180-729: Social democracy Socialism Communism Northern Ireland Scotland Wales Other Scottish Labour , is the part of the UK Labour Party active in Scotland. Ideologically social democratic and unionist , it holds 22 of 129 seats in the Scottish Parliament and 37 of 57 Scottish seats in the House of Commons. It is represented by 262 of the 1,227 local councillors across Scotland. The Scottish Labour party has no separate Chief Whip at Westminster. Throughout
360-430: A Marxist faction and non-communist socialists or the right-wing of socialism during the split with communism . Others have noted its pejorative use among communists and other socialists. According to Lyman Tower Sargent , " socialism refers to social theories rather than to theories oriented to the individual. Because many communists now call themselves democratic socialists , it is sometimes difficult to know what
540-610: A Section 30 order for one to be held. In October 2023, Labour won the 2023 Rutherglen and Hamilton West by-election with the election of Michael Shanks . Michael Shanks was elected with a 24.1% swing from the SNP who held the seat since 2015. At the 2024 general election , across the United Kingdom, the Labour Party won the election with a landslide victory, winning 411 seats across the United Kingdom, with Scottish Labour winning 37 of
720-496: A political and economic democracy supporting a gradualist , reformist , and democratic approach towards achieving socialism. Others view it as an ethical ideal to guide reforms within capitalism. One way social democracy can be distinguished from democratic socialism is that social democracy aims to strike a balance by advocating for a mixed market economy where capitalism is regulated to address inequalities through social welfare programs and supports private ownership with
900-591: A post-capitalist economic system based on either a market economy combined with workers' self-management or on some form of participatory , decentralized planning of the economy. Marxian socialists argue that social democratic welfare policies cannot resolve the fundamental structural issues of capitalism, such as cyclical fluctuations , exploitation , and alienation . Accordingly, social democratic programs intended to ameliorate living conditions in capitalism, such as unemployment benefits and taxation on profits, creates further contradictions by further limiting
1080-543: A post-capitalist order or, in more ethical terms, as a just society, described as representing democratic socialism, without any explicit reference to the economic system or its structure. Parties such as the Social Democratic Party of Germany and the Swedish Social Democratic Party describe their goal as developing democratic socialism, with social democracy as the principle of action. In
1260-448: A Labour Government in office and Labour pressure in opposition. Against the dogged resistance to change, we should have pitted a stronger will to change. I conclude that a move to the Left is needed". In Origin, Ideology and Transformation of Political Parties: East-Central and Western Europe Compared , Vít Hloušek and Lubomír Kopecek explain how socialist parties have evolved from the 19th to
1440-409: A devolved matter. The Commission has a statutory duty to produce reports on the administration of certain elections (for example UK Parliamentary general elections ) and may be asked to report on other types of election (such as local government elections ). The Electoral Commission was responsible for recommending which regions were allocated how many of the 73 seats that the United Kingdom held at
1620-426: A failed state, with record unemployment levels and the fact that many young people will not find a job in their lifetime. Social democracy rests on three fundamental features, namely: "(1) parliamentary democracy, (2) an economy partly regulated by the state, and (3) provision of social support to those in need". In practice, social democratic parties have been instrumental in the social-liberal paradigm, lasting from
1800-409: A gradual or evolutionary path to socialism rather than a revolutionary one. Policies commonly supported are Keynesian and include some degree of regulation over the economy , social insurance schemes, public pension programs, and a gradual expansion of public ownership over major and strategic industries. During the late 20th century, those labels were embraced, contested and rejected due to
1980-517: A historic low 13%, and were more than 15% behind the Conservatives in Scotland in some polls. However, towards the end of the campaign Labour's polling increased to levels around the 24% which it had received in 2015. On election day itself, the party managed to improve on its 2015 result and received 27% of the Scottish vote in a surprisingly good night for the party nationwide, and picked up 6 seats from
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#17330858291092160-765: A liberal capitalist movement, effectively making social democrats similar to non-socialist parties like the Democratic Party in the United States. UK Electoral Commission King Charles III [REDACTED] William, Prince of Wales [REDACTED] Charles III ( King-in-Council ) [REDACTED] Starmer ministry ( L ) Keir Starmer ( L ) Angela Rayner ( L ) ( King-in-Parliament ) [REDACTED] Charles III [REDACTED] [REDACTED] [REDACTED] The Lord Reed The Lord Hodge Andrew Bailey Monetary Policy Committee In
2340-506: A listening exercise. After surviving previous calls for him to go, Leonard resigned as leader on 14 January 2021, triggering the 2021 Scottish Labour leadership election . Shortly afterwards, it was reported that Leonard had been pressured into resigning by wealthy donors, who told UK Labour leader Keir Starmer that they would not give money to the Westminster party unless Leonard quit. On 27 February 2021, former Deputy Leader Anas Sarwar
2520-453: A major U-turn on previous Scottish Labour policy by seeming to endorse a referendum on Scottish independence , despite previously refusing to support any referendum on the grounds that she did not support independence. During a further TV interview two days later, she reiterated this commitment to a referendum and claimed that she had the full backing of current British prime minister Gordon Brown . The following day, however, Brown denied this
2700-485: A more satisfying life for most people". Socialism became a catch-all term for the critics of capitalism and industrial society. Social democrats are anticapitalists insofar as criticism about "poverty, low wages, unemployment, economic and social inequality, and a lack of economic security" is linked to the private ownership of the means of production . Social democracy or social democratic remains controversial among socialists. Some define it as representing
2880-611: A neoliberal form of government have registered relatively poorer results. Similarly, several reports have listed Scandinavian and other social democratic countries as ranking high on indicators such as civil liberties , democracy , press , labour and economic freedoms, peace , and freedom from corruption . Numerous studies and surveys indicate that people live happier lives in countries ruled by social democratic parties than those ruled by neoliberal, centrist, and right-wing governments. Other socialists criticize social democracy because it serves to devise new means to strengthen
3060-606: A new post of Leader of the Scottish Labour Party to be created (previous Scottish Labour leaders had only been the leader of the Labour group in the Scottish Parliament). Others included more autonomy for the Scottish party and the reorganisation of members into branches based on Holyrood constituencies rather than Westminster constituencies. On 17 December 2011, Johann Lamont MSP was elected as leader and Anas Sarwar MP
3240-772: A number of candidates affiliated with the Orange Order in local elections. In February 2022, during an interview on Times Radio , Sarwar said: "[Labour] have got to demonstrate to people the kind of alternative we can have and the difference it would make to people's lives so they positively vote Labour, not just negatively vote against the Tories or the SNP. If I'm honest, I didn't quite grip or grasp how I think hollowed out we were as an organisation, not just in terms of our political message and our political result, as an organisation I hadn't really grasped how hollowed out we were." The party rebranded
3420-719: A part-time basis who are nominated by the leaders of political parties, scrutinised by the Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission and approved by the House of Commons by means of an Address to the King requesting their appointment. Those nominated by the three largest parties serve terms of four years, while the Commissioner nominated by a smaller party serves for a two-year term. The appointments of nominated Commissioners are renewable once. These current Commissioners are: To reflect
3600-634: A peak of approximately 30,000 in the run-up to the 1997 general election . The figures included in the Annual Report presented to the Scottish Party Conference in 2008, also recorded that more than half of all Constituency Labour Parties (CLPs) had less than 300 members, with 14 having less than 200 members. In September 2010, the party issued 13,135 ballot papers to party members during the Labour Party (UK) leadership election . These did not necessarily equate to 13,135 individual members – due to
3780-606: A policy regime. They call the first classical social democracy or classical socialism , and the latter as competitive socialism , liberal socialism , neo-social democracy , or new social democracy . Many socialist parties in several countries have been, or are called Social Democratic . In the 19th century, social democrat was a broad catch-all for international socialists owing their primary ideological allegiance to Lassalle or Marx, in contrast to those advocating various forms of utopian socialism . Many parties in this era described themselves as Social Democrats , including
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#17330858291093960-423: A political label really means. As a result, social democratic has become a common new label for democratic socialist political parties." As a policy regime, social democracy entails support for a mixed economy and ameliorative measures to benefit the working class within the framework of democratic capitalism . Social democracy currently depicts a chiefly capitalist economy with state economic regulation in
