Best of Edinburgh Attractions

The Scottish Parliament

Introduction

Main Chamber

In 1707, under a Treaty of Union, the separate Kingdoms of Scotland and England came together to form the new Kingdom of Great Britain. The earlier parliaments of Scotland and England were dissolved and replaced by a new UK parliament based at Westminster in London.

Entrance

Following a referendum in 1997, the people of Scotland voted in favour of the creation of a new Scottish Parliament. While Westminster continues to remain the supreme UK parliament, it has devolved to the Scottish Parliament various powers that are exercised through its 129 MSPs (Members of the Scottish Parliament). Matters that are not devolved to the Scottish Parliament and which continue to be dealt with by Westminster are called "reserved" matters. The first meeting of the Scottish Parliament took place on 12 May 1999.

Committee Room

The third elections to the Scottish Parliament took place on 3 May 2007 and the result was that no single party had an overall majority. With 47 seats, the Scottish Nationalist Party (SNP) emerged as the largest party and formed a minority government. The Scottish Labour Party followed close behind with 46.

The New Parliament Building

Scottish Parliament Building

Love it or loath it, you can't ignore it.

Cost - £414 million (ten times over original budget!)
Architect - The late Enric Miralles from Catalonia, Spain
Opened - September 2004

View from the south

Visiting the Parliament

Access to the Scottish Parliament is free. There is airport style security at the entrance, but once inside visitors can experience at first hand the architictural splendours of the building.

View from Salisbury Craggs

As a working parliament, the requirements of parliamentary business must of course come first, but even then there is still plenty to see. For example you can see the Parliament and its committees in action by visiting the public galleries in the main chamber or committee rooms. It is advisable to pre-book tickets (free). Telephone Visitor Services on 0131 348 5200.

Frontage

There is also an exhibition about the parliament as well as a creche (booking advisable), a shop and a cafe.

Windows to rear of Scottish Parliament

The Scottish Parliament's open hours are:-

Business days (Tuesday to Thursday) from 9.00am to 6.30pm (last admission 6.00pm).

Non-business days (Monday and Friday and weekdays during recess) from:-

10.00am to 5.30pm (last admission 5.00pm) between April and September; and
10.00am to 4.00pm (last admission 3.30pm) between October and March.

Saturdays and public holidays 11.00am to 5.30pm (last admission 5.00pm).

The Parliament is closed on Sundays.

Supports to rear of main building

The 2008/09 recess dates for the Scottish Parliament are:-

28 June to 31 August 2008
11 October to 26 October 2008
20 December 2008 to 4 January 2009
14 February to 22 February 2009
4 April to 19 April 2009
27 June to 30 August 2009

Support beams in the Main Chamber

Professionally guided tours are also run within the Parliament which allow visitors to see more of the building, including visiting the floor of the Main Chamber. These last an hour and run on non-business days. It is advisable to reserve tickets in advance, again from Visitor Services on 0131 348 5200. The cost is £6 for adults, £3.60 for concessions and £18.00 for a family ticket. Children under five go free.

Insert on Canongate frontage

One of the best things about the Scottish Parliament building is that, like Edinburgh itself, there is always something new and unusual to discover around virtually every corner. And the more often one visits the building, which has become a major Edinburgh attraction in its own right, the more there seems to be to appreciate and enjoy.

Entrance hall and exhibition area

The initial estimate for the Scottish Parliament was put at between £10 and £40 million. However, the final cost was a staggering £414 million, more than ten times over budget. The award winning Catalan Architect, Enric Miralles, also died tragically in 2000 of a brain tumour, aged just 45, during the course of the Parliament's construction. Meanwhile, the intended 2001 opening date also slipped back to 2004.

Inserted stonework on Canongate frontage

As might be imagined, the runaway cost of the parliament generated huge public controversy within Scotland. In an attempt to get to the root of what had gone wrong, a major public inquiry was held under the chairmanship of Lord Fraser of Carmyllie.

Reflection on concrete wall to rear of Scottish Parliament

In his report Lord Fraser said that while he had a number of sharp criticisms and recommendations to make on matters that ought to have been much better understood, he concluded that there was no single villain of the piece. He highlighted however that some catastrophically expensive decisions had been taken, principal among which was the decision - not cleared with Ministers - to follow the procurement route of construction management.