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The SNP, Conservatives, Labour and Liberal Democrats will field candidates in all 73 constituencies and all eight of the regional ballots.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-scotland-politics-56593188 |title=Scottish election 2021: Deadline closes for candidates |work=BBC News |date=1 April 2021 |accessdate=4 April 2021}}</ref> Five other parties are contesting both all eight regions and at least one constituency: the Scottish Greens (12 constituencies) the [[Scottish Libertarian Party]] (9), the Scottish Family Party (7), [[UK Independence Party|UKIP]] (5) and the Freedom Alliance (4). Four parties &ndash; [[Abolish the Scottish Parliament Party]], [[Alba Party]], [[All for Unity]], and [[Reform UK]] &ndash; are contesting all eight electoral regions, but are not contesting any constituencies.
The SNP, Conservatives, Labour and Liberal Democrats will field candidates in all 73 constituencies and all eight of the regional ballots.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-scotland-politics-56593188 |title=Scottish election 2021: Deadline closes for candidates |work=BBC News |date=1 April 2021 |accessdate=4 April 2021}}</ref> Five other parties are contesting both all eight regions and at least one constituency: the Scottish Greens (12 constituencies) the [[Scottish Libertarian Party]] (9), the Scottish Family Party (7), [[UK Independence Party|UKIP]] (5) and the Freedom Alliance (4). Four parties &ndash; [[Abolish the Scottish Parliament Party]], [[Alba Party]], [[All for Unity]], and [[Reform UK]] &ndash; are contesting all eight electoral regions, but are not contesting any constituencies.


Six other parties are contesting some of the regions and at least one constituency: [[Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition|TUSC]] (3 regions and 3 constituencies), Restore Scotland (2 regions, 4 constituencies), [[Scotia Future]] (2 of each), the [[Communist Party of Britain]] (2 regions and 1 constituency), the Reclaim Party (1 of each) and the Vanguard Party (also 1 of each). Five other parties &ndash; Independent Green Voice (5 regions), [[Renew Party|Renew]] (5), the [[Social Democratic Party (UK, 1990–present)|Social Democratic Party]] (2), [[Women's Equality Party|Women's Equality]] (2) and [[Animal Welfare Party|Animal Welfare]] (1) &ndash; are contesting some of the regions, but not any constituencies.
Six other parties are contesting some of the regions and at least one constituency: [[Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition|TUSC]] (3 regions and 3 constituencies), [[Restore Scotland]] (2 regions, 4 constituencies), [[Scotia Future]] (2 of each), the [[Communist Party of Britain]] (2 regions and 1 constituency), the Reclaim Party (1 of each) and the Vanguard Party (also 1 of each). Five other parties &ndash; Independent Green Voice (5 regions), [[Renew Party|Renew]] (5), the [[Social Democratic Party (UK, 1990–present)|Social Democratic Party]] (2), [[Women's Equality Party|Women's Equality]] (2) and [[Animal Welfare Party|Animal Welfare]] (1) &ndash; are contesting some of the regions, but not any constituencies.


The [[Scottish Socialist Party]], which participated in the last election as part of the electoral alliance [[RISE – Scotland's Left Alliance]], opted not to participate in this election, for the first time since its inception.
The [[Scottish Socialist Party]], which participated in the last election as part of the electoral alliance [[RISE – Scotland's Left Alliance]], opted not to participate in this election, for the first time since its inception.