4140-450: A qualitatively different socialist economic system . Since then, social democracy has been associated with Keynesian economics , the Nordic model , and welfare states . Social democracy has been described as the most common form of Western or modern socialism. Amongst social democrats, attitudes towards socialism vary: some retain socialism as a long-term goal, with social democracy being
4320-480: A referendum during First Minister's Questions in the Scottish Parliament. On 28 June 2008, Alexander announced her resignation as Leader of Scottish Labour as a result of the pressure on her following the donation scandal. Cathy Jamieson subsequently became interim party leader. A month after, Labour lost a safe Westminster seat to the SNP in the Glasgow East by-election . The 2008 Labour group leadership election
4500-655: A report on the reviews to the Electoral Commission. The Political Parties and Elections Act 2009 granted the Electoral Commission a variety of new supervisory and investigatory powers. It also allowing for the appointment of four new electoral commissioners who are nominated by political parties. As the regulator of political party funding in the UK, the Commission's role is to ensure the integrity and transparency of party and election finance. Political parties must submit annual statements of accounts, detailing income and expenditure, to
4680-560: A revolutionary road to socialism. In the 20th century, the term came to be associated with the positions of the German and Swedish parties. The first advocated revisionist Marxism , while the second advocated a comprehensive welfare state . By the 21st century, parties advocating social democracy include Labour, Left, and some Green parties. Most social democratic parties consider themselves democratic socialists and are categorized as socialists. They continue to reference socialism, either as
4860-629: A slight increase in their share of the vote. In the 2024 general election , Scottish Labour won 37 seats, becoming the largest party in Scotland. Scottish Labour is registered with the UK Electoral Commission as a description and Accounting Unit (AU) of the UK Labour Party and is therefore not a registered political party under the terms of the Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000 . It does however have autonomy from
5040-464: A small loss of votes but no losses of seats. McLeish resigned later that year amid a scandal involving allegations that he sub-let part of his tax-subsidised Westminster constituency office without it having been registered in the register of interests kept in the Parliamentary office, an affair which the press called Officegate . Though McLeish could not have personally benefited financially from
5220-404: A socialist form of private property as part of new socialism (although Corfe technically objects to private property as a term to collectively describe property that is not publicly owned as being vague) and rejecting state socialism as a failure. Third Way social democracy was formed in response to what its proponents saw as a crisis in the legitimacy of socialism—especially state socialism—and
5400-604: A sole seat in the House of Commons, Edinburgh South , and lost 40 of its 41 seats to the SNP. This was the first time the party had not dominated in Scotland since the Conservative Party landslide in 1959 . At the 2016 Scottish Parliament election , the party lost 13 of its 37 seats, becoming the third-largest party after being surpassed by the Scottish Conservatives . At the 2017 general election , Scottish Labour improved their fortunes and gained six seats from
5580-421: A strong emphasis on a well-regulated market. In contrast, democratic socialism places greater emphasis on abolishing private property ownership . Nevertheless, the distinction remains blurred and the two terms are commonly used synonymously. The Third Way is an off-shoot of social democracy which aims to fuse economic liberalism with social democratic economic policies and center-left social policies. It
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5760-400: A year later on 11 October 2000. A new first minister was elected in a ballot by Scottish Labour's MSPs and national executive members, because there was insufficient time to hold a full leadership election. On 21 October, Henry McLeish was elected to succeed Dewar, defeating rival Jack McConnell . Labour's dominance of Scotland's Westminster seats continued in the 2001 general election , with
5940-487: Is Scottish Labour. I'm ambitious for our party because I'm ambitious for our country". He also said that he planned to defeat the SNP in 2016, and would use the increased powers being devolved to Holyrood to end poverty and inequality. In her speech after being elected deputy leader, Kezia Dugdale said that the party's "focus has to be on the future – a Scottish Labour party that's fighting fit and fighting for our future". Labour's poll ratings in Scotland did not reverse, and
6120-398: Is a historic day for Scotland and for the entire UK. People are waking up to the news that after 14 years of Conservative government, after 14 years of chaos and division, it has come to an end and Scotland and the UK has elected a Labour government". As new Prime Minister of the United Kingdom , Keir Starmer , began to select his new ministry cabinet on 5 July, Scottish Labour MP Ian Murray
6300-481: Is a reconceptualization of social democracy developed in the 1990s and embraced by some social democratic parties; some analysts have characterized the Third Way as part of the neoliberal movement. Social democracy is defined as one of many socialist traditions . As an international political movement and ideology , it aims to achieve socialism through gradual and democratic means. This definition goes back to
6480-513: Is administered by the Glasgow-based Scottish Executive Committee (SEC), which is responsible to the Labour Party's London-based National Executive Committee (NEC) . The Scottish Executive Committee is made up of representatives of party members, elected members and party affiliates, for example, trade unions and socialist societies. Party Officers: In 2008, Scottish Labour membership was reported as 17,000, down from
6660-565: Is conflated either with the pink tide in Latin America, especially with Venezuela, or with communism in the form of Marxist–Leninist socialism as practised in the Soviet Union and other self-declared socialist states . Democratic socialism has been described as representing the left-wing or socialist tradition of the New Deal . The lack of a strong and influential socialist movement in
6840-442: Is loosely held to be valuable for its emphasis on changing the world for a more just, better future. During the late 19th century and the early 20th century, social democracy was a broad labour movement within socialism that aimed to replace private ownership with social ownership of the means of production, distribution and exchange , taking influence from both Marxism and the supporters of Ferdinand Lassalle . By 1868–1869,
7020-448: Is seen as inequality and oppression that laissez-faire capitalism causes. In the 21st century, it has become commonplace to define social democracy in reference to Northern and Western European countries, and their model of a welfare state with a corporatist system of collective bargaining . Social democracy has also been used synonymously with the Nordic model . Henning Meyer and Jonathan Rutherford associate social democracy with
7200-408: Is that of advancing those values within a capitalist market economy , as its support for a mixed economy no longer denotes the coexistence between private and public ownership or that between planning and market mechanisms but rather, it represents free markets combined with government intervention and regulations . As a form of reformist democratic socialism , social democracy rejects
7380-437: Is that socialists see the welfare state "not merely to provide benefits but to build the foundation for emancipation and self-determination". In the 21st century, a social democratic policy regime may further be distinguished by a support for an increase in welfare policies or an increase in public services . Some distinguish between ideological social democracy as part of the broad socialist movement and social democracy as
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7560-434: Is with a quite different form of society that socialists must now concern themselves. Pre-war anti-capitalism will give us very little help", for a new kind of capitalism required a new kind of socialism. Crosland believed that these features of reformed managerial capitalism were irreversible, but it has been argued within the Labour Party and by others that Margaret Thatcher and Ronald Reagan brought about its reversal in
7740-496: The 2010 UK general election including allegations of fraudulent postal voting, polling stations being unprepared for an evening surge of voters, policing of voters protesting at one polling station, and only enough ballot papers for 80% of voters. The Electoral Commission was criticised for its handling of the election. The Electoral Commission has been criticised by Nigel Vinson for perceived partisanship, and by Peter Bone for investigations into several notable figures on
7920-528: The 2014 referendum on Scottish independence , Scottish Labour joined with the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats to form the pro-union Better Together campaign against Scottish independence . It was led by Alistair Darling , a former Labour minister. In addition, Scottish Labour ran its own pro-UK campaign United with Labour alongside, with the support of former Prime Minister Gordon Brown . Anas Sarwar MP also led an unofficial organisation called
8100-459: The 2015 leadership election on 15 August 2015, beating Ken Macintosh . On 1 November 2015, Scottish Labour Party delegates backed a vote to scrap the UK's Trident nuclear missile system . The motion was supported by an overwhelming majority, in which both party members and unions voted 70% in favor of the motion. In the 2016 Scottish Parliament election , Labour lost a third of its seats, dropping from 37 to 24. Labour got its lowest percentage of
