Editing Donald Dewar (section)

==Secretary of State for Scotland (1997–1999) ==
At the 1997 general election, he became MP for [[Glasgow Anniesland (UK Parliament constituency)|Glasgow Anniesland]], which was mostly the same constituency with minor boundary changes. Labour won this election by a landslide, and Dewar was given the post of [[Secretary of State for Scotland]]. He was able to start the devolution process he dreamt of years earlier, and worked on creating the [[Scotland Act 1998|Scotland Act]], popularly referred to as "Smith's unfinished business". When ratified, this was to give Scotland its first [[Scottish Parliament|Parliament]] for nearly 300 years.

In January 1998, he confirmed that he would stand for a seat in the [[Scottish Parliament]].<ref>{{cite news |date=8 January 2008 |title=Dewar to stand for Scottish parliament |work=BBC News |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/45789.stm |url-status=live |access-date=5 March 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20030409214033/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/45789.stm |archive-date=9 April 2003}}</ref> The [[1999 Scottish Parliament election|first elections to the Scottish Parliament]] were held on 6 May 1999, with Dewar leading the Scottish Labour Party against their main opponents, the [[Scottish National Party]] led by [[Alex Salmond]]. He was elected as the [[Member of the Scottish Parliament]] (MSP) for [[Glasgow Anniesland (Scottish Parliament constituency)|Glasgow Anniesland]], having the unusual distinction of being both an MP and MSP for the same constituency.