2026 Scottish Parliament election

2026 Scottish Parliament election

←  2021 Planned for 7 May 2026 [1]
All 129 seats to the Scottish Parliament 65 seats needed for a majority
Opinion polls
Leader John Swinney Russell Findlay Anas Sarwar Party SNP Conservative Labour Leader since 6 May 2024 27 September 2024 27 February 2021 Leader's seat Perthshire North West Scotland Glasgow Last election 64 seats 31 seats 22 seats Current seats 60 28 21 Seats needed 5 36 44   Leader Ross Greer / Gillian Mackay Alex Cole-Hamilton Nigel Farage (UK-wide leader) Party Green Liberal Democrats Reform Leader since 29 August 2025 20 August 2021 3 June 2024 Leader's seat West Scotland / Central Scotland Edinburgh Western None Last election 8 seats 4 seats 0 seats Current seats 7 5 1 Seats needed 58 60 64
Incumbent First Minister John Swinney SNP

The 2026 Scottish Parliament election is planned to be held on Thursday 7 May 2026, and will elect 129 members to the Scottish Parliament. It will be the seventh general election since the devolved parliament was established in 1999.

Six parties currently have MSPs in the sixth parliament, although only five won seats at the last Scottish Parliament election in 2021: The Scottish National Party (SNP) led by First Minister John Swinney, the Scottish Conservatives led by Russell Findlay, Scottish Labour led by Anas Sarwar, the Scottish Greens, led by co-leaders Gillian Mackay and Ross Greer, and the Scottish Liberal Democrats, led by Alex Cole-Hamilton. Of these five parties, four have changed their leaders since the 2021 election. In addition, Reform UK have one MSP following a defection from the Conservatives. Six members sit as independents after leaving or being suspended or expelled from their respective parties - two from the SNP, two from Labour, and one Conservative. Ash Regan left the SNP for Alba before later becoming an independent.

Date

Under the Scottish Elections (Reform) Act 2020, an ordinary general election to the Scottish Parliament would normally be held on the first Thursday in May five years after the 2021 election, i.e. on 7 May 2026. ^[1] This Act superseded the Scotland Act 1998, which had set elections in every fourth year. ^[2]

The date of the poll may be varied by up to one month either way by the monarch, on the proposal of the Presiding Officer, making 4 June 2026 the latest possible date for this election, assuming the convention of holding elections on a Thursday stands. ^[2]

If Parliament itself resolves that it should be dissolved, with at least two-thirds of the members (i.e. 86 Members) voting in favour, the Presiding Officer proposes a date for an extraordinary general election and the Parliament is dissolved by the monarch by royal proclamation.

It does not necessarily require a two-thirds majority to precipitate an extraordinary general election, because under the Scotland Act Parliament is also dissolved if it fails to nominate one of its members to be First Minister within certain time limits, irrespective of whether at the beginning or in the middle of a parliamentary term. Therefore, if the First Minister resigned, Parliament would then have 28 days to elect a successor (s46(2)b and s46(3)a). If no new First Minister was elected then the Presiding Officer would ask for Parliament to be dissolved under s3(1)a. This process could also be triggered if the First Minister lost a vote of confidence by a simple majority (i.e. more than 50%), as they must then resign (Scotland Act 1998 s45(2)).

No extraordinary general elections have been held to date. Any extraordinary general elections would be in addition to ordinary general elections, unless held less than six months before the due date of an ordinary general election, in which case they supplant it. The subsequent ordinary general election reverts to the first Thursday in May, five years after the previous ordinary election. ^{[1] [3]}

Election system, seats, and regions

Main articles: Scottish Parliament constituencies and electoral regions and List of Scottish Parliament constituencies and electoral regions (2026–)

The total number of Members of the Scottish Parliament (MSPs) elected to the Parliament is 129.