8280-449: The 2017 local elections , Labour's share of first preference votes fell from 31.4% to 20.2%, while it lost over 130 seats. This result meant the Party fell to third place in terms of both vote share and number of councillors. Labour also lost control of Glasgow and three other councils where it had a majority. At the beginning of the 2017 general election campaign, Labour's poll ratings fell to
8460-445: The 2019 general election , Labour lost all new seats gained two years earlier, and again were left with Edinburgh South as their only Scottish seat in the House of Commons. Ian Murray has served as the MP for the constituency since 2010, and is currently one of Scotland's longest-serving MPs. The 2019 general election was Labour's worst result nationally in 84 years, with their lowest share of
8640-531: The Committee on Standards in Public Life . Its mandate was set out in the Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000 (PPERA), and ranges from the regulation of political donations and expenditure by political and third parties through to promoting greater participation in the electoral process. The Electoral Administration Act 2006 required local authorities to review all polling stations, and to provide
8820-639: The Daily Record in February 2022 showed that nearly one third of Scottish Labour members were in favour of another Scottish independence referendum . Asked whether "in principle" there should be a referendum on independence, 30% agreed and 57% disagreed. From the formation of the Labour Representation Committee in 1900, it had members in Scotland, but unlike in England and Wales, it made no pact with
9000-742: The European Economic Community because it demanded a free-market economy among its members. Public ownership never accounted for more than 15–20% of capital formation , further dropping to 8% in the 1980s and below 5% in the 1990s after the rise of neoliberalism. The collapse of the legitimacy of state socialism and Keynesian interventionism (with the discovery of the phenomenon of stagflation ) has been an issue for social democracy. This has provoked re-thinking of how socialism should be achieved by social democrats, including changing views by social democrats on private property—anti-Third Way social democrats such as Robert Corfe have advocated
9180-507: The European Parliament . The UK left the EU on 31 January 2020. The Electoral Commission has a number of responsibilities in relation to referendums . These include: As of 2017, the Electoral Commission has overseen the holding of two UK-wide referendums. The first was the 2011 AV Referendum , and the second and most notable was the 2016 EU Referendum . On both occasions the then chair of
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#17330858291099360-831: The General German Workers' Association and the Social Democratic Workers' Party of Germany , which merged to form the Social Democratic Party of Germany , the Social Democratic Federation in Britain, and the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party . Social Democrat continued to be used in this context until the Bolshevik Revolution of October 1917, when Communist came into vogue for individuals and organizations espousing
9540-627: The German Empire between the 1880s and 1890s, when the conservative Chancellor Otto von Bismarck put in place many social welfare proposals initially suggested by the Social Democrats to hinder their electoral success after he instituted the Anti-Socialist Laws , laying the ground of the first modern welfare state . Those policies were dubbed State Socialism by the liberal opposition, but Bismarck later accepted and re-appropriated
9720-712: The Great Depression , economic interventionism and nationalizations became more common worldwide and the post-war consensus until the 1970s saw Keynesian social democratic and mixed economy policies put in place, leading to the post-World War II boom in which the United States, the Soviet Union, the Western European, and East Asian countries experienced unusually high and sustained economic growth , together with full employment . Contrary to early predictions, this period of high economic growth and national development also included many countries that were devastated by
9900-533: The Great Recession in the late 2000s and early 2010s cast doubts on the Washington Consensus , and protests against austerity measures ensued. There was a resurgence of social democratic parties and policies, especially in the United States and the United Kingdom, with the rise of politicians such as Bernie Sanders and Jeremy Corbyn , who rejected the Third Way, after the economic recession caused
10080-522: The Labour and Conservative parties, famously dubbed Butskellism . Some social democratic Third Way figures such as Anthony Giddens and Tony Blair , who has described himself as a Christian socialist and a socialist in ethical terms, insist that they are socialists, for they claim to believe in the same values that their anti-Third Way critics do. According to those self-proclaimed social democratic modernizers, Clause IV 's open advocacy of state socialism
10260-599: The Liberal Party and so initially struggled to make an impact. In 1899, the Scottish Trades Union Congress organised the Scottish Workers' Representation Committee , which merged into the Labour Party in 1909, greatly increasing its presence in Scotland. By this time, the party's structure in the nation was complex, with constituency parties, and branches of affiliated parties, but no co-ordination at
10440-476: The National Health Service and Labour's welfare state development. This social-liberal paradigm represented the post-war consensus and was accepted across the political spectrum by conservatives, liberals and socialists until the 1970s. Similarly, the neoliberal paradigm, which replaced the previous paradigm, was accepted across the mainstream political parties, including social democratic supporters of
10620-553: The Pasokification of many social democratic parties. The United Nations World Happiness Report shows that the happiest nations are concentrated in social democratic nations, especially in Northern Europe, where the Nordic model is applied. This is at times attributed to the success of the social democratic Nordic model in the region, where similar democratic socialist , labourist , and social democratic parties dominated
10800-560: The Scottish Liberal Democrats , forming a majority Scottish Executive . Until recently, especially since the 2014 Scottish independence referendum , the party suffered significant decline; losing ground predominantly to the Scottish National Party , who advocate Scottish independence from the United Kingdom. Scottish Labour experienced one of their worst defeats ever at the 2015 general election . They were left with
10980-519: The United Kingdom , the Electoral Commission is the national election commission , created in 2001 as a result of the Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000 . It is an independent agency that regulates party and election finance and sets standards for how elections should be run. The Electoral Commission was created in 2001 following a recommendation by the fifth report of
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#173308582910911160-686: The Vote Leave Campaign. In September 2018 the High Court ruled that the Electoral Commission had misinterpreted the rules prior to the referendum taking place in advice it gave to the Vote Leave campaign, allowing them to break the law without even being aware. On 13 May 2020, during Prime Minister's Questions , Conservative MP Peter Bone attacked the Electoral Commission for its investigations into four separate members of pro-Leave campaigns, who were all found innocent of any wrongdoing. He called
11340-491: The economic and technological determinism generally characteristic of orthodox Marxism and economic liberalism . By the post- World War II period and its economic consensus and expansion , most social democrats in Europe had abandoned their ideological connection to orthodox Marxism. They shifted their emphasis toward social policy reform as a compromise between capitalism to socialism . According to Michael Harrington ,
11520-468: The "2014 Truth Team", described by the party as "dedicated to cutting through the noise and delivering [...] facts on independence". In July 2012, a member of Scottish Labour started Labour for Independence , a rebel group of Labour supporters who back Yes Scotland in the campaign for Scottish independence. The group was dismissed by the Scottish Labour leadership as lacking "real support" from within
11700-454: The 1940s and 1970s, and called such because it was developed by social liberals but implemented by social democrats. Since those policies were mostly implemented by social democrats, social liberalism is sometimes called social democracy . In Britain, the social-liberal Beveridge Report drafted by the Liberal economist William Beveridge influenced the Labour Party 's social policies, such as
11880-458: The 1970s and 1980s. Although the post-war consensus represented a period where social democracy was "most buoyant", it has been argued that "post-war social democracy had been altogether too confident in its analysis" because "gains which were thought to be permanent turned out to be conditional and as the reservoir of capitalist growth showed signs of drying up". In Socialism Now (1974), Crosland argued that "[m]uch more should have been achieved by
12060-432: The 19th century, social democracy could be described as "organized Marxism", it became "organized reformism" by the 20th century. In political science, democratic socialism and social democracy are sometimes seen as synonyms, while they are distinguished in journalistic use. Under this democratic socialist definition, social democracy is an ideology seeking to gradually build an alternative socialist economy through
