Parliament )''. University of Strathclyde. Retrieved 12 April 2008.〕 Now that devolution has occurred, the main argument about Scotland's constitutional status is over whether the Scottish Parliament should accrue additional powers (for example over fiscal policy), or seek to obtain full independence. Ultimately the long term question is: should the Scottish parliament continue to be a subsidiary assembly created and potentially abolished by the constitutionally dominant and sovereign parliament of the United Kingdom (as in devolution) or should it have an independent existence as of right, with full sovereign powers (either through independence, a federal United Kingdom or a confederal arrangement)? To clarify these issues, the SNP-led Scottish Executive published ''Choosing Scotland's Future'', a consultation document directed to the electorate under the National Conversation exercise. The programmes of legislation enacted by the Scottish Parliament have seen the divergence in the provision of public services compared to the rest of the United Kingdom.〔"(Devolved services in Scotland )" direct.gov.uk Retrieved 12 April 2008.〕 While the costs of a university education, and care services for the elderly are free at point of use in Scotland, fees are paid in the rest of the UK. Scotland was the first country in the UK to ban smoking in public places.〔(Scotland begins pub smoking ban ), ''BBC News Online'', 26 March 2006〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Politics of Scotland」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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