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More than 5000 entries on the history, culture and life of Britain (published in 1993 by Macmillan, now out of print)
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SNP
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(Scottish National Party)
Left-of-centre political party committed to the establishment of an independent Scottish parliament. It derives from the National Party of Scotland, formed in 1928 by Hugh *MacDiarmid and others; the name was changed to Scottish National Party in 1934, when it merged with a rival nationalist party founded in 1932, the Scottish Party. The SNP won its first parliamentary seat at Westminster in 1945, since when it has had fluctuating fortunes.
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Its best period was the 1970s with an upsurge of interest in *devolution and the development of a new source of Scottish wealth in *North Sea oil; two famous by-election victories (Winifred Ewing's at Hamilton in 1967, Margo MacDonald's at Govan in 1973) were soon followed by the party's highest representation at Westminster (11 seats) after the second general election of 1974.
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In the 1992 election the SNP polled 21.5% of the Scottish vote but only won three of the 72 seats (see *two-party system). In 1997 this number was doubled to six. In the new Scottish parliament of 1999 the SNP became the second largest party (35 seats compared with 56 for the *Labour party). Since 1986 the SNP has formed an alliance at Westminster with *Plaid Cymru, the other leading nationalist party in the UK.
In 1990 Alex Salmond (b. 1954, MP for Banff and Buchan since 1987) became the SNP leader. In July 2000 he astonished both his party and the country with the sudden announcement that he would retire from the leadership at the party conference in the autumn.
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