Revision as of 13:24, 23 April 2021

2021 Scottish Parliament election
← 2016 6 May 2021
All 129 seats to the Scottish Parliament
65 seats needed for a majority
Opinion polls
 
Anas Sarwar MSP.jpg
Leader Nicola Sturgeon Douglas Ross Anas Sarwar
Party SNP Conservative Labour
Leader since 14 November 2014 5 August 2020 27 February 2021
Leader's seat Glasgow Southside Not an MSP[a] Glasgow
Last election 63 seats 31 seats 24 seats
Current seats 61 30 23
Seats needed Increase4 Increase35 Increase42
 
Willie_Rennie_2016.jpg
Leader Lorna Slater /
Patrick Harvie
(co-leaders) 		Willie Rennie
Party Scottish Green Liberal Democrats
Leader since 1 August 2019 /
22 November 2008 		17 May 2011
Leader's seat Not an MSP[b] /
Glasgow 		North East Fife
Last election 6 seats 5 seats
Current seats 5 5
Seats needed Increase60 Increase60
Incumbent First Minister

Nicola Sturgeon
SNP



The 2021 Scottish Parliament election will be held on 6 May 2021[5] under the provisions of the Scotland Act 1998. All 129 Members of the Scottish Parliament will be elected in the sixth election since the parliament was re-established in 1999.

The election campaign started on 25 March 2021 during the COVID-19 pandemic in Scotland, although Parliament will not be officially dissolved until 5 May, the day before the election.[6] The main parties running for election are the Scottish National Party (SNP), led by First Minister Nicola Sturgeon, the Scottish Conservatives led by Douglas Ross, Scottish Labour led by Anas Sarwar, the Scottish Liberal Democrats led by Willie Rennie, and the Scottish Greens, led by their co-leaders Patrick Harvie and Lorna Slater. Of those five parties, two changed their leader since the 2016 election.

Newer parties set up since the last election include Reform UK, led by Michelle Ballantyne, the Alba Party led by former First Minister and SNP leader Alex Salmond, and All for Unity led by George Galloway. All three of these parties are only competing for seats on the regional lists.

Background

Electoral events

2016 Scottish Parliament election

At the 2016 election, the ruling Scottish National Party (SNP) lost its parliamentary majority but was able to continuing governing under Nicola Sturgeon as a minority government.[7] At the same election, the Conservatives overtook Labour into second place, whilst the Greens overtook the Liberal Democrats into fourth place.[7] No representatives of minor parties were elected to the Parliament.[7]

2017 local elections

The 2017 local elections saw the SNP hold its first-preference vote share compared to 2012 at 32%, finishing as the largest party in half of councils (sixteen).[8]

The Conservatives considerably increased their vote share to 25%, an increase of 12%, as they became the largest party outright in six council areas and joint largest in one other.[8] Labour fell 11% to 20% and became the largest party outright in only three councils, compared to fifteen in 2012.[8]

Independent candidates won 10% of the vote, down 1%, as the Lib Dems were marginally up, winning 7% of votes. The Greens increased their share by 2%, to earn 4% of votes.[8] For the first time since the electoral system was changed to the single transferable vote in 2007, no mainland council had a majority government.[8]

2017 United Kingdom general election

A month later, at the 2017 UK general election, the SNP lost twenty-one of its MPs, winning thirty-five seats on 37% of the vote (down thirteen percentage points). Most notably, former First Minister Alex Salmond and Angus Robertson, the party's Westminster leader, lost their seats.[9]

The Conservatives won their highest vote share in any election in Scotland since 1979, at 29%, and their highest number of MPs since 1983, winning thirteen.[9] They surpassed Labour on both counts, Labour earning 28% and seven seats - both an improvement over its 2015 showing. The Lib Dems won four seats, up three, but lost nearly 1% of their national vote share. None of the smaller parties managed more than 0.2% of the vote. UKIP and the Greens heavily reduced the number of candidates compared to 2015, with UKIP down from forty-one to ten and the Greens from thirty-one to three.[9]

2019 European Parliament election

The 2019 European election was dominated by the impending Brexit-deadline and was won in Scotland by the SNP. The party won three of the six seats, up one from 2014, in the European Parliament and increased its vote share from 29% to 38%; they were the largest party in all local authority areas, with the exception of Orkney and Shetland.[10]

