What is engagement in politics like in Scotland?
How have referendums impacted political engagement?
The referendum on Scottish Independence in 2014 and then on The term referring to Britain voting to leave the EU. in 2016, have seen higher voting turnouts and have been credited with re-igniting an interest in and an engagement with politics.
The 2014 Independence Referendum saw a voter turnout rate of 84.6% – the highest ever recorded in the UK. This could be because in referendums there is one clear issue to vote on with the promise of a clear, defined outcome and every vote counts.
How many people are members of a political party?
Like voter turnouts, membership of political parties has generally declined since the 1950s. As of 2017, 1.7% of the population were members of one of the major political parties.
However, party membership in Scotland is a little different. The SNP had around 25,000 members before the independence referendum. After the referendum this increased to 104,000 members. As of March 2023 there are 72,000 members.
In 2021, the voter turnout for the Scottish Parliamentary election was 63.5%.