Election 2015 Profiles – SNP

Party History
The Scottish National Party (or SNP) were formed in 1934 from the merger of the National Party of Scotland and the Scottish Party. The party was originally formed by Professor Douglas Young who urged Scottish people to refuse conscription during World War Two. Since then the SNP has gone on to campaign for the rights of Scottish people within the UK and promote an Independent Scotland.

More recently the SNP campaigned heavily for the Yes vote in the Scottish Independence Referendum (2014). Led by the previous leader, Alex Salmond, they narrowly lost out to the No vote at 55.3% to 44.7%. The referendum was viewed as a success as it saw the highest turnout for an election or referendum in the UK since the introduction of universal suffrage.

Since the referendum, the party leadership has changed with Nicola Sturgeon replacing Alex Salmond as the leader and consequently the First Minister of Scotland. The SNP have been campaigning for the devolution of powers from Westminster to Scotland giving the Scottish People more power to make legislation which is more relevant to them and Scotland.

Leader – Nicola Sturgeon MSP (Current First Minister of Scotland)
Nicola Sturgeon has been the leader of the SNP since November 2014, replacing Alex Salmond. She represents the constituency of Glasgow Southside

She attended the University of Glasgow and studied Law graduating with a Bachelor of Laws in 1992 then completed a Diploma in Legal Practice the following year.
Prior to entering into a career in politics, she worked as a Solicitor in Stirling and later Glasgow.

Quick Facts about Nicola Sturgeon MSP:
– She is a fan of the Danish political drama Borgen
– She is the first female First Minister of Scotland
– In 2013 she was assessed as the 20^th most powerful woman in the United Kingdom

Party Colours – Yellow/Black

Current Number of Seats
6 seats in Commons. 64 seats in the Scottish Parliament. The Scottish National party are currently the fifth largest party in the House of Commons behind the Conservatives, Labour Party, Liberal Democrats and the Democratic Unionist Party. The SNP are the third largest party in the United Kingdom in terms of membership.

Main manifesto policies as set out by the Scottish National Party:

TBC