2003 in Scotland

← 2002 2001 2000 1999 1998 2003 in Scotland → 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008
Centuries:	19th 20th 21st
Decades:	1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s 2020s
See also:	List of years in Scotland Timeline of Scottish history 2003 in: The UK • England • Wales • Ireland • Elsewhere Scottish football: 2002–03 • 2003–04 2003 in Scottish television

Events from the year 2003 in Scotland.

Incumbents

Further information: Politics of Scotland and Order of precedence in Scotland

• Monarch — Elizabeth II
• First Minister and Keeper of the Great Seal — Jack McConnell (since 22 November 2001)
• Secretary of State for Scotland — Helen Liddell until 13 June; then Alistair Darling

Law officers

• Lord Advocate — Lord Boyd of Duncansby
• Solicitor General for Scotland — Elish Angiolini
• Advocate General for Scotland — Lynda Clark

Judiciary

• Lord President of the Court of Session and Lord Justice General — Lord Cullen of Whitekirk
• Lord Justice Clerk — Lord Gill
• Chairman of the Scottish Land Court — Lord McGhie

Events

• 29 January — Nat Fraser is found guilty of murdering his wife, Arlene, who went missing almost five years earlier, and is sentenced to life imprisonment with a recommendation to serve a minimum of 25 years.
• 15 February — Up to 100,000 people march in Glasgow to protest against the looming Iraq War.
• 25 February — The Land Reform (Scotland) Act 2003 receives Royal Assent.
• 3 May — Scottish parliamentary election, 2003: the Labour and Liberal Democrat coalition led by Jack McConnell win a majority of the seats and remain in power. The Scottish Green Party and the Scottish Socialist Party significantly increase their representation.
• 19 July — Scotland's first cardinal for nearly 400 years, Cardinal Gordon Gray, dies aged 82.
• 9 August — Temperatures at Greycrook in the Scottish Borders reach 32.9 °C, the highest ever recorded in Scotland.
• 25 August — Glasgow Zoo closes.
• 1 September — Cairngorms National Park created, Scotland's second national park.
• 21 October — Cardinal Keith O'Brien is proclaimed a cardinal by John Paul II.
• 24 November — The High Court in Glasgow imposes a minimum sentence of 27 years for Al Ali Mohmed Al Megrahi, the Libyan convicted of bombing Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie.
• Ownership of the Barra Estate is passed by the owner, Ian MacNeil, to the Scottish Government.

Deaths

• 26 January — George Younger, Conservative politician, former Secretary of State for Scotland (born 1931)
• 14 February — Dolly, cloned sheep (born 1996)
• 30 July — Steve Hislop, motorcycle racer, killed in helicopter accident (born 1962)
• 25 September — Alastair Borthwick, broadcaster and mountaineer (born 1913)

The Arts

• 22 November — Two Lochs Radio begins broadcasting.
• Lin Anderson's first "Tartan Noir" novel Driftnet is published.
• Anne Donovan's first full-length novel Buddha Da is published.
• The folk band Harem Scarem is formed.

See also

• Timeline of Scottish history
• 2003 in the United Kingdom