Unionist Party (Scotland) - Merger With The Conservative Party

Merger With The Conservative Party

With electoral defeat, reforms in 1965 brought an end to the Scottish Unionist Party as an independent force. It was a renamed 'Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party' that constitutionally then came under the control of the British party. These, and further reforms in 1977, saw the Scottish Conservatives transformed into a regional unit, with its personnel, finance, and political offices under the control of the leadership in London.

These changes had serious implications for the Conservatives' Scottish identity. Set alongside the end of Empire (and the emergence of several independent states) it witnessed the rise of the Scottish National Party (SNP) as sections of the old Unionist and Labour nationalist vote swung to the SNP. This seemingly paradoxical swing from Unionist to SNP can be explained for three reasons: the old Scottish Unionist Party's projection as an independent Scottish party opposing a British Labour Party; the new use of the name "Conservative" viewed as rather English; and the Unionist-Nationalist tradition of John Buchan and others who had founded the Scottish Party.