12240-499: The 19th-century labour movement . Originally a catch-all term for socialists of varying tendencies, after the Russian Revolution , it came to refer to reformist socialists that are opposed to the authoritarian and centralized Soviet model of socialism. In the post-war era, social democrats embraced mixed economies with a predominance of private property and promoted the regulation of capitalism over its replacement with
12420-503: The 2011 Scottish Parliament election would not necessarily translate into support for its political opponents in other elections. Following the 2011 Scottish election, Ed Miliband commissioned the Review of the Labour Party in Scotland of the future structure and operation of the Labour Party in Scotland, co-chaired by Murphy and Sarah Boyack MSP. The review included a recommendation for
12600-572: The 21st century, European social democratic parties represent the centre-left and most are part of the Party of European Socialists , while democratic socialist parties are to their left within the Party of the European Left . Many of those social democratic parties are members of the Socialist International , including several democratic socialist parties, whose Frankfurt Declaration declares
12780-471: The 57 Scottish seats contested at the election. The electoral success for Scottish Labour in Scotland at the 2024 UK general election was also considered a landslide, with Scottish Labour returning as the largest political party representing Scotland at the House of Commons . Scottish Labour Party leader, Anas Sarwar, said on the morning of the 5 July following the electoral success of the Scottish Labour Party "this
12960-472: The 73 constituency seats), a clear distance ahead of the second-placed Scottish National Party (SNP). Labour entered government by forming a coalition with the Scottish Liberal Democrats, with Dewar agreeing to their demand for the abolition of up-front tuition fees for university students as the price for a coalition deal. Dewar became the inaugural First Minister of Scotland . Dewar died only
13140-514: The Communists sought to distance themselves from to Social Democracy 's association with reformism. The Communists also sought to distinguish themselves from the socialists that had supported the imperialist Great War and thus betrayed proletarian internationalism . This reformist–revolutionary division culminated in the German Revolution of 1919 , in which the Communists wanted to overthrow
13320-533: The Electoral Commission Jenny Watson acted as the appointed Chief Counting Officer. The commission also oversaw the 2004 North East England Devolution Referendum , the 2011 Welsh Devolution Referendum and also the 2014 Scottish Independence Referendum . The commission has no legal position in the legislation concerning referendums proposed by the devolved Scottish and Welsh administrations. From 1 October 2010, additional Commissioners serve on
13500-442: The Electoral Commission. The Commission may impose financial civil penalties on political parties and their accounting units if they fail to submit donation and loans returns, campaign spending return or statements of account. The Commission also has the power to seek forfeiture of impermissible donations accepted by political parties. The Commission registers political parties and regulates party compliance. The Commission maintains
13680-548: The Electoral Commission. The Commission publishes these on its website. Political parties and regulated donees are required to submit reports of all donations they receive to the Commission. The Commission maintains a publicly available and searchable register of these donations on its website. At general elections to the UK Parliament, EU Parliament, Scottish Parliament, Welsh Assembly and Northern Ireland Assembly political parties are required to submit campaign spending returns to
13860-543: The Gaitskellites, nationalization was not essential to achieve all major socialist objectives; public ownership and nationalization were not explicitly rejected but were seen as merely one of numerous useful devices. According to social democratic modernizers like Blair, nationalization policies had become politically unviable by the 1990s. During the Third Way development of social democracy, social democrats adjusted to
14040-704: The German government and establish a soviet republic like Russia, while the Social Democrats wanted to preserve it as what came to be known as the Weimar Republic . Thus social democracy went from a "Marxist revolutionary" doctrine into a form of "moderate parliamentary socialism". The Bolsheviks split from the Second International and created their own separate Communist International (Comintern) in 1919 that sought to rally revolutionary social democrats together for socialist revolution. With this split,
14220-604: The Marxist analysis that the creation of socialism is interconnected with the evolution of capitalism. August Bebel , Bernstein, Engels, Wilhelm Liebknecht , Marx, and Carl Wilhelm Tölcke are all considered founders of social democracy in Germany. However, Bernstein and Lassalle, along with labourists and reformists such as Louis Blanc in France, led to the widespread association of social democracy with socialist reformism. While Lassalle
14400-444: The SNP in traditionally Labour areas such as Coatbridge , Glasgow , Kirkcaldy , and Rutherglen , bringing its Scottish number of seats to 7. Despite the positive result for the party, Labour remained in third place in Scotland, behind the Conservatives on 29%, and the SNP on 37%. On 29 August 2017, Dugdale resigned as leader of the Scottish Labour Party. Her deputy, Alex Rowley , took over as acting leader until 15 November, when he
14580-478: The SNP or the Greens, instead choosing to work with the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats to form minority administrations in several cases. In Edinburgh, they suspended two councillors for refusing to vote for the deal which gave Conservatives positions within the council. Sarwar, like Starmer, voiced his opposition to a proposed second Scottish independence referendum , stating that a Labour government would not grant
14760-427: The SNP, bringing its total seat tally to seven and winning a 27% share of the vote. This was the first time since the 1918 general election , 99 years previously, that Labour had finished in third place at any general election in Scotland. Overall, the 2017 general election marked the first time in twenty years that the Labour Party had made net gains in the UK at any election. The success was short-lived, however, and at
14940-469: The SNP, who won 47 seats to Labour's 46 seats. Labour still won the most constituencies, but the SNP made inroads. Both parties were well short of a majority in the parliament. SNP leader Alex Salmond was elected first minister with support from the Scottish Greens , defeating McConnell 49–46 while the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats abstained. Labour did take the most votes in the local elections on
15120-412: The Scottish Labour Party and treating it "like a branch office of London." The party's 2014 leadership election was won by Jim Murphy , an MP who had previously served as Secretary of State for Scotland and been a prominent campaigner for the pro-Union side in the referendum. In his victory speech, Murphy said that his election marked a "fresh start" for Scottish Labour: "Scotland is changing and so too
15300-464: The Scottish Labour Party. In the early years, the Scottish Council had little power, and its conference could only consider motions on Scottish matters until 1972. However, this allowed it to devote significant time to the question of Scottish devolution . The Labour Party campaigned for the creation of a devolved Scottish Parliament as part of its wider policy of a devolved United Kingdom. In
15480-453: The Scottish Parliament election, with Labour losing seven seats and the Liberal Democrats gaining one. The SNP also lost seats, though other pro-independence parties made gains. Labour once again won the majority of seats in Scotland at the 2005 general election . The boundaries in Scotland were redrawn to reduce the number of Westminster constituencies in Scotland from 72 to 59. Labour had a notional loss of 5 seats and an actual loss of 15. At
15660-518: The Speaker's Committee (established by PPERA 2000). The Commission must submit an annual estimate of income and expenditure to the Committee. The Committee, made up of Members of Parliament, is responsible for answering questions on behalf of the Commission. The Member who takes questions for the Speaker's Committee is Bridget Phillipson . The PPP is composed of representatives from all UK parliamentary political parties with two or more sitting MPs. The PPP
15840-401: The Third Way. This has caused much controversy within the social democratic movement. From the late 19th century until the mid to late 20th century, there was greater public confidence in the idea of a state-managed economy that was a major pillar of communism, and to a substantial degree by conservatives and left-liberals . Aside from anarchists and other libertarian socialists , there
16020-701: The UK Labour Party. As with Welsh Labour , Scottish Labour has its own general secretary which is the administrative head of the party, responsible for the day-to-day running of the organisation, and reports to the UK General Secretary of the Labour Party . The Scottish Labour headquarters is currently at Bath Street, Glasgow. It was formerly co-located with the offices of Unite the Union at John Smith House, 145 West Regent Street. The party holds an annual conference during February/March each year. Scottish Labour
16200-504: The United Kingdom (the latter in the form of the Liberal welfare reforms ), with both socialist and liberal parties adopting those policies. In the United States, the progressive movement , a similar social democratic movement predominantly influenced more by social liberalism than socialism , supported progressive liberals such as Democratic presidents Woodrow Wilson and Franklin D. Roosevelt , whose New Freedom and New Deal programmes adopted many social democratic policies. With
16380-476: The United States as representing European social democracy. South Africa has been governed by the African National Congress (ANC), a social democratic party, since 1994. In 2022, The World Economic Forum said that South Africa risks state collapse and identified five major risks facing the country. Former minister Jay Naidoo has said that South Africa is in serious trouble and is showing signs of
