The first elections for the Scottish Parliament were held on 6 May 1999. The first meeting of the Scottish Parliament took place on 12 May 1999.

On 1 July 1999, the Scottish Parliament was officially opened by Her Majesty The Queen and received its full law-making powers. The Scottish Parliament normally met in the General Assembly Hall of the Church of Scotland, Edinburgh, until a new parliament building could be created.

Read Donald Dewar’s speech from the opening day (85KB, pdf) posted 14 September 2020