Scotland’s Democratic History: 1707 – 2024
This year most of us over the age of eighteen will vote in the 2024 General Election. Over the summer we will also celebrate the 25th anniversary of our own independent Scottish Parliament being reopened.
From the 1200s up until 1707, Scotland was an independent country and had its own parliament called Parliament Hall. The last Scottish parliament building was built in the 1600s in Edinburgh. It was used for government purposes until the act of 1707, when England and Scotland merged into one country, Great Britain. The parliament was duly closed on the 25th of March 1707. It was not for 290 years, until 1997 the people of Scotland voted in a referendum to have it reopened.
The current parliament is still in Edinburgh, called The Scottish Parliament Building (Scottish Gaelic: Pàrlamaid na h-Alba; Scots: Scots Pairlament Biggin), within the UNESCO World Heritage Site in central Edinburgh. On the 1st of July 1997, Queen Elizabeth II officially opened the parliament. The building itself received the Stirling Prize for architecture and evolution in design.
To commemorate this historic event, those who were Members of Scottish Parliament and in attendance received a medal. The museum has one in their collection-
Medal presented to Karen Whitefield MSP
The medal itself was surrounded in some controversy with some MSPs criticising the giving of medals. Other were against the cost which was £7000 for 129 medals. MSP Tommy Sheridan refused his medal, he was quoted as saying
The decision to award medals to MSPs is premature as it is unacceptable. We are trying to win public support for the parliament and the executive has shot the parliament in the foot yet again. Medals should be reserved for those who achieve things, and we are extremely far from achieving anything in the parliament to date.
Source: BBC News 1/9/1999
While some agreed with Mr Sheridan, others did not, as they felt it was already in the opening ceremony budget and nothing more than a token to mark the event.
Since that day there has been many laws passed through the Scottish Parliament which can be found on their website. The parliament celebrates this year what they believe to be one of the most successful actions; the opportunity to give local people a voice and the ability to really change things that affect them. This is done through the petitions system which has successfully challenged and changed various issues.
The Scottish Parliament has also seen pardons given to miners though the Miners’ Strike (Pardons) (Scotland), Act 2022 Abusive Behaviour and Sexual Harm (Scotland) Act 2016 and the Human Trafficking and Exploitation (Scotland) Act 2015 to name a few. All working on making peoples lives better and safer.
The parliament is not only a place for politics but has its own museum, art exhibition and café. It also holds political and cultural festivals throughout the year. The parliament is free to visit Monday to Saturday and on certain days tickets can be obtained to see the First Minister answer questions from MSPs. These tickets also give you the opportunity to see the debating chamber and watch live debates.
It amazing that this little medal we have represents a very important date and place in Scottish democratic history. If you wish to learn more about the Scottish Parliament and the laws and polices passed you can visit their website Visit | Scottish Parliament Website
Info About the Author
Sheryl is a Volunteer Digital Collections Assistant with the Curatorial Team at North Lanarkshire Museums & Collections.