Scottish Conservative Party facts for kids

The Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party is a political party in Scotland that is part of the British Conservative Party. The party's policies usually promote conservatism and the continuing of Scotland as part of the United Kingdom.

In the Scottish Parliament, the party holds 31 out of 129 seats. Ruth Davidson, who is the party’s leader also is the Leader of the Opposition in the Parliament. The Conservatives have six out of 59 Scottish seats in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom.

In Scotland, the Conservatives used to be known as the Unionist Party and were Scotland's largest party during the 1950s. However in 1965, the Scottish Unionist Party merged with the Conservative Party which triggered a decline in Conservative support across Scotland. At the 1987 General Election, the Conservatives were reduced from 21 to 10 Scottish seats, and the party lost all of its Scottish seats in 1997.