16560-492: The United States has been linked to the Red Scare , and any ideology associated with socialism brings social stigma due to its association with authoritarian socialist states . Socialism has been used as a pejorative term by members of the political right to stop the implementation of liberal and progressive policies and proposals and to criticize the public figures trying to implement them. Although Americans may reject
16740-465: The United States, where it is tied to the New Deal . Some democratic socialists who follow social democracy support practical, progressive reforms of capitalism and are more concerned with administrating and humanising it, with socialism relegated to the indefinite future. Other democratic socialists want to go beyond mere meliorist reforms and advocate the systematic transformation of the mode of production from capitalism to socialism . Despite
16920-410: The capitalist system, which conflicts with the socialist goal of replacing capitalism with a socialist system. According to this view, social democracy fails to address the systemic issues inherent in capitalism. The American democratic socialist philosopher David Schweickart contrasts social democracy with democratic socialism by defining the former as an attempt to strengthen the welfare state and
17100-778: The commission runs a series of public awareness campaigns ahead of elections and throughout the year to encourage people to register to vote. These focus on audiences that research indicates are less likely to be on the electoral register, including recent home-movers, students and UK citizens living overseas. The Commission produces guidance and gives advice on electoral administration to returning officers and electoral administrators in Great Britain . The Commission has set performance standards for returning officers and referendum counting officers in Great Britain. These standards do not apply to local government elections in Scotland as they are
17280-580: The constituency vote declined by less than 1%. Labour's defeat was attributed to their campaign being directed mostly against the government in Westminster instead of the SNP. Party leader Iain Gray , who held on to his own seat by only 151 votes, announced that he would be resigning with effect from later in the year. Eight weeks later, Labour easily retained a Westminster seat at the Inverclyde by-election , suggesting that Scottish Labour's disappointing performance in
17460-566: The early 21st centuries. As the number of people in traditional working-class occupations such as factory workers and miners declined, socialists have successfully widened their appeal to the middle class by diluting their ideology; however, there is still continuity between parties such as the SPD, the Labour Party in Britain, and other socialist parties which remain part of the same famille spirituelle , or ideological party family, as outlined by most political scientists. For many social democrats, Marxism
17640-446: The economy in the public interest . Social democracy has a strong, long-standing connection with trade unions and the broader labour movement . It is supportive of measures to foster greater democratic decision-making in the economic sphere , including co-determination , collective bargaining rights for workers, and expanding ownership to employees and other stakeholders . The history of social democracy stretches back to
17820-596: The economy and retaining significant social regulations. When nationalization of large industries was relatively widespread in the 20th century until the 1970s, it was not uncommon for commentators to describe some European social democracies as democratic socialist states seeking to move their countries toward a socialist economy . In 1956, leading Labour Party politician and British author Anthony Crosland said that capitalism had been abolished in Britain, although others such as Welshman Aneurin Bevan , Minister of Health in
18000-438: The economy that the state could best manage and rejected a mass scale of state ownership as being too burdensome to be manageable. Bernstein was an advocate of Kantian socialism and neo-Kantianism . Although unpopular early on, his views became mainstream after World War I. In The Future of Socialism (1956), Anthony Crosland argued that "traditional capitalism has been reformed and modified almost out of existence, and it
18180-500: The economy, some political commentators stated that during the post-war period, when social democratic parties were in power, countries such as Britain and France were democratic socialist states. The same claim has been applied to Nordic countries with the Nordic model. In the 1980s, the government of President François Mitterrand aimed to expand dirigism and attempted to nationalize all French banks, but this attempt faced opposition from
18360-413: The efficiency of the capitalist system by reducing incentives for capitalists to invest in further production. The welfare state only serves to legitimize and prolong the exploitative and contradiction-laden system of capitalism to society's detriment. Critics of contemporary social democracy, such as Jonas Hinnfors, argue that when social democracy abandoned Marxism , it also abandoned socialism and became
18540-425: The either/or interpretation of capitalism versus socialism. It claims that fostering a progressive evolution of capitalism will gradually result in the evolution of a capitalist economy into a socialist economy. All citizens should be legally entitled to certain social rights: universal access to public services such as education, health care, workers' compensation, and other services, including child care and care for
18720-889: The elderly. Social democrats advocate freedom from discrimination based on differences in ability/disability, age, ethnicity , gender , language, race, religion, sexual orientation , and social class . Later in their lives, Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels argued that in some countries, workers might be able to achieve their aims through peaceful means. In this sense, Engels argued that socialists were evolutionists, although both Marx and Engels remained committed to social revolution . In developing social democracy, Eduard Bernstein rejected orthodox Marxism 's revolutionary and materialist foundations. Rather than class conflict and socialist revolution , Bernstein's Marxist revisionism reflected that socialism could be achieved through cooperation between people regardless of class. Nonetheless, Bernstein paid deference to Marx, describing him as
18900-458: The election, Labour consolidated their vote in Scotland, losing no seats (despite losing 91 seats across the rest of Britain) and regained Glasgow East from the SNP. This resulted in incumbent Scottish secretary Jim Murphy stating that the result provided an impetus for Scottish Labour to attempt to become "the biggest party in Holyrood" in the 2011 Scottish Parliament elections. Labour led the SNP in
19080-581: The emergence of developments within the European left, such as Eurocommunism , the rise of neoliberalism, the fall of the Soviet Union and the Revolutions of 1989 , the Third Way , and the rise of anti-austerity and Occupy movements due to the global financial crisis of 2007–2008 and the Great Recession , the causes of which have been attributed by some to the neoliberal shift and deregulation economic policies. This latest development contributed to
19260-499: The father of social democracy but declaring that it was necessary to revise Marx's thought in light of changing conditions. Influenced by the gradualist platform favoured by the Fabian movement in Britain, Bernstein advocated a similar evolutionary approach to socialist politics that he termed evolutionary socialism . Evolutionary means include representative democracy and cooperation between people regardless of class. Bernstein accepted
19440-445: The first post-war Labour government and the architect of the National Health Service , disputed the claim. For Crosland and others who supported his views, Britain was a socialist state. According to Bevan, Britain had a socialist National Health Service , which opposed the hedonism of Britain's capitalist society. Although, as in the rest of Europe, the laws of capitalism still operated fully and private enterprise dominated
19620-494: The following month, changing its traditional red rose logo to a red and purple thistle. A party spokesman said: "Scottish Labour is committed to transforming our party to win back the trust of the people to Scotland. We're on the side of the Scots, and hope they'll join us so we can build the future together. To do that we need new ideas and new thinking. At Scottish Labour conference this week you will hear Anas Sarwar relentlessly focus on
19800-466: The future." At the 2022 local elections , Labour made minor gains and overtook the Conservatives into second place by gaining 20 seats and a slight increase in their share of the vote, but still finished far behind the SNP; with 282 seats overall, it was Labour's second worst-worst result since 1977 , beaten only by the 262 seats won in 2017. The party was criticised in the aftermath of the elections for pledging to do no deals or partake in coalitions with
19980-425: The general interest, state provision of welfare services and state redistribution of income and wealth. Social democratic concepts influence the policies of most Western states since World War 2. Social democracy is frequently considered a practical middle course between capitalism and socialism. Social democracy aims to use democratic collective action for promoting freedom and equality in the economy and opposes what
20160-537: The goal of developing democratic socialism. Others are also part of the Progressive Alliance , founded in 2013 by most contemporary or former member parties of the Socialist International. Social democracy has been seen as a revision of orthodox Marxism , although this has been described as misleading for modern social democracy. Marxist revisionist Eduard Bernstein 's views influenced and laid
