Next Scottish Parliament election

Next Scottish Parliament election

← 2021 On or before 7 May 2026
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 30 23 Seats needed 5 35 42   Leader TBD subject to leadership election Alex Cole-Hamilton Kenny MacAskill Party Scottish Green Liberal Democrats Alba Leader since TBD 20 August 2021 26 March 2025 Leader's seat TBD 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 next Scottish Parliament election is required to be held no later than Thursday 7 May 2026, to elect 129 members to the Scottish Parliament. It will be the seventh general election since the devolved parliament was established in 1999.

Six parties have MSPs in the sixth parliament: 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 outgoing co-leader Patrick Harvie and Lorna Slater, and the Scottish Liberal Democrats, led by Alex Cole-Hamilton. Of these parties, four have changed their leaders since the last Scottish Parliament election in 2021. Alba also have one MSP following a defection from the SNP, and John Mason sits as an independent after being expelled from the SNP.