The Scottish Parliament (Constituencies) Act 2004 (c. 13) is an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom which severed the link between Scottish Parliament constituencies and Scottish Westminster constituencies.
Background
Before the act, the Scotland Act 1998 had required that Scottish Parliament constituencies and the Scottish Westminster constituencies shared the same boundaries.
In the November 2003 Queen's speech, the United Kingdom Government committed to retaining all 129 MSPs.
Provisions
The act amended the Scotland Act 1998 to remove the link between Scottish Parliament boundaries and Scottish Westminster boundaries. The act allowed for the number of Scottish Westminster constituencies to be reduced to 59, while keeping the number of Scottish Parliament constituencies.
Reception
The legislation was criticised by Jimmy Hood, Labour MP for Clydesdale, as gerrymandering.