The Lost Voters of Scotland: Devolution Disillusioned or Westminster Weary?

In: British elections & parties review, Band 13, S. 66-85

Abstract

This article examines the reasons behind the low turnout in Scotland in the 2001 UK general election. While turnout was uniformly low across GB, a number of Scottish-specific factors could potentially explain what happened north of the border. We start by investigating the extent to which Westminster is still thought to matter in Scotland. This is followed by a discussion of attitudes towards devolution itself. The final part looks at whether devolution has failed to stem a growing voter disinterest in elections that is to be found both north & south of the border. The importance of Westminster has by no means diminished with the advent of devolution, & while there is considerable unease about the parliament's performance this is not found to have an impact on turnout. Therefore we conclude that devolution has not acted as a buffer to the British malaise that existed at the 2001 general election & that Scottish politics is still very much affected by UK-wide influences. 15 Tables, 9 References. Adapted from the source document.