The Brexit Party, led by former-UKIP leader Nigel Farage, finished second on 15% - 4% higher than UKIP achieved in 2014. The pro-remain Liberal Democrats won 14% of the vote and were the largest party in the two Northern Isle councils.[10]

Both the Conservatives and Labour performed badly across Britain, and finished fourth and fifth in Scotland respectively. The Tories fared relatively better in Scotland than elsewhere in the UK, achieving 12% (down 6% on 2014) in Scotland compared to 9% elsewhere. Labour lost 17% of the vote, finishing on 9%, and had its worst showing in Scotland since 1910; the Greens held level at 8%.[10]

The Brexit Party, Lib Dems and Conservatives each won a single seat, in addition to the SNP's three. Labour (two) and UKIP (one) lost the seats they won in 2014.[10]

2019 United Kingdom general election

The SNP increased its vote share to 45% at the 2019 general election, only 5% behind its 2015 performance, reclaiming thirteen of the seats they lost in 2017.[11]

The Conservatives lost half the seats they gained in 2017, but retained a quarter of the vote - down 4%. The party won a majority of seats in the House of Commons across the UK, its biggest majority since 1987. Labour recorded its worst general election result in Scotland since 1910, being again reduced to a single Scottish seat, and achieved a 19% share of the vote. Across Britain, the party suffered its worst result since 1935, with many former safe Labour seats being gained by the Conservatives.[11][12]

The Liberal Democrats made no net losses, but Jo Swinson, the party's UK leader, lost her seat to the SNP. The party increased its share by 3%, to record just under one in ten votes.[13] The Greens managed 1% of the vote, as they stood in twenty-two seats.[11]

Leadership changes

Three parties have undergone leadership changes during the parliamentary term. In 2017, Kezia Dugdale resigned as Leader of Scottish Labour and was replaced by Richard Leonard.[14] On 14 January 2021, less than four months before the election is currently scheduled to be held, Leonard resigned.[15] The 2021 Scottish Labour leadership election was held in February 2021, and was won by Anas Sarwar.

On 1 August 2019, Lorna Slater became co-leader of the Scottish Greens alongside Patrick Harvie.

Later in August 2019, Ruth Davidson resigned as leader of the Scottish Conservatives and was succeeded by Jackson Carlaw.[16] Carlaw, however, himself resigned from the leadership in July 2020,[17] and Douglas Ross won the subsequent leadership election without opposition.[18]

Expansion of the electorate

This is the first election after the passage of the Scottish Elections (Franchise and Representation) Act, which extended the franchise to those serving prison sentences of 12 months or less.[19][20] In 2005, the United Kingdom was found in breach of Protocol 1, Article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights in regards of prisoner voting rights in the European Court of Human Rights as a result of Hirst v United Kingdom (No 2); the Act brings Scotland inline with the court ruling.[21]

This act also allows all foreign nationals resident in Scotland to vote and all those with indefinite leave to remain or equivalent status, including pre–settled status in the United Kingdom, to stand as candidates.[22][19][23] A BBC News report in April 2021 said that there were around 55,000 foreign nationals who had been given the right to vote as a result of these changes, including 20,000 refugees.[23]

Registering to vote

In order to vote by post, a person must have registered for a postal vote by 6 April 2021.[24] Everyone seeking to vote in person on the day of the election must have registered to vote before the deadline at 11:59pm on 19 April 2021.[25]

Date

Under the Scotland Act 1998, an ordinary general election to the Scottish Parliament would normally have been held on the first Thursday in May four years after the 2016 election, i.e. in May 2020.[26] This would have clashed with the proposed date of a UK general election, although this became a moot point when a snap UK general election was held in June 2017 (a further UK general election was held in December 2019).[27] In November 2015, the Scottish Government published a Scottish Elections (Dates) Bill, which proposed to extend the term of the Parliament to five years.[27] That Bill was passed by the Scottish Parliament on 25 February 2016 and received Royal Assent on 30 March 2016, setting the new date for the election as 6 May 2021.[5]

