Insight into Scottish Parliament

Scottish Parliament member Brian Adam spoke at Portland State on Oct. 10 about his party’s goal of achieving independence for Scotland from the United Kingdom.

Adam spoke about his role as Chief Whip of the Scottish National Party, outlining his party’s agenda and highlighting the current system of government and the Scottish Nationalist Party’s rise to power this year. More than 70 people attended the lecture.

Adam credited the power shift over the historically dominant Labour Party to his own party’s voter management strategies, plummeting approval ratings for former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, the Iraq war and the Scottish National Party’s employment of an entirely negativity-free campaign.

“[The Iraq war] has made a significant contribution to change in politics…especially in Scotland,” Adam said.

Adam also highlighted voting patterns in Scotland. He was critical of his country’s voter management, saying that it has created a major polarization of the country’s political parties.

Adam closed the lecture with an examination of the Scottish National Party’s current agenda, advocating its plan to continue to move Scotland towards independence.w

Adam, who is currently serving his third term in office, has been a member of the Scottish Parliament since it reconvened in 1999 after 292 years of recess. The Scottish National Party became the largest voting party in the Scottish Parliament after the 2007 elections.

The lecture was sponsored by I.E 3 Global internship. PSU was the third stop on Adam’s tour of Oregon.