20340-541: The government at the national level. During the post-war consensus , this form of social democracy has been a major component of the Nordic model and, to a lesser degree, the West European social market economies . The development of social corporatism began in Norway and Sweden in the 1930s and was consolidated in the 1960s and 1970s. The system was based upon the dual compromise of capital and labour as one component and
20520-399: The gradual abolition of capitalism and social democrats opposed to the Third Way merged into democratic socialism. Although social democracy originated as a revolutionary socialist or communist movement, one distinction between democratic socialism and social democracy is that the former can include revolutionary means. The latter proposes representative democracy under the rule of law as
20700-401: The groundwork for developing post-war social democracy as a policy regime, Labour revisionism , and the neo-revisionism of the Third Way . This definition of social democracy is focused on ethical terms, with the type of socialism advocated being ethical and liberal . Bernstein described socialism and social democracy in particular as organized liberalism; in this sense, liberalism is
20880-421: The idea that the United States has characteristics of a European-style social democracy, it has been argued by some observers that it has a comfortable social safety net , albeit severely underfunded in comparison to other Western countries. It has also been argued that many policies that may be considered socialist are popular but that socialism is not. Others, such as Tony Judt , described modern liberalism in
21060-412: The implementation of market-oriented , monetarist , and neoliberal policies ( privatization , deregulation , free trade , economic globalization , and anti- inflationary fiscal policy , among others), the social democratic welfare state was put in doubt. This caused several social democratic parties to adopt the Third Way , a centrist ideology combining social democracy with neoliberalism; however,
21240-452: The importance of social corporatism to social democracy in his work Economic Democracy: The Politics of a Feasible Socialism (1995). As a welfare state, social democracy is a specific type of welfare state and policy regime described as being universalist, supportive of collective bargaining, and more supportive of public provision of welfare. It is especially associated with the Nordic model. Social democratic policies were first adopted in
21420-544: The individuals, groups, and literature of the First International , and have retained some of the terminology and symbolism such as the colour red . How far society should intervene and whether the government, mainly the existing government, is the right vehicle for change are issues of disagreement. As the Historical Dictionary of Socialism summarizes, "there were general criticisms about the social effects of
21600-659: The influence of both the reformist socialism of Ferdinand Lassalle and the internationalist revolutionary socialism advanced by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels . Social democracy has undergone various major forms throughout its history. In the 19th century, it encompassed various non-revolutionary and revolutionary currents of socialism, excluding anarchism . In one of the first scholarly works on European socialism written for an American audience, Richard T. Ely 's 1883 book French and German Socialism in Modern Times , social democrats were characterized as "the extreme wing of
21780-502: The influence of politicians like Carlo Rosselli in Italy, social democrats began disassociating themselves from orthodox Marxism altogether as represented by Marxism–Leninism , embracing liberal socialism , Keynesianism , and appealing to morality rather than any consistent systematic, scientific , or materialist worldview. Social democracy appealed to communitarian , corporatist , and sometimes nationalist sentiments while rejecting
21960-445: The institutions of liberal democracy . Starting in the post-war period, social democracy was defined as a policy regime advocating the reformation of capitalism to align it with the ethical ideals of social justice . What socialists such as anarchists , communists , social democrats, syndicalists , and some social democratic proponents of the Third Way share in common is history, specifically that they can all be traced back to
22140-675: The interests of the people through their representatives' influence, an argument echoed by some socialists in post-war Britain. Advents in economics and observation of the failure of state socialism in the Eastern Bloc countries and the Western world with the crisis and stagflation of the 1970s, combined with the neoliberal rebuke of state interventionism , resulted in socialists re-evaluating and redesigning socialism. Some social democrats have sought to keep what they deem are socialism's core values while changing their position on state involvement in
22320-525: The late 1980s and 1990s it and its representatives participated in the Scottish Constitutional Convention with the Scottish Liberal Democrats , Scottish Greens , trades unions and churches, and also campaigned for a "Yes-Yes" vote in the 1997 referendum . Donald Dewar led Labour's campaign for the first elections to the Scottish Parliament on 6 May 1999. Labour won the most votes and seats, with 56 seats out of 129 (including 53 of
22500-411: The later decades of the 20th century and into the first years of the 21st, Labour dominated politics in Scotland; winning the largest share of the vote in Scotland at every UK general election from 1964 to 2010 , every European Parliament election from 1984 to 2004 and in the first two elections to the Scottish Parliament in 1999 and 2003 . After this, Scottish Labour formed a coalition with
22680-533: The latter as an alternative economic system to capitalism. According to Schweickart, the democratic socialist critique of social democracy is that capitalism can never be sufficiently humanized and that any attempt to suppress its economic contradictions will only cause them to emerge elsewhere. He gives the example that attempts to reduce unemployment too much would result in inflation, and too much job security would erode labour discipline. In contrast to social democracy's mixed economy , democratic socialists advocate
22860-414: The leadership election must have either been a member of the Scottish Labour Party, an 'affiliated supporter' (through being signed up as a Scottish Labour Party supporter through an affiliated organisation or union), or a 'registered supporter' (which requires signing up online and paying a one-off fee of £12) by 9 October. Voting opened on 27 October and closed at midday on 17 November. Richard Leonard won
23040-454: The leadership election with 56.7% of the vote and was elected as the leader of the Scottish Labour Party on 18 November. On 12 December 2019, Scottish Labour returned to having only one seat in Westminster ( Edinburgh South ). Leonard apologised for the UK party failing to address concerns over Brexit and for the Scottish party not having stopped what he described as the "SNP juggernaut". However, he said he would continue as leader and carry out
23220-475: The long history of overlap between the two, with social democracy considered a form of democratic or parliamentary socialism and social democrats calling themselves democratic socialists, democratic socialism is considered a misnomer in the United States. One issue is that social democracy is equated with wealthy countries in the Western world, especially in Northern and Western Europe, while democratic socialism
23400-667: The market and the state as the other. From the 1940s through the 1970s, defining features of social democracy as a policy regime included Keynesian economic policies and industrial agreements to balance the power of capital and labour and the welfare state. This is especially associated with the Swedish Social Democrats . In the 1970s, social corporatism evolved into neo-corporatism , which replaced it. Neo-corporatism has represented an important concept of Third Way social democracy . Social democratic theorist Robin Archer wrote about
23580-470: The national level. To provide this, a Scottish Advisory Council was founded in 1915, its first conference chaired by Keir Hardie . This was later renamed as the Scottish Council of the Labour Party , informally known as the Labour Party in Scotland . In 1994 or 1995, it was renamed as the Scottish Labour Party. Under Kezia Dugdale , it was rebranded as Scottish Labour, though its official name remains
23760-433: The neoliberal political climate that had existed since the 1980s. Those social democrats recognized that outspoken opposition to capitalism was politically non-viable and that accepting the powers that be , seeking to challenge free-market and laissez-faire variations of capitalism, was a more immediate concern. The Third Way stands for a modernized social democracy, but the social democracy that remained committed to
23940-467: The newly elected leader Jim Murphy claimed that the figure was "about 20,000" on the TV programme Scotland Tonight . In late September 2015, following a membership boost resulting from the 2015 Labour leadership election , a total of 29,899 people were associated with the party; 18,824 members, 7,790 people affiliated through trade unions and other groups, and 3,285 registered supporters. In September 2017, it
24120-784: The only acceptable constitutional form of government. During the Great Recession, Social Democratic parties in Europe increasingly adopted austerity as a policy response to the economic crisis, shifting away from the traditional Keynesian response of deficit spending . According to Björn Bremer, this shift in thinking was due to the influence of supply-side economics on Social Democratic leaders and by electoral motivations whereby Social Democrats wanted to appear economically competent to voters by adopting orthodox fiscal policies. Social democracy has some significant overlap in practical policy positions with democratic socialism, although they are usually distinguished from each other. In Britain,
