What is the SNP?

The Scottish National Party is a uniquely Scottish political party which was formed to campaign for the restoration of full self-government – independence - for Scotland. It has developed a full and comprehensive range of policies on all topics which can be seen at the main SNP website at www.snp.org

What is the history of the SNP and why was it founded?

The party was formed in 1934 after a merger between two other parties of similar aims. After a suspension of activity during the war years it was re-energised in 1950 by the daring ‘theft’ of the Stone of Destiny from Westminster Abbey by four young Scottish nationalists. This dramatic act of patriotism delighted almost everyone in Scotland. When the Westminster government ignored a petition for ‘Home Rule’ signed by two million adult Scots, the party, which had won a seat in 1945 in Motherwell, began to win elections. In 1967 Winnie Ewing made an historic breakthrough seizing the rock-solid Labour seat of Hamilton in a by-election and creating headlines around the world. Winnie’s famous declaration; “Stop the world, Scotland wants to get on!” saw the party expanding rapidly with branches springing up all over the country.  The party has had continuous representation in Westminster since 1970 and it was the growing electoral success of the SNP which forced the Labour government to introduce devolution for Scotland. Devolution was intended to thwart the SNP and prevent the Scots’ progress to full self-government. Despite this, the devolved parliament at Holyrood now has an SNP administration led by Alex Salmond. The SNP has more local councillors in Scotland than any other party and is proving ever-more popular with the voters, as the spectacular result at Glasgow East in July 2008 demonstrates. The SNP gained more votes than all other parties in the Euro Elections in June 2009. SNP successes and continued high poll ratings have forced the political pace in Scotland. In a futile attempt to head off the SNP, the other parties produced the Calman Commission to consider constitutional change – and then fell out over whether Calman’s modest recommendations should be introduced. It is now no longer a question of ‘if’ there will be further constitutional powers for Scotland but ‘when’ and ‘how much’. In the words of the famous Irish politician Charles Stewart Parnell, “no man has a right to fix the boundary to the march of a nation… to say to his country ‘Thus far shalt thou go and no further!” 

How can I get involved?

You’d be made very welcome! The SNP is active in Dundee, with ongoing political campaigns and regular social events. To join or to find out more, contact us at Dundee SNP, 8 Old Glamis Road, Dundee DD3 8HP, tel: 01382 903210, or email: mail@dundeesnp.org