The Scottish Conservatives and Local Government

Abstract

This chapter reviews the Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party’s experience in local government in the contemporary era, with a review of the post-1974 period, traditionally viewed as the inception of modern Scottish local government. It also analyses the impact of the Conservative Party over the past 40 years, and then shifts the focus to how Scottish Conservative local government election manifestos and electioneering has changed, looking in particular at the 2017 local government election in Scotland, when the party increased its representation in town halls across the country.