National Party of Scotland

The National Party of Scotland (NPS) was formed in 1928 after John MacCormick of the Glasgow University Scottish Nationalist Association called a meeting of all those favouring the establishment of a party favouring Scottish independence. The meeting was provided over by Robert Cunninghame-Graham[?], who had been a Liberal Party, then Labour Party politician.

The NPS contested many elections in it's short existence but never managed to get any of it's candidates elected to parliament. In 1932 a home rule organisation the Scottish Party was formed by former members of the Conservative Party. MacCormick desired unity between the Scottish Nationalist movement and made contact with the Scottish Party. Increasingly the two parties began to co-operate, and when the Scottish Party chose to contest the Kilmarnock[?] by-election in November 1933 the NPS endorsed their candidate. In 1934 the NPS and Scottish Party merged to form the Scottish National Party.

The NPS was a left-of-centre party, favouring independence for Scotland. The celebrated poet, Hugh McDiarmid[?] was a member, but was expelled on account of his Communistic beliefs (ironically he would later be expelled from the Communist Party of Great Britain for his Scottish Nationalist beliefs).