Scottish election 2021: Nicola Sturgeon says call on whether vote will happen not hers to make

The Holyrood elections planned for May 6 should go ahead if it is possible on a “safe base”, the First Minister has said, after concerns were raised the timing of the vote comes just a week after Scotland’s lockdown is due to be lifted.

However, Nicola Sturgeon said as Scotland was not “a one-party state”, the decision on whether the election should go ahead was not hers to make.

The lockdown route map Ms Sturgeon has outlined would see Scotland moving into a tiered system in the last week of April, but restrictions on movement would still apply.

Questions are still being raised about whether the Scottish Parliament elections should go ahead in May.

"Obviously there are things happening just now within the context of Covid – some children back at school, some parts of the economy opening – where steps and measures are being taken to keep people safe, and that’s how an election would proceed," she said. “There are many countries during the pandemic which have had elections and I think democracy is important.

“So my view is if we can allow it to go forward on a safe basis, we should do that.”

She added: “Parliament has legislation in place which provides a framework for any decision about the election to take place, so it’s for the Parliament acting on a cross-party basis to make a decision on the date of the election or the conduct of the election in terms of whether there are to be changes in the arrangements.

“Elections are really not down to my decision alone. I’m being accused a lot at the moment of living in a one-party state, which is rubbish, but election decisions are not made by me.”

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