The Scottish Electorate

This text discusses the outcome of the 1997 general election in Scotland and the likely future shape of Scotland’s politics. It sets the 1997 Scottish result in a comparative context with the rest of Britain, and in a context of changing political attitudes and behaviour since the 1970s. The 1997 General Election ranks alongside 1945 and 1979 as a turning point in the post war United Kingdom. The overwhelming endorsement of a Scottish Parliament in the September 1997 referendum will have dramatic implications for Scottish and British politics. This text should enhance understanding of these developments and analyze the relationship between national identity and the policy agenda as Scotland moves towards a new constitutional future.

Author Biography

ALICE BROWN is in the Department of Politics, University of Edinburgh, and has published widely on Scottish politics and on women in politics and society.

DAVID MCCRONE is Professor of Sociology at the University of Edinburgh, and convenor of the Unit for the Study of Government in Scotland. He has published extensively on the sociology, culture and politics of Scotland. He has carried out major research on aspects of its social structure, work which has been widely disseminated to academic and lay audiences alike.

LINDSAY PATERSON is Professor of Educational Policy at Moray House Institute of Education, and has written widely on Scottish politics and on the sociology of education.

PAULA SURRIDGE is Lecturer at the University of Aberdeen. She worked as research assistant to the 1992 Scottish Election Study and has interests in Scottish politics and social attitudes, social stratification and research methods.