The Scottish Parliament in its Own Words

About the Book: 

As part of the Scottish Parliament Oral History Project, around 80 interviews were conducted with staff, MSPs and journalists, old and new, about their careers and experiences at the Scottish Parliament. This book compiles extracts from some of these interviews, detailing the institution’s rich history. This is the story of the Scottish Parliament so far, telling its story through those who know it best.

Through its comparatively short life, the Parliament has been tested. What was once an upstart institution, unsure of its place in the world, has now become an ingrained part of the nation’s political landscape. Now is an ideal moment to take stock of the Parliament’s 20-year history – to investigate its origins, its early days and how it has developed over the past two decades.

This was history. Substantial powers were being given to Scotland for the first time since 1707. HENRY McLEISH, former First Minister

The Scottish Parliament has been utterly transformative. I don’t think our predecessors that voted for this Parliament in 1997 could have envisioned the difference it would make to Scottish public life. HUMZA YOUSAF, First Minister

I think there was an element of mutual respect, that women were not patronised in the way that they were in Westminster, and that the issues that affected women were put up front right from the start. FIONA HYSLOP, MSP

About the Book:

THOMAS STEWART began working at the Scottish Parliament in December 2017, midway through a Scottish History PhD at the University of Edinburgh, studying the political history of Dundee between the 1970s and the present day. He was originally hired as an intern on a programme supported by the Arts & Humanities Research Council through the Scottish Graduate School for Arts & Humanities, which enables organisations to access the talent of researchers to deliver a specific piece of work or project.As an intern he had a number of responsibilities, one of which included looking into establishing an oral history project that could be included as part of the Parliament’s official archives at National Records of Scotland. Over the course of his internship, lasting between December 2017 and June 2018, he helped establish the Scottish Parliament Oral History Project and conducted 75 interviews with members of Parliament staff, MSPs and journalists, assembling a sizeable collection. Realising that much of this content was unique and interesting, Thomas put the idea of using the output of the project to create a book forward to key personnel within the Parliament. In September 2018, he was rehired to write this book as a member of Parliament staff, and was given almost complete autonomy to bring it together. This vision culminated in the present publication.