The Scottish Liberal Party, the section of the Liberal Party in Scotland, was the dominant political party of Victorian Scotland,^[1] and although its importance declined with the rise of the Labour and Unionist parties during the 20th century,^[2] it was still a significant, albeit much reduced force when it finally merged with the Social Democratic Party in Scotland, to form the Scottish Liberal Democrats in 1988.

The party lost its last remaining seats in the UK Parliament in 1945, and continued to decline in popular support in the post war years, with Jo Grimond (who won back Orkney and Shetland in 1950) being the sole Scottish Liberal MP in the House of Commons from 1951 to 1964. The party gained a partial revival in the 1964 general election returning three further MPs; George Mackie, Russell Johnston and Alasdair Mackenzie. A further gain came the following year with David Steel's victory at the Roxburgh, Selkirk and Peebles by-election. Steel went on to become a pivotal figure in the development of Scottish devolution, in partnership with John Smith, Donald Dewar and other key Labour and Liberal figures.

The Victorian Liberal party in Scotland was not always ideologically unified, and was faced with many internal divisions, particularly amongst the more conservative Whiggish elements of the party who were largely based in Edinburgh and the East, and the more western and Glasgow-based radical Liberals.^[3]

The East and North of Scotland Liberal Association and the West and South West of Scotland Liberal Association were founded in 1877. Early in 1881, they merged, forming the Scottish Liberal Association, led by Gladstone and Adam. A National Liberal Federation of Scotland was founded in April 1886, but merged into the Liberal Association in December.^[4]

The Scottish Women's Liberal Federation was formed in 1891 from regional groups and was led by Anne Lindsay.^[5]

This chart shows the electoral results of the Scottish Liberal Party, from its first election in 1859, to its last in 1983. Total number of seats, and vote percentage, is for Scotland only.