The Scottish Parliament uses an additional member system (AMS), designed to produce approximate proportional representation for each region. There are 8 regions, each sub-divided into smaller constituencies. There are a total of 73 constituencies. Each constituency elects one MSP by the plurality (first past the post) system of election. Each region elects 7 additional MSPs using an additional member system. A modified D'Hondt method, using the constituency results, is used to elect these additional MSPs. ^{[4] [5]}

The Scottish Parliament constituencies have not been coterminous with Scottish Westminster constituencies since the 2005 general election, when the 72 former UK Parliament constituencies were replaced with a new set of 59, generally larger, constituencies (see Scottish Parliament (Constituencies) Act 2004). The boundaries used for the Scottish Parliament elections were then revised for the 2011 election. The Boundary Commission also recommended changes to the electoral regions used to elect "list" members of the Scottish Parliament, ^[6] which were also implemented in 2011.

The Second Periodic Review of constituency and regional boundaries began in September 2022 and was completed by May 2025. ^{[7] [8]} The proposals were formally approved in October 2025, establishing the constituencies and regions that will form the basis for the 2026 election. ^[9]

MSPs not standing for re-election

A record number of MSPs are not seeking re-election. ^{[10] [11] [12]}

Members of Scottish Parliament not standing for re-election

MSP	Seat	First elected	Party		Date announced
John Mason	Glasgow Shettleston	2011		Independent (elected as SNP)	25 April 2023 [13]
James Dornan	Glasgow Cathcart			SNP	10 August 2023 [14]
Christine Grahame	Midlothian South, Tweeddale and Lauderdale	1999			September 2024 [15]
Ruth Maguire	Cunninghame South	2016			16 November 2024 [16]
Elena Whitham	Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley	2021			25 November 2024 [17]
Humza Yousaf	Glasgow Pollok	2011			17 December 2024 [18]
Oliver Mundell	Dumfriesshire	2016		Conservative	9 January 2025 [19]
Richard Lochhead	Moray	1999		SNP	26 January 2025 [20]
Joe FitzPatrick	Dundee City West	2007			28 January 2025 [21]
Michelle Thomson	Falkirk East	2021			29 January 2025 [22]
Audrey Nicoll	Aberdeen South and North Kincardine				9 February 2025 [23]
Evelyn Tweed	Stirling				12 February 2025 [24]
Graeme Dey	Angus South	2011			19 February 2025 [25]
Beatrice Wishart	Shetland	2019		Liberal Democrats	20 February 2025 [26]
Liz Smith	Mid Scotland and Fife	2007		Conservative	25 February 2025 [27]
Rona Mackay	Strathkelvin and Bearsden	2016		SNP	25 February 2025 [28]
Edward Mountain	Highlands and Islands			Conservative	26 February 2025 [29]
Gordon MacDonald	Edinburgh Pentlands	2011		SNP	28 February 2025 [30]
Annabelle Ewing	Cowdenbeath				2 March 2025 [31]
Richard Leonard	Central Scotland	2016		Labour	4 March 2025 [32]
Shona Robison	Dundee City East	1999		SNP	5 March 2025 [33]
Fiona Hyslop	Linlithgow				5 March 2025 [33]
Alex Rowley	Mid Scotland and Fife	2014		Labour	6 March 2025 [34]
Bill Kidd	Glasgow Anniesland	2007		SNP	12 March 2025 [35]
Nicola Sturgeon	Glasgow Southside	1999			12 March 2025 [36]
Natalie Don-Innes	Renfrewshire North and West	2021			13 March 2025 [37]
Mairi Gougeon	Angus North and Mearns	2016			14 March 2025 [38]
Michael Matheson	Falkirk West	1999			16 March 2025 [39]
Willie Coffey	Kilmarnock and Irvine Valley	2007			17 March 2025 [40]
Douglas Ross	Highlands and Islands	2016		Conservative	25 March 2025 [41]
Maurice Golden	North East Scotland				7 April 2025 [42]
Rhoda Grant	Highlands and Islands	1999		Labour	15 May 2025 [43]
Sarah Boyack	Lothian	1999		Labour	16 June 2025 [44]
Alison Johnstone	Lothian	2011		Presiding Officer [a]	20 June 2025 [45]
Kate Forbes	Skye, Lochaber and Badenoch	2016		SNP	4 August 2025 [46]
Mercedes Villalba	North East Scotland	2021		Labour	2 September 2025 [47]
Tess White	North East Scotland	2021		Conservative	2 September 2025 [48]
Kevin Stewart	Aberdeen Central	2011		SNP	8 September 2025 [49]

