Unfinished Business

About the Book: 

What were the hopes and aspirations of devolution?
To what extent has devolution been successful?
What are the challenges and opportunities ahead?
How can we meet the challenges and best take advantage of opportunities?
Where is Scotland heading on its unfinished journey?
How will changes in the rest of the UK impact on this journey?

In 1999, legislation was passed to create the Scottish Parliament and the Consultative Steering Group (CSG) issued its report on the Scottish Parliament’s guiding principles. Four key principles were set out in the CSG  report reflecting the hopes and aspirations of campaigners for a Scottish Parliament: sharing power between the people, legislators and government; greater accountability from government to Parliament to the people; facilitating accessibility, openness and responsiveness; and promoting equality. These principles remain as relevant today as they were at the Parliament’s establishment though much has changed in the intervening quarter century.

In this book, former First Minister Henry McLeish, Minister responsible for devolution and chair of the CSG , and Professor James Mitchell of Edinburgh University consider the journey Scotland has been on – the challenges, obstacles and opportunities in seeking to achieve these hopes and expectations.

About the Authors:

Rt Hon Henry McLeish began his political career as an elected member in local government in 1974, and was leader of Fife Regional Council for five years. In 1987 he was elected as a member of the UK Parliament and acted as Minister for Devolution and Home Affairs in the Labour government from 1997 to 1999. In the first Scottish Parliament he was Minister for Enterprise and Lifelong Learning from 1999, and in 2000 he became First Minister of Scotland until 2001. Retiring from politics in 2003, he is now an adviser, consultant, writer author and broadcaster and lectures in the USA and elsewhere on the European Union and politics. He chaired the Scottish Prisons Commission, which produced a report into sentencing and the criminal justice system entitled ‘Scotland’s Choice’. In 2010 he conducted a major report on the state of football in Scotland, which had been commissioned by the Scottish Football Association, and chaired a commission into sport requested by the Scottish government. He is now an honorary professor at Edinburgh University.

JAMES MITCHELL holds the chair in Public Policy and is Director of the Academy of Government at the University of Edinburgh. He previously held chairs at the University of Strathclyde and Sheffield.

His research has included studies of political parties and public opinion in Scotland. His most recent work has included studies of the SNP, Scottish elections and the independence referendum.

All of his work is informed by an appreciation of the importance of the past in its impact on current concerns.