Politics that had their roots in Kirk and empire

THE Scottish Conservatives were established in 1965, when the Unionist Party was merged into the Conservative Party of England and Wales to form the basis of the modern UK Conservative Party.

Before the reforms of the mid-1960s, the Unionist Party, referred to as the “Scottish Unionist Party” outside Scotland, was the main centre-right political party in Scotland between 1912 and 1965.

The party built up significant working-class support by emphasising the connection between union, the empire and the fate of local industry. Unity across the classes was often cited as one of the party’s planks of unionism.

Along with this protectionism, Protestantism also played an important part in the party’s working-class appeal.

Although not explicitly articulated by the party, this appeal was projected through the endorsement and promotion of well-known Church of Scotland members or prominent Orangemen in areas of west and central Scotland where the Orange Lodge had strong support.

Compared to the Conservative Party’s pre-1886 record in Scotland, as well as the post-1965 Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party, the 1912-1965 Scottish Unionist Party’s electoral record stands out as a success.

With the Liberal Party divided and declining, the Scottish Unionist Party managed to attract former Liberal voters during this period – sometimes with candidates standing on a Liberal Unionist ticket.

Within this context their support grew, and the emergence of the Labour Party as a threat to the middle-classes resulted in the Scottish Unionists achieving a majority of Scottish seats in the 1924 election, 37 out of Scotland’s 73. However, in Labour’s landslide victory in the 1945 election, the Unionists won only 30 seats.

In the 1950 election, a majority of Labour MPs was returned again, but the Scottish Unionist Party closed the gap by returning 32 MPs.

In the subsequent Conservative election victory of 1951, an equal number of Labour and Unionist MPs was returned from Scotland, 35, with one solitary Liberal taking the remaining seat.

However, with Church of Scotland membership reaching record levels, the 1955 election brought unparalleled success as the party gained 50.1 per cent of the vote and 36 of the 71 seats at Westminster – undoubtedly the high watermark of the centre-right north of the Border. But as the British Empire came to an end, so too did the primacy of Protestantism associations and the decline of the unionist vote.

During most elections in the rest of the 1960s and 1970s, as well as the early 1980s, the Scottish Conservatives had more than 20 MPs returned.

However, the party saw its tally of MPs plummet at the 1987 General Election at the height of Thatcherism, with the figure hardly improving at 1992 when 11 Scottish Conservatives were elected.

In the 1997 New Labour landslide, the party was wiped out in Scotland.

Although the Conservatives won a seat the 2001 General Election, the Scottish Tories have failed to add to their representation at Westminster in subsequent elections.