The Scottish Elections (Dates) Act does not affect the legal possibilities for the Parliament to be dissolved earlier, those being;

  • That 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.[26]
  • 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.[28]
  • If Parliament fails to nominate one of its members to be First Minister within 28 days, irrespective of whether at the beginning or in the middle of a parliamentary term.[28] Therefore, if the First Minister resigned, Parliament would then have 28 days to elect a successor and if no new First Minister was elected then the Presiding Officer would ask for Parliament to be dissolved. This process could also be triggered if the First Minister lost a vote of confidence by a simple majority, as they must then resign.

Nevertheless, 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.[28] However, this would not affect the year in which the subsequent ordinary general election will be held.[28]

On 16 November 2020, the Scottish General Election (Coronavirus) Bill was introduced.[29] This draft legislation stated that while the next election is intended to be held on 6 May 2021, powers would be given to the Presiding Officer to postpone the election by up to six months if the spread of COVID-19 made that date impractical.[29] The bill also changed the date of dissolution to a day before the election, meaning that the Parliament could be recalled during the election period.[29] Parliament was recalled on 12 April to allow MSPs to mark the death of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh.[30]

Retiring MSPs

MSP Constituency/Region First elected Party Date announced
Neil Findlay Lothian 2011 style="background:Template:Scottish Labour/meta/color;" | Labour 28 May 2019[31][32]
Mary Fee West Scotland 2011 style="background:Template:Scottish Labour/meta/color;" | Labour 7 August 2019[31][33][34]
John Finnie Highlands and Islands 2011 style="background:Template:Scottish Greens/meta/color;" | Green 27 August 2019[31][35]
Elaine Smith Central Scotland 1999 style="background:Template:Scottish Labour/meta/color;" | Labour 3 September 2019[31][36]
Ruth Davidson Edinburgh Central 2011 style="background:Template:Scottish Conservatives/meta/color;" | Conservative 6 October 2019[31][37]
Bruce Crawford Stirling 1999 style="background:Template:Scottish National Party/meta/color;" | SNP 18 February 2020[31][38]
Richard Lyle Uddingston and Bellshill 2011 style="background:Template:Scottish National Party/meta/color;" | SNP 20 February 2020[31][39]
Gail Ross Caithness, Sutherland and Ross 2016 style="background:Template:Scottish National Party/meta/color;" | SNP 27 February 2020[31][40]
Michael Russell Argyll and Bute 1999 style="background:Template:Scottish National Party/meta/color;" | SNP 1 March 2020[31][41]
Stewart Stevenson Banffshire and Buchan Coast 2001 style="background:Template:Scottish National Party/meta/color;" | SNP 1 March 2020[31][41]
Mark McDonald Aberdeen Donside 2011 style="background:Template:Independent/meta/color;" | Independent[c] 5 March 2020[31][42]
Aileen Campbell Clydesdale 2007 style="background:Template:Scottish National Party/meta/color;" | SNP 8 March 2020[31][43]
Margaret Mitchell Central Scotland 2003 style="background:Template:Scottish Conservatives/meta/color;" | Conservative 18 April 2020[31][44]
David Stewart Highlands and Islands 2007 style="background:Template:Scottish Labour/meta/color;" | Labour 9 June 2020[31][45]
Angus MacDonald Falkirk East 2011 style="background:Template:Scottish National Party/meta/color;" | SNP 11 June 2020[31][46]
Iain Gray East Lothian 2007 style="background:Template:Scottish Labour/meta/color;" | Labour 18 June 2020[31][47]
Adam Tomkins Glasgow 2016 style="background:Template:Scottish Conservatives/meta/color;" | Conservative 17 July 2020[31][48]
Gil Paterson Clydebank and Milngavie 1999 style="background:Template:Scottish National Party/meta/color;" | SNP 31 July 2020[31][49]
Linda Fabiani East Kilbride 1999 style="background:Template:Scottish National Party/meta/color;" | SNP 11 August 2020[31][50]
Derek Mackay Renfrewshire North and West 2011 style="background:Template:Independent/meta/color;" | Independent[d] 14 August 2020[31][51]
Roseanna Cunningham Perthshire South and Kinross-shire 1999 style="background:Template:Scottish National Party/meta/color;" | SNP 22 August 2020[31][52]
Alex Neil Airdrie and Shotts 1999 style="background:Template:Scottish National Party/meta/color;" | SNP 23 August 2020[31][53]
Jeane Freeman Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley 2016 style="background:Template:Scottish National Party/meta/color;" | SNP 24 August 2020[31][54]
Sandra White Glasgow Kelvin 1999 style="background:Template:Scottish National Party/meta/color;" | SNP 27 August 2020[31][55]
Maureen Watt Aberdeen South and North Kincardine 2006[e] style="background:Template:Scottish National Party/meta/color;" | SNP 7 September 2020[31][56]
Peter Chapman North East Scotland 2016 style="background:Template:Scottish Conservatives/meta/color;" | Conservative September 2020[31]
Mike Rumbles North East Scotland 1999 style="background:Template:Scottish Liberal Democrats/meta/color;" | Liberal Democrats September 2020[31]
Ken Macintosh West Scotland 1999 style="background:Template:Presiding Officer of the Scottish Parliament/meta/color;" | Presiding Officer[f] 22 September 2020[31][57]
Jenny Marra North East Scotland 2011 style="background:Template:Scottish Labour/meta/color;" | Labour 28 November 2020[31][58]
Lewis Macdonald North East Scotland 1999 style="background:Template:Scottish Labour/meta/color;" | Labour 30 November 2020[31][59]
Johann Lamont Glasgow 1999 style="background:Template:Scottish Labour/meta/color;" | Labour 4 March 2021[31][60]
Alison Harris Central Scotland 2016 style="background:Template:Scottish Conservatives/meta/color;" | Conservative 7 March 2021[61]
Bill Bowman North East Scotland 2016 style="background:Template:Scottish Conservatives/meta/color;" | Conservative 9 March 2021[62]
Tom Mason North East Scotland 2017 style="background:Template:Scottish Conservatives/meta/color;" | Conservative 9 March 2021[62]

