You can find a brief history of Scotland’s parliamentary tradition between the middle ages and the 1990s in the History section of our website. Images and information about pre-1707 Scottish parliaments can be found on the website of the Scottish Parliament History Workshop at Stirling University; and a short history of the Scottish Parliament, along with suggestions for further reading, can also be found on the website of the Records of the Parliaments of Scotland to 1707. Information about the 1707 Union of the Parliaments is available on the UK Parliament website.

You can find out about Parliament House and Parliament Hall, where the old Scottish Parliament met between 1639 and 1707, in the Opening of Parliament section of our website.

The current Scottish Parliament does not hold any archives relating to the Scottish parliaments in the period before 1707. These documents are held by the National Archives of Scotland. A searchable database of the Acts of the Scottish Parliament between the thirteenth century and 1707 is available on the Records of the Parliaments of Scotland to 1707 website.

The UK Government’s white paper on Scottish devolution, Scotland’s Parliament, was published in July 1997. It set out proposals for a new Scottish Parliament and drew heavily on the Scottish Constitutional Convention’s 1995 report, Scotland's Parliament, Scotland's Right.

A referendum was held on 11 September 1997 to ask the Scottish people whether they wanted a Scottish Parliament and whether it should have tax-varying powers. A clear majority of voters voted Yes to both questions. This result gave the UK government a mandate to introduce a bill that would allow for the creation of a Scottish Parliament.

The white paper, Scotland’s Parliament, was the basis for the Scotland Bill that was introduced at Westminster in December 1997 and became the Scotland Act 1998 on 19 November 1998. This Act is the formal constitutional document providing for the establishment of the Scottish Parliament.

In November 1997, the Secretary of State for Scotland set up the Consultative Steering Group on the Scottish Parliament (CSG), which met for the first time in January 1998. The CSG was chaired by Henry McLeish, the Scottish Office Minister for Devolution, and was composed of representatives from the main political parties in Scotland and from other civic groups and interests. The remit of the CSG was to report on the “operational needs and working methods” of the Parliament and to make proposals for its Standing Orders and rules of procedure. Its main report, Shaping Scotland’s Parliament, was published in January 1999.

On 9 June 1999, the Scottish Parliament endorsed the Report of the Consultative Steering Group on the Scottish Parliament, Shaping Scotland’s Parliament. This report set out four key principles:

• the Scottish Parliament should embody and reflect the sharing of power between the people of Scotland, the legislators and the Scottish Executive;
• the Scottish Executive should be accountable to the Scottish Parliament and the Parliament and Executive should be accountable to the people of Scotland;
• the Scottish Parliament should be accessible, open, responsive and develop procedures which make possible a participative approach to the development, consideration and scrutiny of policy and legislation; and
• the Scottish Parliament in its operation and its appointments should recognise the need to promote equal opportunities for all.

In November 1997, the Secretary of State for Scotland set up the Consultative Steering Group on the Scottish Parliament (CSG), which met for the first time in January 1998. The CSG was chaired by Henry McLeish, the Scottish Office Minister for Devolution, and was composed of representatives of the main political parties in Scotland and of other civic groups and interests. The remit of the CSG was to report on the “operational needs and working methods” of the Parliament and to make proposals for its Standing Orders and rules of procedure. Its main report, Shaping Scotland’s Parliament, was published in January 1999. (This report is no longer available on the Scottish Government website. Please contact the Scottish Government if you wish to obtain a PDF copy of the report.)

The first elections to the Scottish Parliament took place on 6 May 1999 and meetings of the Parliament began with the first sitting on 12 May 1999. At this sitting, the MSPs took the oath of allegiance or made a solemn affirmation and elected the Presiding Officer and two Deputy Presiding Officers. The Parliament was officially opened by Her Majesty The Queen on 1 July 1999 and took up its full powers on this date.

Our website contains extensive information about the Parliament building at Holyrood, including details of the project's history, the building's design, its environmental features and its artwork.

Information about the official opening of the Scottish Parliament on 1 July 1999, including photographs and the text of speeches, is available in the History section of the website.

Information about the opening of the new Parliament building at Holyrood can be found in the About Holyrood section of the website.

Results of the 1999 Scottish Parliament elections can be found in the MSPs section of our website

Results of the 2003 Scottish Parliament elections can be found in the MSPs section of our website

Results of the 2007 Scottish Parliament elections can be found in the MSPs section of the website

The results of future Scottish Parliament elections will be made available on our website once the Parliament has been notified of the result by the returning officer.

The National Archives of Scotland holds an exemplification, or official copy, of the Act of Union.

In the election on 3 May 2007, more MSPs were elected for the Scottish National Party (SNP) than for any other party. No party gained an absolute majority, however, and the Scottish National Party currently forms a minority government. More information about the government can be found on the Scottish Government website.