Scottish Party - Definition and Overview

The Scottish Party was formed in 1932 by a group of members of the Conservative Party who favoured the establishment of a devolved Scottish Parliament within the United Kingdom. They were opposed to the existent National Party of Scotland (NPS) on the grounds that they favoured full independence for Scotland, and also disagreed with the left-of-centre platform of the NPS.

The Scottish Party initially acted more as a think-tank than an active political party, but received overtures from the founder of the NPS, John MacCormick to merge with the NPS to unify the elements of the Scottish Nationalist movement. The party's candidate for the November 1933 by-election in Kilmarnock received NPS backing, and this co-operation was firmed up by the merger of the two parties in 1934 to become the Scottish National Party.

On January 1, 2004 a former SNP parliamentary candidate and a party activist in the Shetland Islands Brian Nugent announced that he was forming his own pro-independence party, the Scottish Party in response to what he perceived to be a too pro-European stance by the SNP.

Nugent has announced that the platform of this party will be in favour of Scottish independence outwith the European Union. He intends that this party will contest the 2004 elections to the European Parliament.

This Scottish Party later evolved into the Free Scotland Party.