James Dornan announced in February 2020 his intention to retire at the next Holyrood election,[63] but reversed this decision some months later.[64]

Parties

See also: List of political parties in Scotland

The SNP, Conservatives, Labour and Liberal Democrats will field candidates in all 73 constituencies and all eight of the regional ballots.[65] Five other parties are contesting both all eight regions and at least one constituency: the Scottish Greens (12 constituencies) the Scottish Libertarian Party (9), the Scottish Family Party (7), UKIP (5) and the Freedom Alliance (4). Four parties – Abolish the Scottish Parliament Party, Alba Party, All for Unity, and Reform UK – are contesting all eight electoral regions, but are not contesting any constituencies.

Six other parties are contesting some of the regions and at least one constituency: TUSC (3 regions and 3 constituencies), Restore Scotland (2 regions, 4 constituencies), Scotia Future (2 of each), the Communist Party of Britain (2 regions and 1 constituency), the Reclaim Party (1 of each) and the Vanguard Party (also 1 of each). Five other parties – Independent Green Voice (5 regions), Renew (5), the Social Democratic Party (2), Women's Equality (2) and Animal Welfare (1) – are contesting some of the regions, but not any constituencies.

The Scottish Socialist Party, which participated in the last election as part of the electoral alliance RISE – Scotland's Left Alliance, opted not to participate in this election, for the first time since its inception.

