The 2003 Scottish Parliament election was the second election of members to the Scottish Parliament. It was held on 1 May 2003 and it brought no change in terms of control of the Scottish Executive. Jack McConnell, the Labour Party MSP, remained in office as First Minister for a second term and the Executive continued as a Labour and Liberal Democrat coalition. As of 2023, it remains the last Scottish Parliament election victory for the Scottish Labour Party, and the last time the Scottish National Party lost a Holyrood election.

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Quick Facts All 129 seats to the Scottish Parliament 65 seats were needed for a majority, Turnout ...

2003 Scottish Parliament election

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All 129 seats to the Scottish Parliament 65 seats were needed for a majority
Turnout	Constituency - 49.7% 8.7pp Regional - 49.7% 8.6pp
First party Second party Third party   Leader Jack McConnell John Swinney David McLetchie Party Labour SNP Conservative Leader's seat Motherwell and Wishaw North Tayside Edinburgh Pentlands Last election 56 seats 35 seats 18 seats Seats won 50 27 18 Seat change 6 8 Constituency vote 663,585 455,722 318,279  % and swing 34.6% 4.2% 23.8% 4.9% 16.6% 1.2% Regional vote 561,375 399,659 296,929  % and swing 29.3% 4.3% 20.9% 6.4% 15.6% 0.1%   Fourth party Fifth party Sixth party   Leader Jim Wallace Robin Harper Tommy Sheridan Party Liberal Democrats Scottish Green Scottish Socialist Leader's seat Orkney Lothians Glasgow Last election 17 seats 1 seat 1 seat Seats won 17 7 6 Seat change 6 5 Constituency vote 294,347 Did not stand 118,764  % and swing 15.4% 1.2% Did not stand 6.2% 5.2% Regional vote 225,774 132,138 128,026  % and swing 11.8% 0.6% 6.9% 3.3% 6.7% 4.7%
The map shows the election results in single-member constituencies. The additional member MSPs in the 8 regions are shown around the map.
First Minister before election Jack McConnell Labour First Minister after election Jack McConnell Labour

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The results also showed rises in support for smaller parties, including the Scottish Green Party and the Scottish Socialist Party (SSP) and declines in support for the Labour Party and the Scottish National Party (SNP). The Conservative and Unionist Party and the Scottish Liberal Democrats each polled almost exactly the same percentage of the vote as they had in the 1999 election, with each holding the same number of seats as before.

Three independent MSPs were elected: Dennis Canavan, Margo MacDonald and Jean Turner. John Swinburne, leader of the Scottish Senior Citizens Unity Party, was also elected. This led to talk of a "rainbow" Parliament, but the arithmetic meant that the coalition of Labour and Scottish Liberal Democrats could continue in office, which they did until the 2007 election.

The decline in support for the SNP was viewed by some as a rejection of the case for Scottish independence. Others argued against this, pointing out that the number of MSPs in favour of independence actually rose because most of the minor parties such as the SSP share this position with the SNP.

At the dissolution of Parliament on 31 March 2003, ten MSPs were not seeking re-election.^[1]

The parliament was dissolved on 31 March 2003 and the campaign began thereafter.

• Labour – Jack McConnell
• SNP – John Swinney
• Conservative – David McLetchie
• Liberal Democrat – Jim Wallace
• Greens – Robin Harper & Eleanor Scott (co-chairs)
• SSP – Tommy Sheridan

More information Party, Constituencies ...

← 2003 Scottish Parliament election^[2] →

Party		Constituencies					Regional additional members					Total seats
		Votes	%	±	Seats	±	Votes	%	±	Seats	±	Total	±	%
	Labour	663,585	34.6	4.2	46	7	561,375	29.3	4.3	4	1	50	6	38.8
	SNP	455,722	23.8	4.9	9	2	399,659	20.9	6.4	18	10	27	8	20.9
	Conservative	318,279	16.6	1.2	3	3	296,929	15.5	0.1	15	3	18		14.0
	Liberal Democrats	294,347	15.4	1.2	13	1	225,774	11.8	0.6	4	1	17		13.2
	Scottish Green	–	–	–	–	–	132,138	6.9	3.3	7	6	7	6	5.4
	Scottish Socialist	118,764	6.2	5.2	0		128,026	6.7	4.7	6	5	6	5	4.7
	Scottish Senior Citizens	1,597	0.1	new	0	new	28,966	1.5	new	1	new	1	new	0.8
	Margo MacDonald	–	–	–	–	–	27,143	1.4	new	1	new	1	new	0.8
	MSP for Falkirk West	14,703	0.8		1		–	–	–	–	–	1		0.8
	Save Stobhill Hospital	10,988	0.6	new	1	new	–	–	–	–	–	1	new	0.8
	Pensioners Party	–	–	–	–	–	28,655	1.5	new	0	new	0	new	0.0
	Socialist Labour	–	–	–	–	–	21,657	1.1	1.3	0		0		0.0
	New Party	5,598	0.3	new	0	new	7,718	0.4	new	0	new	0	new	0.0
	UKIP	–	–	–	–	–	11,969	0.6	new	0	new	0	new	0.0
	Scottish Unionist	–	–	–	–	–	6,113	0.3		0		0		0.0
	Local Health Concern	5,582	0.3	new	0	new	–	–	–	–	–	0	new	0.0
	Fishing Party	–	–	–	–	–	5,566	0.3	new	0	new	0	new	0.0
	BNP	–	–	–	–	–	2,344	0.1	new	0	new	0	new	0.0
	Protect Rural Scotland	–	–	–	–	–	1,438	0.1	new	0	new	0	new	0.0
	Independent Green Voice	1,300	0.1	new	0	new	–	–	–	–	–	0	new	0.0
	Christian Independent Alliance	–	–	–	–	–	1,064	0.1	new	0	new	0	new	0.0
	Adam Lyal's Witchery Tour	–	–	–	–	–	964	0.1	new	0	new	0	new	0.0
	Parents Excluded	141	0.0	new	0	new	–	–	–	–	–	0	new	0.0
	Others	25,968	1.4	0.8	0		28,323	1.5	0.8	0		0		0.0
Valid votes		1,916,574	99.4	0.3			1,915,851	99.4	0.3
Spoilt votes		12,303	0.6	0.3			11,938	0.6	0.3
Total		1,928,877	100		73	–	1,927,789	100		56	–	129	–	100
Electorate/Turnout		3,877,460	49.7	8.7			3,877,460	49.7	8.6

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Notes:

• The Scottish Greens did not stand in any constituencies, instead concentrating their resources on winning the largest possible share of the "second" vote for 'list' seats.

As part of the coalition deal between Labour and the Scottish Liberal Democrats, Labour allowed proportional representation (a long-standing Lib Dem policy)^[3] to be used in Scottish local government elections.^[4][5] This system was first used in 2007.^[6]

• 2nd Scottish Parliament
• 2003 National Assembly for Wales election
• 2003 United Kingdom local elections