Talk:2003 in Scotland

Statement re Scottish Parliament election
I am not sure that "the Labour and Liberal Democrat coalition led by First Minister Jack McConnell win a majority of seats and are re-elected" is a fair statement. To me it implies that the two parties fought the election as a coalition, but in fact the coalition ended at the end of the previous parliament and a new one was negotiated at the election. During the election itself the two parties opposed each other and contested every seat and regional list as separate entities. It is not like the situation in Australia where the Liberal and National Coalition fights the election as such and the Liberal and Nationals generally do not oppose each other (or the historic situations in the UK with the Conservatives and National Liberals or the Conservatives and Liberal Unionists for example). Indeed to form the new coalition both parties had to agree to policies that had been advanced by the other during the campaign. Dunarc (talk) 23:46, 21 February 2021 (UTC)