The Third Scottish Parliament was an important time for Scotland's government. It ran from May 2007 to March 2011. During this period, 129 people, called Members of the Scottish Parliament (MSPs), worked together to make decisions for Scotland.

These MSPs were chosen in the 2007 Scottish Parliament election. Some were elected directly from local areas, like winning a race where the first one across the finish line wins. Others were chosen from larger regions to make sure all parts of Scotland were fairly represented.

After the 2007 election, no single party won enough seats to have a clear majority. This is called a "hung parliament." The Scottish National Party became the biggest group. On May 16, 2007, Alex Salmond was chosen as the First Minister of Scotland. He then formed a government with his party, even though they didn't have a majority. This is known as a "minority government."

How the Parliament Looked: Party Strengths
How the Parties Lined Up
Changes During the Term
Images for kids
See Also

How the Parliament Looked: Party Strengths

The Scottish Parliament is made up of different political parties. Each party has a certain number of MSPs. This table shows how many MSPs each party had right after the 2007 election and just before the Parliament ended in 2011.

Party		May 2007 election	March 2011 dissolution
•	Scottish National Party	47	47
	Scottish Labour	46	46
	Scottish Conservatives	17	16
	Scottish Liberal Democrats	16	16
	Scottish Greens	2	2
	Independents	1	1
	Presiding Officer	0	1
Total		129
Government majority		−35	−34

The parties that were part of the government are marked with a small black circle (•).

How the Parties Lined Up

These pictures show how the different parties were represented in the Scottish Parliament. The first picture is from right after the 2007 election. The second picture shows how things looked when the Parliament ended in March 2011.

The Scottish Parliament after the 2007 election.

The Scottish Parliament at the end of its term in 2011.

Please note: These images do not show the actual seating arrangement inside the Scottish Parliament building.

Changes During the Term

Sometimes, things change during a Parliament's term. MSPs might change their role or new MSPs might join. Here are some of the changes that happened during the Third Scottish Parliament:

Date	Constituency/region			Note
14 May 2007	Galloway and Upper Nithsdale	Presiding Officer	Conservative	Alex Fergusson was chosen to be the Presiding Officer. This is like the Speaker in other parliaments. When he took this role, he stepped back from his political party.
31 August 2007	Lothians	SNP	SNP	Stefan Tymkewycz left the Parliament. Shirley-Anne Somerville took his place as an MSP.
6 February 2009	Glasgow	SNP	SNP	Bashir Ahmad passed away. Anne McLaughlin became an MSP to fill his seat.