Scots voted in their first MSPs on May 6, 1999 – and the man expected to become the new first minister was one of them.
It has been 25 years since Scots first voted in a Holyrood election – but the man who will almost certainly be the country’s next first minister has said there have already been “changed days” at the Parliament as a result of the “aggressive” Westminster Government.
At an event organised by the Resolution Foundation think tank, Mr Swinney added: “For most of the devolution years, the UK Government has been a rather benign presence in the operation of the devolved structures. That is different now. He said Scotland is “better” as a result of devolution, but he raised fears Holyrood’s powers could be “eroded” – calling on the next UK government to work to “re-establish the purpose of devolution”.
“I never thought we would be where we are today where we have got a Scottish Government that is more centralising, more dictatorial towards local authorities than the Tories.” Prof Mitchell, of Edinburgh University, said Scotland has “129 members, and far too many ministers”, speaking out about the “bloated membership of the ministerial team”.
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