Scottish Liberal Democrats
Libearalaich Deamocratach na h-Alba Scots Leeberal Democrats |
|
---|---|
Leader | Willie Rennie MSP |
Deputy Leader | Alistair Carmichael MP |
President | Cllr Eileen McCartin |
Founded | 8 March 1988 |
Headquarters | 4 Clifton Terrace Edinburgh EH12 5DR |
Youth wing | Liberal Youth Scotland |
Membership (Dec. 2013) | 2,831 |
Ideology |
Liberalism Social liberalism British unionism Pro-Europeanism |
Political position | Centre |
European affiliation | Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe |
International affiliation | Liberal International |
European Parliament group | Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe |
Colours | Gold |
Scottish seats in the House of Commons |
1 / 59
|
Scottish seats in the European Parliament |
0 / 6
|
Scottish Parliament |
5 / 129
|
Local government in Scotland |
65 / 1,223
|
Website | |
www |
|
The Scottish Liberal Democrats (Scottish Gaelic: Libearal Deamocratach na h-Alba, Scots: Scots Leeberal Democrats) is a liberal and social-liberal political party in Scotland.
The Scottish Liberal Democrats hold 5 of 129 seats in the Scottish Parliament and 1 of 59 Scottish seats in the UK Parliament.
The Scottish Liberal Democrats are one of the three state parties within the federalLiberal Democrats, the others being the Welsh Liberal Democrats and the English Liberal Democrats. The Liberal Democrats do not contest elections in Northern Ireland.
In keeping with its basis as a federation of organisations, the Scottish party also consists of a number of local parties (which mostly follow the boundaries of the Scottish Council Areas), which are each distinct accounting units under the Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000. Local parties are predominantly responsible for the party's political campaigning and for selecting candidates for parliamentary and local authority elections.
There are also eight regional parties (based on the boundaries of the eight Scottish Parliament electoral regions).
The party's headquarters are located at 4 Clifton Terrace, Edinburgh.
The conference is the highest decision-making body of the party on both policy and strategic issues. The day-to-day organisation of the party is the responsibility of the party's Executive Committee, which is chaired by the Convener of the party and includes the Leader, the Depute Leader and the President of the party, as well as the party Treasurer and the three Vice-Conveners. See below for the current office-bearers and all other members of the Party's three management committees (Executive Committee, Policy Committee and Conference Committee). All party members vote every two years in internal elections to elect people to all the below positions, except Leader & Depute Leader.