Candidates

Constituencies

Seat	SNP [50]		Labour		Conservative		Greens		Lib Dem		Reform UK		Other
Aberdeen Central		Jack Middleton		Jenny Laing		Stewart Whyte				Yi-pei Chou Turvey
Aberdeen Deeside and North Kincardine		Stephen Flynn		Matthew Lee		Liam Kerr				Mel Sullivan
Aberdeen Donside		Jackie Dunbar		Lynn Thomson		Hannah Powell				Michael Turvey				Kelly Wilson (Sovereignty) [51]
Aberdeenshire East		Gillian Martin		Janine Langler		Douglas Lumsden [52]				David Evans
Aberdeenshire West		Fatima Joji		Kate Blake		Alexander Burnett				Jeff Goodhall
Airdrie		Neil Gray		Suzanne Macleod						Ed Thornley
Almond Valley		Angela Constance		Jordan Stokoe [53]		Damian Doran-Timson				Caron Lindsay
Angus North and Mearns		Dawn Black		Simon Watson		Tracey Smith				Martyn Knights				Lynne Tammi-Connelly (independent) [54]
Angus South		Lloyd Melville		Heather Doran						Isobel Knights				Moira Macpherson Brown (Sovereignty) [51]
Argyll and Bute		Jenni Minto		Callum George		Amanda Hampsey [55]				Alan Reid [56]				Fiona Nelson (ISP) [57]
Ayr		Siobhian Brown		Brian McGinley [58]		Sharon Dowey [59]				Desmond Bouce				Denise Sommerville (independent) [60]
Banffshire and Buchan Coast		Karen Adam		Brooke Ritchie		James Adams				Ian Bailey				David McHutchon (Sovereignty) [51] Christina Hendry (Alba) [61]
Bathgate		Pauline Stafford		Jenny Young [58]		Peter Heggie				Stephen Harte				John Hannah (ISP) [57]
Caithness, Sutherland and Ross		Maree Todd		Eva Kestner [62]		Elaine Kirby				David Green [63]
Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley		Katie Hagmann [64]		Carol Mochan [65]		Tracey Clark				Karen Utting				Sean Davis (independent) [66]
Clackmannanshire and Dunblane		Keith Brown		Suzanne Grahame [58]		Alexander Stewart [67]				Sally Pattle				Eva Comrie (independent) [57]
Clydebank and Milngavie		Marie McNair		Callum McNally [68]		Alix Mathieson [69]				Ben Langmead
Clydesdale		Máiri McAllan		Lynsey Hamilton [65]						Richard Brodie
Coatbridge and Chryston		Fulton MacGregor		Kieron Higgins		Andy Bruce [59]				Daniel Mancini				Julie McAnulty (ISP) [57]
Cowdenbeath		David Barratt		Fiona Sword [70]		Darren Watt [59]				James Calder				Laurie Moffat (Sovereignty) [51]
Cumbernauld and Kilsyth		Jamie Hepburn		James McPhilemy [68]						Brian Howieson				Alan McManus (Sovereignty) [51]
Cunninghame North		Kenneth Gibson		Matthew McGowan						Christine Murdoch
Cunninghame South		Patricia Gibson		Katy Clark						Emma Farthing
Dumbarton		Sophie Traynor		Jackie Baillie [71]		Gary Mulvaney [59]				Elaine Ford				Andrew Muir
Dumfriesshire		Stephen Thompson		Linda Dorward		Craig Hoy				Iain McDonald
Dundee City East		Stephen Gethins		Cheryl-Ann Cruickshank [68]		Jack Cruickshanks [59]				Tanvir Ahmad				Allan Petrie (independent) [57]
Dundee City West		Heather Anderson		Michael Marra						Daniel Coleman
Dunfermline		Shirley-Anne Somerville		Joe Long		Thomas Heald				Lauren Buchanan-Quigley
East Kilbride		Collette Stevenson		Joe Fagan [65]		Brian Whittle				Leigh Butler
East Lothian Coast and Lammermuirs		Paul McLennan		Martin Whitfield [72]		Miles Briggs				Tim McKay
Eastwood		Kirsten Oswald		Kayleigh Quinn [65]		Jackson Carlaw				Euan Davidson				Colette Walker (ISP) [57]
Edinburgh Central		Angus Robertson		James Dalgleish		Jo Mowat		Lorna Slater [73]		Charles Dundas
Edinburgh Eastern, Musselburgh and Tranent		Kate Campbell		Katherine Sangster [65]		Tim Jones [59]				Alan Grant
Edinburgh North Eastern and Leith		Ben Macpherson		Oliver Thomas [65]						Liss Owen
Edinburgh North Western		Lyn Jardine		Irshad Ahmad						Alex Cole-Hamilton				Derek James Kerr (independent)
