On 7 April 1934, the Scottish National Party (SNP) was founded at a meeting in Glasgow, creating a single political entity dedicated to achieving self-government for Scotland.

The new party was formed from the merger of the National Party of Scotland (founded 1928), a generally radical group supportive of Scottish self determination, and the more moderate Scottish Party (1932). The coalescence – which came after the parties collaborated in the 1933 Kilmarnock by-election, supporting the joint candidacy of Sir Alexander MacEwen – was intended to unite the home rule movement into a more coherent and effective political force.

The SNP did not initially support the revision of the Act of Union 1707 (Scottish independence), instead advocating home rule/devolution. John MacCormick, a leading figure in the National Party of Scotland (NPS), favoured this position in order to make the merger possible.

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In January 1934, the NPS and Scottish Party agreed a four point resolution that committed the parties to a shared platform. They agreed on the “establishment of a parliament in Scotland which shall be the final authority on all Scottish affairs, including taxation and finance”.

The parties argued that Scotland should “share with England the rights and responsibilities they, as mother nations, have jointly created and incurred within the British Empire”.

They added: “Scotland and England shall set up machinery to deal jointly with these responsibilities, and in particular to deal with such matters as defence, foreign policy, and customs;

“It is believed that these principles can be realised only by a Scottish National Party independent of all other political parties.”

The writer and politician Robert Bontine Cunninghame Graham was appointed as the SNP’s first president, with MacEwen as its first chairman (leader).

MacEwen addressed the SNP’s inaugural meeting. He described the gathering as a “historic day in the Scottish national movement.”

He stated: “The fusion of the two parties was not brought about by pressure or by intrigue. It was a spontaneous movement resulting from the desire of people of different shades of opinion to work together for the cause of self-government.”

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Upon its founding, the SNP was a mostly fringe presence in Scottish politics. In its first test, the 1935 general election, the party contested eight seats, won none and lost five deposits with a combined total of 25,652 votes (1.3%).

For decades, the SNP was beset by internal divisions over ideology, goals, policies and strategy. Its defining issue was whether to prioritise devolution, the moderate or gradualist position, or outright independence, the fundamentalist position.

MacCormick, a supporter of the former position, left the party in 1942, having failed to convince the SNP of his stance. (MacCormick was also a member of the Labour Party – dual membership was permitted in the SNP until 1940).

MacCormick went on to form the Scottish Covenant Association. The movement, which gathered two million signatures on a petition demanding home rule, was non-partisan and cross-party. But it provided the principal impetus for the Scottish autonomist movement in this period, stealing that mantle from the SNP.

Divisions also arose over the party’s approach to the Second World War. Douglas Young, SNP leader from 1942-1945, is best known for his anti-conscriptionism. During this period, he was imprisoned for refusing to be conscripted and vilified by critics as undermining the British war effort. MacCormick was seen as the lead figure in the SNP’s pro-war faction.

The pro-independence SNP won its first parliamentary seat in 1945 when Dr Robert McIntyre was returned at the Motherwell by‐election. Following the death of the constituency’s previous MP, James Walker, the main parties had agreed a truce – owing to the unusual wartime conditions.

The SNP and McIntyre, who led the SNP from 1947 to 1956, went on to lose Motherwell in the general election that followed 84 days later.

The party fought only a few seats in the 1950s, winning 0.3% and 0.5% of the Scottish vote in the 1951 and 1955 elections respectively.

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The SNP has had continuous parliamentary representation since 1967, when Winnie Ewing secured a famous victory in the Hamilton by-election. The SNP’s Hamilton breakthrough came a full 22 years after McIntyre took his seat as the MP for Motherwell.

In the wake of her victory, Ewing declared: “Stop the world, Scotland wants to get on.”

In 1970, the SNP won its first seat in a general election. This came with Donald Stewart’s capture of the Western Isles constituency.

The SNP then won seven and 11 seats respectively in the February and October 1974 general elections. In the latter contest, the party polled almost a third of all votes in Scotland.

SNP MPs withdrew their support for James Callaghan’s minority Labour government in the aftermath of the 1979 Scottish devolution referendum – which was lost, effectively, on a technicality. A vote of no confidence followed, and with it the 1979 general election.

In that contest, the SNP was reduced to 9 seats.