It was only the second time voters had elected the Scottish Parliament, but on May 1, 2003, they chose a more politically diverse range of MSPs than Scotland has seen before or since.
The two biggest parties, Labour and the SNP, both lost seats and instead a sizeable number of Greens, Socialists and independents were elected to the parliament’s benches. When all the votes were counted, Labour had 50 seats, the SNP 27, the Tories 18 and Lib Dems 17, but there were seven Greens and six Scottish Socialists, where before they had one MSP each. Margo MacDonald was elected as an independent Lothian MSP, the equally independent Dennis Canavan was re-elected in Falkirk West, there was an MSP representing the Scottish Senior Citizens Party and another from the Save Stobhill Hospital campaign.
The Labour-Lib Dem coalition remained in power, but the character of the parliament over the next four years was different from before. And the number of independents grew when an SNP MSP and a Tory MSP were expelled from their parties.
Here are 13 pictures of the 2003 campaign and the election night as the results were declared.
9. Balloon time
Deputy First Minister and Scottish Lib Dem leader Jim Wallace releases some yellow balloons before leaving Edinburgh on a whistle-stop two-day tour of Scotland to mark the start of his party's campaign. The Lib Dems finished with the same number of seats and had a second term in coalition government with Labour before the SNP won power in 2007. But Mr Wallace stepped down as party leader and Deputy First Minister in 2005, to be succeeded by Nicol Stephen. Mr Wallace later became a life peer, served as Lord Advocate in the UK Conservative-Lib Dem coalition and was leader of the Lib Dems in the Lords. Photo: Jon Savage
10. Labour loss
Labour MSP and minister Iain Gray lost his Edinburgh Pentlands seat to Scottish Tory leader David McLetchie. It was a significant win for the Tories since they had failed to win a single constituency at the first Scottish Parliament election in 1999, though winning 18 list seats. But it was a hard blow for Mr Gray who found himself out of parliament after just four years. He went to work as an adviser to Alistair Darling and returned to the Scottish Parliament as MSP for East Lothian in 2007, becoming leader of the Labour group the following year. He led the party until 2011 and stayed on as an MSP until 2021. hard blow Photo: Neil Hanna
11. Leader line-up
The party chiefs assemble for a BBC programme The Leaders Debate hosted by Anne MacKenzie. Lib Dem leader Jim Wallace and SNP counterpart John Swinney chat before the event gets under way. Also taking part were Labour's Jack McConnell and David McLetchie of the Conservatives. Photo: Donald MacLeod
12. Exciting times
Green Robin Harper and Independent Margo MacDonald are so thrilled after getting re-elected they dance a jig at the Edinburgh count at Meadowbank. They were both returned as list MSPs for Lothian as part of the "rainbow" parliament made up of not just the four big parties, but also significant numbers of Greens, Socialists and independents. Photo: Neil Hanna