Since the (re)opening of the Scottish Parliament in July 1999, Scotland’s primary level of national government has been the Scottish Government, appointed by the majority party or parties elected to the Parliament, and headed by the First Minister. The devolution settlement saw the UK Parliament at Westminster retain control over foreign affairs, defence, economic and monetary policy, social security, employment, energy regulation, the National Lottery and most aspects of taxation (although Scotland can vary the basic income tax rate by up to 3 per cent). Holyrood – as the Scottish Parliament has been known since its inception, thus holds wide-ranging powers in areas such as education, health, housing, regional transport, the environment, agriculture, tourism, culture and the arts, administering an annual block grant from the UK government.

The Scottish Parliament has 129 Members (MSPs), who are elected every four years using a mix of first-past-the-post voting and proportional representation (PR). As well as the main UK parties – Labour, Conservative and Liberal Democrat – the Scottish National Party, which campaigns for Scottish independence, is another important political player north of the Border. Thanks to the advent of PR with devolution, the first two Scottish Parliamentary elections gave no single party an overall majority, resulting in a Labour/Liberal Democrat coalition during both terms. In contrast to Westminster, PR has also opened the door to smaller parties, with the 2003 election returning a total of 13 Green, independent and Scottish Socialist MSPs.

Since the major restructuring of local government in 1997, Scotland has been divided into 32 council areas, each administered by a unitary local authority. Scotland’s geography and demographics (not to mention mutterings of gerrymandering when the reforms were implemented) give rise to wide variations in size and population, from the Highland Council’s sparsely-peopled 26,136 square kilometres to Dundee City Council’s urban 65 square kilometres. Councils are responsible for a wide range of services, including education, housing, roads, planning, environmental matters, firefighting, sanitation, housing, parks, libraries, recreation and conducting elections, funded in part by central government grant, and partly by a council tax levied on all constituent households. Smaller communities within council regions can elect voluntary Community Councils, which lobby and advise on planning, transport, environment and other local issues.

As citizens of the United Kingdom, all Scottish residents aged 18 or over are eligible to vote in local, Scottish Parliamentary, Westminster and European Parliament elections. Non-British EU citizens are eligible to participate in local and European Parliament elections.