Westminster's 3 Unity Mandates
Updated: 1 day ago
Alistair McConnachie says that the British Parliament, and the Government it forms, have mandates to keep the United Kingdom together, and a right, responsibility and duty to do so on behalf of everyone involved, and it should robustly point these facts out!
A "mandate" means "an authority to carry out a policy".
The SNP claims it has a "mandate" for a second referendum because it won the most seats at the 7th May 2026 Holyrood election. The responses from the British Government tend to be along the lines of "we've already had it" or "it was once in a generation or "let's move on" or "there is not majority support for another one."
The problem here is that saying "once in a generation" or "now is not the time", might knock things down the road, but it doesn't get to the nub of the matter.
Time will pass and a generation will come and go, and what should be said then? The fact is, "once in a generation" or not, we don't want the existence of our One Big Country to be called into question in the first place.
And "Now is not the time" because never is the time!
Our advice to politicians is to avoid rhetoric which make it sound that a referendum "every generation" is some kind of accepted parliamentary convention. It suggests that the integrity of the United Kingdom should be regularly called into question and that attempts to break up the country should be regularly appeased.
Well, we don't accept that we should be regularly calling into question the very existence of the United Kingdom and destabilising our country with this sort of rhetoric.
To that end, a better response is to point out that Westminster has several mandates to keep the UK together, and a right, responsibility and duty to do so, on behalf of everyone in the UK. We will continue to point these facts out, and we will continue to work to make Scotland such a success within the UK that the thought of separation simply doesn't need to exist.
THE BRITISH PARLIAMENT's 3 UNITY MANDATES
Pro-UK politicians should not be threatened by the nonsense that the Westminster Parliament has "no mandate" in Scotland, or has no right to try to hold the UK together.
Indeed, to say that the Union Parliament at Westminster, and the Government duly formed, does not have a mandate to govern any part of the UK is constitutionally and democratically illiterate.
It is also dangerous, because it suggests that our constitutionally and democratically-convened Parliament, and the Government it forms, is somehow illegitimate.
Here's the truth.
The British Parliament has constitutional, democratic and popular mandates in Scotland, to govern Scotland, and to hold the UK together. Furthermore, it has a right, responsibility and duty to avoid endangering the future of the UK with another referendum.
Let's examine each mandate in turn.
1. Westminster's Constitutional Mandate
"Constitutional"means "relating to an established set of principles governing a state".
The established principle here is that every single person in Scotland who votes at a General Election for a candidate to go to Westminster, take the Oath, and sit in the Chamber – gives direct authority to that person to go there and govern for all the UK.
By voting to send someone to Westminster – whether that person is elected and whether that person is for or against Westminster – by doing that you are explicitly giving direct authority to the entire Parliament, which is eventually formed, to govern for all of the United Kingdom on your behalf.
That is the constitutional principle which holds the UK together. It is the constitutional principle which holds all democratic states together.
Consider this: At the last General Election on 4 July 2024, the electorate in Scotland had a choice of 424 candidates; not one of whom was an abstentionist; not one of whom said he or she would refuse to take up the seat if elected.
That means that everyone who voted – even for the SNP – voted for the winning MP to play a full part in the British Parliament. By doing so, we voted to give a clear right and authority to Westminster, and to the Government it forms, to govern in Scotland.
We bestowed upon the new British Parliament perfect legitimacy in Scotland.
Regardless of who we voted for, we voted to endorse (but not necessarily to agree with) whatever Government was formed.
As a result, 57 MPs from Scotland were elected to go to Westminster to decide matters, not only for Scotland but for all of the UK, and to accept whatever decisions were made by that collective British Parliament.
2. Westminster's Democratic Mandate
The majority of people who vote at the British General Elections in Scotland do so for parties which want the UK to stay together, as we see from the 2024 results below. The SNP has never had a majority of the turnout at Westminster elections, or Holyrood elections for that matter.
We examine all the SNP "mandate" claims in chapter 9 in our book One Big Country: A Big Book for the Union, Vol 1 available at the link from Amazon, or simply search Amazon for "One Big Country".
3. Westminster's Popular Mandate
A greater proportion of the electorate in Scotland vote at British General Elections than vote at Holyrood elections. As we see from the graphic at the top of the page, this is always the case!
Note the 2011 Holyrood election which elected the SNP for the first time, and which provoked the 2014 Union/Separation Referendum barely had a turnout of 50%. Barely a 50% turnout at a Holyrood election, but the consequence was to imperil the future of the United Kingdom itself. That seems wrong!
Anyway, as above, there is no question that our collective Union Parliament has constitutional, democratic and popular mandates – given to it by the electorate of Scotland – to govern for all the United Kingdom.
On top of all these mandates, there is also the matter of Westminster's direct responsibility to everyone who has a stake in our Islands.
WESTMINSTER'S RIGHT, RESPONSIBILITY AND DUTY on BEHALF OF US ALL
The potential break-up of Britain is a matter for us all, wherever we live in the UK. The British Parliament represents everyone who has a stake in the United Kingdom.
Clearly, the Scots are not the only people who have an interest in the matter. They are not the only people whose interests are at stake! The English, Welsh and Northern Irish all have a stake. They would all be affected if the UK were to break.