Edinburgh Northern		Euan Hyslop				Christopher Cowdy				Sanne Dijkstra-Downie
Edinburgh South Western		Simita Kumar		Catriona Munro		Sue Webber [74]				Andy Williamson
Edinburgh Southern		Sally Donald		Daniel Johnson [75]		Marie-Clair Munro				Jane Pickard
Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire		John Redpath		Kaymarie Hughes [58]		Rachael Hamilton				Ray Georgeson
Falkirk East and Linlithgow		Martyn Day		Siobhan Paterson [58]		Lewis Stein				Paul McGarry
Falkirk West		Gary Bouse		Paul Godzik [65]						Lucy Smith
Fife North East		Stefan Hoggan-Radu		Elizabeth Carr-Ellis		Edward Sheasby				Willie Rennie [76]
Galloway and West Dumfries		Emma Harper		Jack McConnel [77]		Finlay Carson				Tracey Warman
Glasgow Anniesland		Colm Merrick		Eunis Jassemi [78]		Sandesh Gulhane				James Speirs
Glasgow Baillieston and Shettleston		David Linden		Pauline McNeill [65]		John Murray				Amy Carman
Glasgow Cathcart and Pollok		Zen Ghani		Anas Sarwar [65]		Kyle Park				Peter McLaughlin				Yvonne Ridley (Workers Party of Britain)
Glasgow Central		Alison Thewliss		Vonnie Sandlan		Naveed Asghar				Paul Kennedy				Paul Steele (ISP) [57]
Glasgow Easterhouse and Springburn		Ivan McKee		Paul Sweeney [65]		Josephine Macleod				Nicholas Moohan
Glasgow Kelvin and Maryhill		Bob Doris		Pam Duncan Glancy						Daniel O'Malley
Glasgow Southside		Kaukab Stewart		Mo Ameen				Holly Bruce		Rachel Park				George Galloway (Workers Party of Britain)
Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse		Alex Kerr		Davy Russell						Aisha Mir				John Forbes (ISP) [57]
Inverclyde		Stuart McMillan		Francesca Brennan [65]		Ted Runciman [59]				Jamie Greene
Inverness and Nairn		Emma Roddick		Shaun Fraser [79]		Ruraidh Stewart [80]				Neil Alexander [81]				Fergus Ewing (independent) [82] Duncan Macpherson (independent)
Kilmarnock and Irvine Valley		Alan Brown		Ewan McPhee [83]						Michael Gregori
Kirkcaldy		David Torrance		Claire Baker [65]						Fraser Graham
Mid Fife and Glenrothes		Jenny Gilruth		Afifa Khanam						Ed Scotcher
Midlothian North		Colin Beattie		Caitlin Stott		Phil Doggart				Jenny Butler
Midlothian South, Tweeddale and Lauderdale		Calum Kerr		Daniel Coleman [68]		Keith Cockburn				Duncan Dunlop
Moray		Laura Mitchell		David Blair [84]		Tim Eagle [85]				Morven-May McCallum
Motherwell and Wishaw		Clare Adamson		Ayeshah Khan [65]						Hayley Bennie				Greig McArthur (independent)
Na h-Eileanan an Iar		Alasdair Allan		Donald MacKinnon [65]		George MacPherson				Jamie Dobson				Kenneth McKenzie (Sovereignty) [51]
Orkney Islands		Robert Leslie [86]		Mike Macleod [87]		Jamie Halcro Johnston [88]				Liam McArthur
Paisley		George Adam		Neil Bibby [65]						James Kenyon
Perthshire North		John Swinney		Angela Bailey		Murdo Fraser [59]				Claire McLaren
Perthshire South and Kinross-shire		Jim Fairlie		Luke Thomson		Roz McCall [89]				Amanda Clark
Renfrewshire North and Cardonald		Michelle Campbell								Grant Toghill
Renfrewshire West and Levern Valley		Tom Arthur		Paul O'Kane [65]						Ross Stalker
Rutherglen and Cambuslang		Clare Haughey		Monica Lennon [68]		Annie Wells				Patrick Logue
Shetland Islands		Hannah Mary Goodlad		John Erskine [90]						Emma Macdonald
Skye, Lochaber and Badenoch		Eilidh Munro [91]		Isla McCay [91]		Helen Crawford [59]				Andrew Baxter				Stuart Jackson (Sovereignty) [51]
Stirling		Alyn Smith		Kainde Manji [65]		Stephen Kerr				Jill Reilly				Matthew Riley (independent) [54]
Strathkelvin and Bearsden		Denis Johnston		Colette McDiarmid [68]		Pam Gosal [92]				Adam Harley
Uddingston and Bellshill		Steven Bonnar		Mark Griffin [65]		Meghan Gallacher				Den Munnoch				David Baird (Independent) [54]

