When are the next Scottish Parliament elections?

With the UK general election over, attention now turns to the Holyrood elections, due to take place in two years.

The SNP and Labour are set for a battle to be the largest party in the Scottish Parliament, the Scottish Greens and LibDems will both be looking to boost their number of MSPs and the Scottish Conservatives will be hoping to cling onto second place

When are the next Holyrood elections?

The Scottish Parliament building in Edinburgh (Picture: Matt Cardy/Getty Images)

The Scottish Parliament elections take place every five years, with the next scheduled election due to take place no later than May 7, 2026.

The election could take place sooner, if there is a vote of no confidence in the Scottish Government at Holyrood and MSPs are unable to select a first minister. But the scheduled 2026 election would still take place regardless.

How do the Scottish Parliament elections work?

John Swinney, the SNP leader and First Minister. (Picture by Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images)

Law dictates that Holyrood elections take place every five years, having previously taken place in 2021 and 2016. Before 2011, elections took place every four years.

The Scottish Parliament elections are essentially two votes – people elect a constituency MSP and a politician to represent one of eight regions across Scotland, selected from a list. A total of 129 MSPs are elected, with 65 needed to form a majority.

The 73 constituency MSPs are voted in a first-past-the-post electoral system, as MPs are elected to Westminster. But the 56 regional list MSPs are elected by a form of proportional representation with a formula, called the D'Hondt method, used to turn the votes into seats, taking into account performance in the constituencies.

Unlike Westminster, which has a minimum voting age of 18, Scots aged 16 and older can vote in Holyrood elections.

Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar (Photo by Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images)

What happened at the last Holyrood election in 2021?

The last Scottish Parliament elections took place on May 7, 2021.

Nicola Sturgeon secured 65 MSPs at the election for the SNP, one short of an overall majority – a feat only managed by Alex Salmond’s SNP in 2011. Douglas Ross’s Tories kept hold of second place with 31 MSPs, ahead of Anas Sarwar’s Labour on 22 seats. The Scottish Greens dropped one seat from eight to seven and the Lib Dems held their four seats.

What do we know about the 2026 Holyrood elections so far?

We still don’t know many specific details about the next Scottish Parliament elections – it is still two years away. Mr Swinney has insisted he intends to lead the SNP into the 2026 election, as does Labour’s Anas Sarwar, Lib Dems leader Alex Cole-Hamilton, and Greens co-leaders Patrick Harvie and Lorna Slater.

There will be several boundary changes for the 2026 Holyrood election. The proposed changes leaves 22 constituencies unchanged, while 30 constituencies have new names and new boundaries. A total of 18 have minor changes to boundaries, but retain their names and three constituencies will have a new name, but will retain their existing boundaries.

Are Holyrood elections different to Wales and Northern Ireland?

Like Holyrood, elections to the Welsh parliament, known as the Senedd, take place through an additional members’ vote.

Elections to the Northern Irish Assembly take place with a single transferable vote system, similar to Scottish council elections.