24300-456: The oversight, he undertook to repay the £36,000 rental income, and resigned to allow Scottish Labour a clean break to prepare for the 2003 Scottish Parliament election . After McLeish's resignation, McConnell quickly emerged as the only candidate, and was elected First Minister by the Parliament on 22 November 2001. The coalition between Labour and the Liberal Democrats was narrowly re-elected at
24480-461: The party suffered a landslide defeat in the general election in May 2015 , losing 40 of their 41 seats to the SNP. Many senior party figures were unseated, including Murphy himself ( East Renfrewshire ), Shadow Foreign Secretary Douglas Alexander ( Paisley and Renfrewshire South ) and Shadow Scotland Secretary Margaret Curran ( Glasgow East ). Ian Murray ( Edinburgh South ) was the only MP re-elected. It
24660-643: The party's electoral structure, members can qualify for multiple votes. The party has declined to reveal its membership figures since 2008, and did not publish the number of votes cast in the leadership elections of 2011 or 2014, only percentages. In November 2014 the party's membership was claimed by an unnamed source reported in the Sunday Herald to be 13,500. Other reports in the media at around this time quoted figures of "as low as 8,000" (the Evening Times ) and "less than 10,000" ( New Statesman ). In December 2014
24840-549: The party. The referendum was held on 18 September 2014 and resulted in a 55.3%–44.7% victory for the No side. However, many of Labour's traditional strongholds favoured the Yes side, notably including Glasgow . The SNP had a surge in membership and gained a wide lead over Labour in the opinion polls. On 24 October 2014, Johann Lamont announced her resignation as leader. She accused Labour's UK-wide leadership of undermining her attempts to reform
25020-454: The polls for the 2011 Scottish Parliament election until the campaign began in March, at which point support for the SNP rallied. The SNP went on to win an unprecedented majority in the Scottish Parliament, a result that had been considered impossible under the proportional voting system. Labour had a net loss of 7 seats to the SNP. It also lost most of their constituency seats, although its share of
25200-498: The position that socialism should be grounded in ethical and moral arguments and achieved through gradual legislative reform . Bernstein's ideas were initially not well received; his party maintained the position that reforms should be pursued only as a means to an eventual revolution, not as a substitute for it. Yet, Bernstein's ideas would have growing influence, particularly after the First World War. The Russian Revolution
25380-447: The predecessor and precursor of socialism, whose restricted view of freedom is to be socialized , while democracy must entail social democracy. For those social democrats, who still describe and see themselves as socialists, socialism is used in ethical or moral terms, representing democracy, egalitarianism, and social justice rather than a specifically socialist economic system. Under this type of definition, social democracy's goal
25560-400: The prediction that the working class was the decisive class with the development of capitalism. In their view, this did not materialize in the aftermath of mass industrialization during World War II. In Britain, the social democratic Gaitskellites emphasized the goals of personal liberty , social welfare , and social equality . The Gaitskellites were part of a political consensus between
25740-560: The previous administration, and Cathy Jamieson MSP, the acting party leader who had been deputy leader under Jack McConnell. On 13 September 2008, Gray was elected leader and promised a "fresh start" for Labour in Scotland. A few months later, Labour won the Glenrothes by-election in Fife. The result was considered a surprise, as there was speculation that the SNP could have won an upset similar to Glasgow East. The 2009 European Parliament election
25920-668: The primary reason for this was the perspective that viewed the Stalinist-era Soviet Union as having succeeded in usurping the legacy of Marxism and distorting it in propaganda to justify totalitarianism . In its foundation, the Socialist International denounced the Bolshevik-inspired communist movement, "for [it] falsely claims a share in the Socialist tradition". Furthermore, core tenets of Marxism have been regarded by social democrats as having become obsolete, including
26100-435: The private ownership and control of capital", "a general view that the solution to these problems lay in some form of collective control (with the degree of control varying among the proponents of socialism) over the means of production, distribution, and exchange", and "there was agreement that the outcomes of this collective control should be a society that provided social equality and justice, economic protection, and generally
26280-525: The prospect of a new socialism was "a chimera, a hopeful invention of Western socialists who had not understood how ' actually existing socialism ' had totally discredited any version of socialism among those who had lived under it". Social democracy influenced the development of social corporatism , a form of economic tripartite corporatism based upon a social partnership between the interests of capital and labour , involving collective bargaining between representatives of employers and labour mediated by
26460-474: The reformists founded the Labour and Socialist International (LSI) in 1923. The LSI had a history of rivalry with the Comintern, with which it competed over the leadership of the international socialist and labour movement. During the 1920s and 1930s, social democracy became dominant in the socialist movement, mainly associated with reformist socialism while communism represented revolutionary socialism. Under
26640-544: The region's political scene and laid the ground for their universal welfare states in the 20th century. The Nordic countries, including Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden, as well as Greenland and the Faroe Islands, also ranks highest on the metrics of real GDP per capita , economic equality , public health , life expectancy , solidarity , perceived freedom to make life choices , generosity , quality of life , and human development , while countries practising
26820-476: The registers of political parties in Great Britain and Northern Ireland. The commission produces guidance and gives advice on electoral registration to electoral registration officers in Great Britain . The commission has published performance standards for electoral registration in Great Britain. Electoral registration officers are required to report against these standards and the commission will make this information publicly available. As part of this work,
27000-518: The revised version of Clause IV to the Labour Party Constitution , which was implemented in the 1990s by the New Labour faction led by Tony Blair , affirms a formal commitment to democratic socialism, describing it as a modernized form of social democracy; however, it no longer commits the party to public ownership of industry and in its place advocates "the enterprise of the market and
27180-412: The rigour of competition" along with "high quality public services either owned by the public or accountable to them". Many social democrats "refer to themselves as socialists or democratic socialists", and some such as Blair "use or have used these terms interchangeably". Others argue that "there are clear differences between the three terms, and preferred to describe their own political beliefs by using
27360-551: The rise of politicians, such as Jeremy Corbyn in Britain and Bernie Sanders in the United States, who rejected centrist politicians that supported triangulation within the Labour and Democratic parties. According to both right-wing critics and supporters alike, policies such as universal health care and education are "pure Socialism" because they are opposed to "the hedonism of capitalist society". Because of this overlap, democratic socialism refers to European socialism as represented by social democracy, especially in
27540-442: The rising legitimacy of neoliberalism, especially laissez-faire capitalism. The Third Way's view of the crisis is criticized for being too simplistic. Others have criticized it because with the fall of state socialism, it was possible for "a new kind of 'third way' socialism (combining social ownership with markets and democracy), thereby heralding a revitalization of the social democratic tradition"; however, it has been argued that
27720-432: The same day but lost seats due to the introduction of proportional representation for local council elections. On 15 August 2007, McConnell announced his intention to resign as Scottish Labour leader. Wendy Alexander emerged as the only candidate to succeed him, and was installed as leader of the Labour group in the Scottish Parliament on 14 September 2007. During a TV interview on 4 May 2008, Wendy Alexander performed
27900-411: The socialism associated with Karl Marx had become the official theoretical basis of the first social democratic party established in Europe, the Social Democratic Workers' Party of Germany . In the early 20th century, the German social democratic politician Eduard Bernstein rejected orthodox Marxist ideas about the inevitable progression of history and the need for revolution , advancing instead
28080-426: The socialists" who were "inclined to lay so much stress on equality of enjoyment, regardless of the value of one's labor, that they might, perhaps, more properly be called communists". In the early 20th century, social democracy came to refer to support for a process of developing society through existing political structures and opposition to revolutionary means, which are often associated with Marxism. Thus whereas in
28260-506: The socioeconomic order in Europe from the post-war period until the early 1990s. Social democratic roots are also observed in Latin America during the early 20th century; this was the case in Uruguay during the two presidential terms of José Batlle y Ordóñez . While the welfare state has been accepted across the political spectrum, particularly by conservatives ( Christian democrats ) and liberals ( social liberals ), one notable difference