Regions

Seat	SNP		Labour		Conservative		Greens		Lib Dems		Alba		Reform UK		Other
Central Scotland and Lothians West								Gillian Mackay, Claire Williams, Cameron Glasgow		Paul McGarry, Lucy Smith
Edinburgh and Lothians East								Lorna Slater, Kate Nevens, Q Manivannan, Chas Booth, Kayleigh O'Neill, Adam Al-Khateb, Mridul Wadhwa, Jo Phillips, Dan Heap, Astri JS Kvassnes, Alex Staniforth, Connal Hughes		Sanne Dijkstra-Downie, Jane Pickard, Charles Dundas, Lewis Younie						Jeremy Balfour (independent), Ash Regan (independent)
Glasgow								Patrick Harvie, Holly Bruce, Iris Duane, Rana Noor Mohamed, Isable Ruffell, Kit Renard		Daniel O'Malley, Brian Howieson, Paul Kennedy, James Spiers						Yvonne Ridley (WPGB), George Galloway (WPGB)
Highlands and Islands								Ariane Burgess, Kristopher Leask, Kate Willis, Draeyk Van der Horn, Alex Armitage, Anne Thomas, Julie Christie								Ruaridh Ormston (Scottish Rural Party)
Mid Scotland and Fife								Mark Ruskell, Mags Hall, Caitlin Ripley, Ryan Blackadder, Marie Stadtler, Clare Andrews, Andrew Adam, Paul Vallot, Elspeth Maclachlan		Claire McLaren
North East Scotland								Guy Ingerson, Maggie Chapman, Esme Houston, William Linegar, Sylvia Hardie, Kathryn Vincent, Charlotte Horne, Remi Salvan		Yi-pei Chou Turvey, Michael Turvey, Tanvir Ahmed, Jeff Goodhall
South Scotland								Laura Moodie, Anne McGuinness, Dominic Ashmole, Neil MacKinnon, Barbra Harvie, Cameron Garrett, Tim Clancey, Tom Kerr, Korin Vallance		Duncan Dunlop, Roy Georgeson, Aisha Mir, Richard Brodie, Charlotte Olcay
West Scotland								Ross Greer, Cara McKee, Karen Sharkey, Ian Sinkins, Paula Baker, Ross Collins		Adam Harley						Alasdair Fletcher (Scottish Rural Party)