It is for the collective British Parliament, which represents all 4 corners of the UK, to uphold the interests of everyone. It has to stand up for everyone else involved.
This means that "the authority" to decide whether the United Kingdom stays together or splits apart, is not only located in the Scottish electorate; it is also located in the British Parliament – which has a collective authority for the entire UK, given to it by all the people of Britain who vote at the General Election.
We rely upon our collective Union Parliament at Westminster to make that understood.
Practically, this means Parliament should not easily allow one part of the UK to kill off the entire organism.
It must always be mindful of its responsibilities and duties to maintain the United Kingdom on behalf of everyone whom it represents; not just to those people in Scotland who want to break away.
It has a perfect right, responsibility and duty to hold the UK together on behalf of everyone who believes in the UK – and that's millions throughout our Islands, not just those in Scotland! It has a perfect right to say No to separation and Yes to a united Britain.
This also means that Parliament can set whatever requirements it wants in order to maintain the UK's integrity – even in the unlikely event of a majority vote by Scots to split away.
It can do this – it can choose whether such a referendum should ever occur, or it can demand that more than a majority vote to split is required and that the bar is not set low. This might include threshold requirements for example – because its responsibilities go beyond its responsibilities to the Scots alone.
It is entirely proper for Parliament – and the Prime Minister and Government – to stand for the integrity, stability and security of the UK, and to do whatever needs to be done to ensure this. Everyone in the United Kingdom who believes in the United Kingdom is depending upon it to do so!
That's its job. There is no other institution which can do this.
To conclude: When pressed on the matter, our pro-UK politicians must draw attention to the British Parliament's constitutional, democratic and popular mandates to govern for all of Scotland and the United Kingdom, as described above.
They must emphasise that it is their right, responsibility and duty, on behalf of everyone, to hold the United Kingdom together, and to do what needs to be done to avoid endangering the future of the UK with another referendum.
And above all, they must emphasise that by working together within a united Britain, the aim is to make Scotland such a success that the thought of separation doesn't even cross anyone's mind. Working together for the benefit of all, is the aim.
Find more of these vital points in our book One Big Country: A Big Book for the Union, Vol 1 available at the link from Amazon, or simply search Amazon for "One Big Country".
APPENDIX: A WORD ABOUT the SENEDD
As per the graphic above, in 3 of the 6 elections since 2003, Holyrood failed to get over 52% of the electorate to vote for it!
In that regard, the Welsh Senedd, which spends billions of pounds of British Taxpayers money each year (£26.6bn in 24/25) has even less democratic legitimacy.
As the graphic below demonstrates, it wasn't until 2026, that the Senedd managed to convince over half the Welsh electorate to bother to even vote at its elections.
PLAID CYMRU PIGGY-BACKED to POWER on a DEMOCRATIC FARCE
However, the rise of Plaid Cymru within the Senedd tells us something important.
It's a case study of political power, acquired on the back of virtually no democratic mandate.
It tells us that so long as you have the vehicle (in this case, the Senedd), you can create a head of steam, even though your vehicle has very little democratic legitimacy or authority.
Let's look at the figures.
After 6 elections to the Senedd which couldn't muster even 47% of the electorate to turn out, it was only in 2026 that the Senedd election finally succeeded in mobilising more than 50%. For the first time ever, the turnout on 7 May 2026 was over half – 51.6%.
What this means is that during the 27 years between the first election in 1999 and the seventh election in 2026, the Senedd had virtually zero democratic legitimacy.
After all, a political institution – such as the Senedd – should gain legitimacy through the consent of the people. If the majority of the people cannot be bothered to vote at elections for your institution, then how much "legitimacy" does your institution have?
Even in 2026, a turnout of 51.6% of the electorate conveys miserable democratic engagement from the population, and very poor democratic legitimacy for the Senedd.
Yet, during these 27 years of virtually zero democratic legitimacy, the Senedd acted as the vehicle for the separatist party of Plaid Cymru to grow and develop to the point where it took over the Senedd in 2026 and has become a major mouthpiece for separatism.
LESS THAN 1 in 5 VOTED PLAID CYMRU
Furthermore, consider that on 7 May 2026, 444,665 people voted for Plaid Cymru out of an electorate of 2,433,921. That's a level of support in the electorate of 18.3% – less than 1 in 5 of the Welsh electorate.
Yet here we are!
Blair's devolution experiment has created a Welsh separatist movement essentially out of nothing – which is now front and centre running the Senedd and campaigning to break up Britain – and on very little democratic consent whatsoever.
The survival of the Senedd – a body which has very little democratic or popular legitimacy by any normal measure – is testament only to the British Parliament's desire to keep the devolution band-wagon rolling, regardless.
(Stats from en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2026_Senedd_election )
Find more of these vital points in our book One Big Country: A Big Book for the Union, Vol 1 available at the link from Amazon, or simply search Amazon for "One Big Country".
SUPPORT A FORCE FOR GOOD
If you think our unique insights, our comprehensive and educational research and publications, and our colourful physical activism is worth supporting, then please help us to keep up this good work!
