Scottish Elections (Dates) Act 2016

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Scottish Elections (Dates) Act 2016
Act of the Scottish Parliament
Coat of Arms of the United Kingdom in Scotland (Variant 1).svg
Scottish Parliament
Long title An Act of the Scottish Parliament to make provision about the determination of the day of the poll at the first ordinary general election for membership of the Scottish Parliament after 2016 and about the year in which local government elections fall to be held.
Introduced by Joe FitzPatrick MSP, Minister for Parliamentary Business
Dates
Royal assent 30 March 2016
Status: Current legislation
History of passage through the Parliament
Text of the Scottish Elections (Dates) Act 2016 as in force today (including any amendments) within the United Kingdom, from legislation.gov.uk.

The Scottish Elections (Dates) Act 2016 is an act of the Scottish Parliament which delayed the subsequent Scottish Parliament from 2020 to 2021. [1]

Contents

Background

In September 2015, Nicola Sturgeon confirmed that the next Scottish Parliament would be delayed from 2020 to 2021. [2]

The legislation was introduced to avoid the next Scottish Parliament election coinciding with the next United Kingdom general election as it was scheduled to take place in May 2020, which was subsequently held in 2017. [3]

Legislative passage

The passage of the legislation required the permission of the Government of the United Kingdom. [4]

Provisions

The changes made under the legislation were temporary and would not apply to elections after 2021, so the parliamentary term would revert to a length of 4 years. [5]

Consequentially the date of the next Scottish local government elections was changed from 2021 to 2022. [6]

References

  1. ↑ Reid, Paul (20 April 2017). "Paul Reid: How Fixed Is a Fixed-term Parliament?". UK Constitutional Law Association. Archived from the original on 11 September 2017. Retrieved 17 July 2025.
  2. ↑ "Scotland's First Minister Nicola Sturgeon unveils tests plan for schools". BBC News. 1 September 2015. Archived from the original on 1 September 2015. Retrieved 17 July 2025.
  3. ↑ "At-a-glance: Scottish legislative programme 2015-16". BBC News. 1 September 2015. Archived from the original on 3 September 2015. Retrieved 17 July 2025.
  4. ↑ "Holyrood given power to set own election dates". Law Society of Scotland. 10 June 2015. Archived from the original on 27 November 2019. Retrieved 17 July 2025.
  5. ↑ Torrance, David (17 July 2025). "Introduction to devolution in the United Kingdom" (PDF). House of Commons Library . Archived (PDF) from the original on 21 January 2020.
  6. ↑ "Holyrood as it happened: 25 February 2016". BBC News. 25 February 2016. p. 2. Archived from the original on 17 July 2025. Retrieved 17 July 2025.
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