Opinion polling

Main article: Opinion polling for the next Scottish Parliament election

Constituency vote

Regional vote

Key

  SNP – Scottish National Party
  Conservative – Scottish Conservatives
  Labour – Scottish Labour
  Lib Dem – Scottish Liberal Democrats
  Green – Scottish Greens
  Alba – Alba Party
  Reform – Reform UK

See also

• 2024 United Kingdom general election in Scotland
• 2026 Senedd election
• Next Northern Ireland Assembly election

Notes

1. Originally elected as Scottish Green MSP

References

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70. "Cowdenbeath Labour candidate confirmed for upcoming election". Central Fife Times. 10 November 2025. Retrieved 14 November 2025.
71. Grace, Tempany (15 April 2025). "Jackie Baillie MSP seeks re-election for Dumbarton in 2026". Dumbarton and Vale of Leven Reporter. Retrieved 17 August 2025.
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    Thank you to everyone that came along on such a beautiful evening" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
75. Johnson, Daniel (28 March 2025). "Starting My 2026 Re-Election Campaign". Facebook.com. Retrieved 17 August 2025.
76. Crow, Allan (7 May 2025). "Willie Rennie MSP set to contest 2026 elections to mark a full decade as MSP". Fife Today. Retrieved 17 August 2025.
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80. Stewart, Ruraidh [@Ruraidh_Stewart] (17 May 2025). "I'm deeply honoured to be selected as the @ScotTories candidate for Inverness and Nairn in #Holyrood2026.
    The Highlands are my home and I'm standing to give our communities the strong, local voice they deserve in Holyrood. It's time for real change" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
81. Pack, Mark (13 May 2025). "Neil Alexander selected for Inverness and Nairn". Mark Pack.
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83. McPhee, Ewan (23 August 2025). "It's a huge privilege to have been selected by local members as the @ScottishLabour candidate for Kilmarnock and Irvine Valley. I grew up in Kilmarnock and I'm here to win this seat in next year's elections. The choice in 2026 is more of the same or a new direction for Scotland". x.com. Retrieved 26 August 2025.
84. https://www.northern-scot.co.uk/news/david-blair-named-as-labour-s-moray-candidate-for-holyrood-e-418471/
85. Moray Conservatives [@MorayTories] (12 May 2025). "We are delighted to announce Tim Eagle has been selected as the Moray candidate for next year's Scottish Parliament elections.
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86. "Robert Leslie to Contest Orkney Constituency for the SNP". The Orkney News. 15 May 2025.
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89. McCall, Roz [@RozMccall] (1 May 2025). "📣 I'm honoured to have been selected as the Scottish Conservative and Unionist candidate for Perthshire South and Kinross-shire ahead of the 2026 election.
    Thank you to @mspliz for her dedication and hard work as the Candidate over many years.
    I've always stood up for our communities as a regional MSP and will continue to do so. I am ready to work hard to earn your trust and deliver the strong local voice you deserve. 💙
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92. Gosal, Pam [@PamGosalMSP] (12 May 2025). "It's a great honour to have been selected as the @ScotTories candidate for Strathkelvin and Bearsden for the 2026 Scottish Parliament election.
    As an MSP for West Scotland I have always worked hard on the things that really matter to local residents and businesses. I promise to continue to fight for common sense 💪🏼💙" (Tweet) – via Twitter.