Unionist Party (Scotland)

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Unionist Party
Founded	1912
Dissolved	1965
Preceded by	Conservative Party Liberal Unionist Party
Merged into	Scottish Conservatives
Ideology	Conservatism British unionism British imperialism Scottish regionalism
Political position	Centre-right
National affiliation	Conservative Party
Politics of Scotland Political parties Elections

The Unionist Party was the main centre-right political party in Scotland between 1912 and 1965.^[1]

Independent of, although associated with, the Conservative Party in England and Wales, it stood for election at different periods of its history in alliance with a small number of Liberal Unionist and National Liberal candidates. Those who became members of parliament (MPs) would take the Conservative Whip at Westminster as the Ulster Unionists did until 1972. At Westminster, the differences between the Scottish Unionist and the English party could appear blurred or non-existent to the external casual observer, especially as many Scottish MPs were prominent in the parliamentary Conservative Party. Examples include party leaders Bonar Law (1911–1921 and 1922–1923) and Sir Alec Douglas-Home (1963–1965), both of whom served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.

The party traditionally did not stand at local government level but instead supported and assisted the Progressive Party in its campaigns against the Labour Party. This relationship ended when the Conservatives started fielding their own candidates, who stood against both Labour and the Progressives.