28440-515: The start of the campaign for the 2007 Scottish Parliament election , Labour were behind the SNP in most of the opinion polls . On 10 April, McConnell unveiled Scottish Labour's election manifesto, which included plans to scrap bills for pensioners and reform Council Tax . The manifesto also proposed a large increase in public spending on education, which would allow for the school leaving age to be increased to 18 and reduce average class sizes to 19 pupils. Labour lost 4 seats and fell narrowly behind
28620-670: The state regulating the economy in the form of welfare capitalism , economic interventionism , partial public ownership , a robust welfare state , policies promoting social equality , and a more equitable distribution of income . Social democracy maintains a commitment to representative and participatory democracy . Common aims include curbing inequality , eliminating the oppression of underprivileged groups, eradicating poverty , and upholding universally accessible public services such as child care , education , elderly care , health care , and workers' compensation . Economically, it supports income redistribution and regulating
28800-478: The term 'social democracy' only". Democratic socialism represents social democracy before the 1970s, when the post-war displacement of Keynesianism by monetarism and neoliberalism caused many social democratic parties to adopt the Third Way ideology, accepting capitalism as the status quo for the time being and redefining socialism in a way that maintains the capitalist structure intact. Like modern social democracy, democratic socialism tends to follow
28980-491: The term. It was a set of social programs implemented in Germany that Bismarck initiated in 1883 as remedial measures to appease the working class and reduce support for socialism and the Social Democrats following earlier attempts to achieve the same objective through Bismarck's Anti-Socialist Laws. This did not prevent the Social Democrats from becoming the biggest party in parliament by 1912. Similar policies were later adopted in most of Western Europe, including France and
29160-475: The views of stakeholders and the distinctive procedures and practices in the countries of the United Kingdom there are devolved electoral commissions for Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. Since February 2007, the Commission has had regional offices across England in the South West, Eastern and South East, London, Midlands, and North of England regions. The Electoral Commission is answerable to Parliament via
29340-576: The vote in Scotland in 98 years with 23% and fell into 3rd place, a position it last occupied in Scotland in 1910, behind the Conservatives . The party also only won 3 constituency seats: holding onto the Dumbarton and East Lothian constituencies and gaining the Edinburgh Southern constituency from the SNP, whilst losing eleven of its 2011 constituencies to the SNP and two to the Conservatives. In
29520-478: The vote recorded in Scotland since the December 1910 general election . The 2021 Scottish Parliament election saw Labour decline even further, achieving their lowest number of seats in Holyrood since devolution in 1999; with 22 MSPs returned to the Scottish Parliament. Despite this, Anas Sarwar remained as leader. The 2022 Scottish local elections resulted in Labour gaining 20 seats across Scottish local councils, with
29700-541: The war, such as Japan ( Japanese post-war economic miracle ), West Germany and Austria ( Wirtschaftswunder ), South Korea ( Miracle of the Han River ), France ( Trente Glorieuses ), Italy ( Italian economic miracle ), and Greece ( Greek economic miracle ). With the 1970s energy crisis , the abandonment of both the gold standard and the Bretton Woods system along with Keynesian social democratic, mixed-economy policies and
29880-402: Was Labour policy and that Alexander had been misrepresented during Prime Minister's Questions in Westminster. Additionally, Brown's spokesman said: "The prime minister has always been confident of the strength of the argument in favour of the Union and believes a referendum on Scottish independence would be defeated." Despite this lack of backing, Alexander once again reiterated her commitment to
30060-599: Was a pivotal moment that furthered the division between reformists and revolutionary socialists. Those supporting the October Revolution renamed themselves as Communists while those opposing the Bolsheviks retained the Social Democrat label. While both groups technically shared the goal of a communist society that fully realized the principle of " from each according to his ability, to each according to his need ",
30240-497: Was a reformist state socialist , Bernstein predicted a long-term coexistence of democracy with a mixed economy during the reforming of capitalism into socialism and argued that socialists needed to accept this. This mixed economy would involve public , cooperative , and private enterprises , and it would be necessary for an extended period before private enterprises evolve of their own accord into cooperative enterprises. Bernstein supported state ownership only for certain parts of
30420-565: Was alienating potential middle-class Labour supporters, and nationalization policies had been so thoroughly attacked by neoliberal economists and politicians, including rhetorical comparisons by the right of state-owned industry in the West to that in the Soviet Union and the Eastern Bloc, and nationalizations and state socialism became unpopular. Thatcherite Conservatives were adept at condemning state-owned enterprises as economically inefficient. For
30600-406: Was better than had been predicted by many polls at the start of Sarwar's tenure as leader, some of which had predicted Labour to potentially fall to fourth place behind the Scottish Greens . Under Sarwar's leadership, Scottish Labour have re-affirmed their constitutional position of unionism which has led to a sometimes controversial selections of candidates. The party has been criticised for fielding
30780-460: Was catastrophic for Labour, falling behind the SNP for the first time and producing its worst results since before World War I . However, it easily won the Glasgow North East by-election later that year, which had been triggered by the resignation of House Speaker Michael Martin in the wake of the expenses scandal . At the 2010 general election on 6 May 2010, contrary to polls preceding
30960-472: Was confidence amongst socialists in the concept of state socialism as being the most effective form of socialism. Some early British social democrats in the 19th century and 20th century, such as the Fabians , said that British society was already mostly socialist and that the economy was significantly socialist through government-run enterprises created by conservative and liberal governments which could be run for
31140-493: Was elected Leader of the Scottish Labour Party, defeating rival Monica Lennon by 57.6% to 42.4% and promised to heal and unite the party. At the 2021 Scottish Parliament election , Labour lost a further two seats including the constituency seat of East Lothian , bringing their number of MSPs to 22, an all-time low. They also recorded their worst performance on both the Constituency and List vote in terms of vote share, however it
31320-449: Was elected as her deputy. Delivering her victory speech, Lamont said: "I want to change Scotland, but the only way we can change Scotland is by changing the Scottish Labour Party." In the 2012 Scottish local elections , Labour were outpolled by the SNP. However, it gained votes and council seats and held its majorities on the councils of Glasgow and North Lanarkshire and regained control of Renfrewshire and West Dunbartonshire . For
31500-400: Was established by PPERA and meets quarterly to submit views to the Commission on matters affecting political parties. There are equivalent non-statutory bodies for the devolved legislatures in Scotland (Scottish Parliament Political Parties Panel), Wales (Wales Political Parties Panel) and Northern Ireland (Northern Ireland Assembly Parties Panel). There was widespread controversy surrounding
31680-470: Was reported that the party had 21,500 members and 9,500 affiliated through trade unions and other groups, making a total of 31,000 people associated with the party. In January 2018, the total Scottish membership stood at 25,836, however within 12 months it was leaked in January 2019 that this value had fallen by 4,674 to 21,162. In February 2021, the membership figure was down to 16,467. Leaked figures obtained by
31860-448: Was subsequently appointed to the cabinet as Secretary of State for Scotland . Social democracy Social democracy is a social , economic , and political philosophy within socialism that supports political and economic democracy and a gradualist , reformist and democratic approach toward achieving limited socialism. In modern practice, social democracy has taken the form of predominantly capitalist economies, with
32040-463: Was suspended from Scottish Labour's parliamentary party while a probe into his conduct took place. Jackie Baillie took over as acting leader until the conclusion of the leadership election. The election for a new leader of the Scottish Labour party took place between 11 September 2017 (when nominations opened) and 18 November 2017, when the new leader was announced. Nominations for leadership candidates closed on 17 September. Anyone that wished to vote in
32220-527: Was the first time Labour had elected its Scottish leader with the participation of its members, using a system similar to that used at the time by the UK-wide Labour Party (the system had been adopted in 2007, but no ballot had taken place as Alexander had been unopposed). The contenders were Iain Gray , MSP for East Lothian , a former Enterprise Minister in the previous Labour Executive, Andy Kerr , MSP for East Kilbride and former Health Secretary in
32400-483: Was the first time since 1959 that the party had not won the most votes in Scotland at a general election. On 16 May 2015, Murphy resigned as leader effective 13 June 2015. Under normal circumstances, Deputy Leader Kezia Dugdale would become acting leader, but former Leader Iain Gray was appointed Acting Leader whilst a leadership and a deputy leadership election are being simultaneously held on account of Dugdale resigning as Deputy Leader to stand for Leader. Dugdale won
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