The Scottish Parliament (Holyrood)
The nutshell
The Scottish Parliament makes many of the laws for Scotland, from a building called Holyrood in Edinburgh. Voters in Scotland choose 129 members, called MSPs, to make those laws.
Every fact on this page comes from the Scottish Parliament and other non-partisan bodies. Each source tag — like SP — opens where a fact comes from.
The basics
What the Scottish Parliament is
The Scottish Parliament makes many of the laws for Scotland. It sits at Holyrood, a building in Edinburgh, and was set up in 1999.IfG Before then, laws for Scotland were made only at the UK Parliament in London.
Who sits in it
The Scottish Parliament has 129 members. Each one is called an MSP, short for Member of the Scottish Parliament.SP An MSP is not the same as an MP at Westminster. Most MSPs — 73 in all — each speak for one local area, called a constituency. The other 56 are chosen for larger regions.
How MSPs are chosen
At a Scottish Parliament election, each voter gets two votes. One vote picks a local MSP for that area. The other vote picks a party for a larger region.SP The second vote helps make the number of seats each party wins closer to its share of the votes.
What it can and cannot decide
The Scottish Parliament can make laws on many subjects, like health, schools and justice in Scotland.SP Some big subjects stay with the UK Parliament at Westminster instead, such as defence, foreign affairs and immigration. These are called reserved matters. Any subject that is not reserved is decided at Holyrood.HoC
- The Scottish Parliament has 129 members, called MSPs, according to the Scottish Parliament
- Each voter in Scotland has two votes at a Scottish Parliament election, one for a local seat and one for a region
- Health, schools and justice in Scotland are decided at Holyrood, not Westminster, the Scottish Parliament states
- The Scottish Parliament is not the same body as the UK Parliament, which still decides reserved matters like defence
- An MSP is a member of the Scottish Parliament, and is not the same as an MP at Westminster
- Holyrood cannot make laws on every subject, only on matters not reserved to Westminster, the House of Commons Library notes
The deep end6 min
How the Scottish Parliament was set up
The Scottish Parliament was established in 1999, according to the Institute for Government.IfG It sits at Holyrood in Edinburgh. Before then, laws for Scotland were made only at the UK Parliament in Westminster. The Scotland Act 1998 set up the reserved-powers model that the Parliament still uses, the House of Commons Library records.HoC
The 129 members, and the two votes
The Scottish Parliament has 129 members, called MSPs. 73 are constituency MSPs, each speaking for one local area, chosen by first past the post — the candidate with the most votes wins. The other 56 are regional MSPs, seven for each of eight larger regions.SP At an election, each voter casts two votes. One picks a constituency MSP, and the other picks a party for the region. The regional seats are then shared out so the total for each party is closer to its share of the regional votes. This mix is called the additional member system.
What is devolved, and what is reserved
The devolved matters, decided at Holyrood, include health and social services, education, and justice and policing.SP Some subjects stay with the UK Parliament at Westminster. These reserved matters include defence and national security, foreign affairs, and immigration and asylum.SP The reserved-powers model means the reserved subjects are written down in law, and anything left off that list is devolved, the House of Commons Library explains.HoC
How the powers have changed
The devolution settlement has not stood still. The Scotland Act 2012 and the Scotland Act 2016 passed more powers over tax and welfare to the Scottish Parliament, the House of Commons Library records.HoC Because the devolved bodies are created by UK law, the arrangement is, in theory, one that the UK Parliament could change.