List of parties contesting all regional ballots

Name Ideology Leader(s) 2016 Scottish Parliament election result Seats at dissolution
Votes (%) Seats
Constituency Regional
style="background:Template:Scottish National Party/meta/color;" | Scottish National Party Social democracy
Scottish independence 		Nicola Sturgeon
MSP for Glasgow Southside 		46.5 41.7
63 / 129
61 / 129
style="background:Template:Scottish Conservatives/meta/color;" | Scottish Conservatives Conservatism
Unionism 		Douglas Ross
Not an MSP 		22.0 22.9
31 / 129
30 / 129
style="background:Template:Scottish Labour/meta/color;" | Scottish Labour Social democracy
Unionism 		Anas Sarwar
MSP for Glasgow region 		22.6 19.1
24 / 129
23 / 129
rowspan="2" style="background:Template:Scottish Greens/meta/color;" | Scottish Greens Green politics
Scottish independence 		Patrick Harvie (co-leader)
MSP for Glasgow region 		0.6 6.6
6 / 129
5 / 129
Lorna Slater (co-leader)
Not an MSP
style="background:Template:Scottish Liberal Democrats/meta/color;" | Scottish Liberal Democrats Liberalism
Unionism 		Willie Rennie
MSP for North East Fife 		7.8 5.2
5 / 129
5 / 129
style="background:Template:Reform UK/meta/color;" | Reform UK Populism
Euroscepticism 		Michelle Ballantyne
MSP for South Scotland region 		– – Did not exist
1 / 129
style="background:Template:UKIP/meta/color;" | UKIP Populism
Euroscepticism 		Neil Hamilton
Not an MSP 		– 2.0
0 / 129
0 / 129
style="background:Template:Scottish Libertarian Party/meta/color;" | Scottish Libertarian Party Libertarianism
Classical liberalism 		Tam Laird
Not an MSP 		0.0 0.1
0 / 129
0 / 129
style="background:Template:Alba Party/meta/color;" | Alba Party Scottish nationalism
Scottish independence 		Alex Salmond
Not an MSP 		– – Did not exist
0 / 129
style="background:Template:All for Unity/meta/color;" | All for Unity Anti-nationalism
Unionism 		George Galloway
Not an MSP 		– – Did not exist
0 / 129
style="background:Template:Abolish the Scottish Parliament Party/meta/color;" | Abolish the Scottish Parliament Anti-devolution
Unionism 		John Mortimer
Not an MSP 		– – Did not exist
0 / 129

Election system, seats, and regions

Main article: Scottish Parliament constituencies and electoral regions from 2011

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

The Scottish Parliament uses an Additional Members System, designed to produce approximate proportional representation for each region. There are 8 regions, each sub-divided into smaller constituencies. There is 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.[66][67]

The boundaries of the 73 constituencies last changed as of the 2011 Scottish Parliament election, as did the configuration of the electoral regions used to elect "list" members of the Scottish Parliament.[68] These revisions were the outcome of the First Periodical Review of the Scottish Parliament's constituencies and regions conducted by the Boundary Commission for Scotland; the Review was announced on 3 July 2007 and the Commission published its final report on 26 May 2010.

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 size difference between Westminster and Holyrood boundaries was due to diverge further upon the implementation of the Sixth Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies, which has not been voted upon by Parliament. The 2023 Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies for a UK total of 650 MPs will commence in 2021.

Campaign

The election campaign started on 25 March 2021.[6] The Scottish Conservatives launched their campaign the same day, with a focus on promoting Scotland's recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic.[69]

On 26 March 2021, the Alba Party was publicly launched by former First Minister of Scotland and SNP leader, Alex Salmond.[70][71][72][73] The party announced plans to stand list-only candidates. The party later gained two sitting MPs who defected from the SNP.[74] The Action for Independence party, which had intended to pursue a similar list-only strategy, announced they would stand down their candidates in favour of Alba.[75] Sturgeon said she would refuse to have any dealings with Salmond unless he apologises to the women who had accused him of harassment.[76]

BBC Scotland announced that it will broadcast two debates between the main parties' leaders; the first was aired on 30 March 2021 and was moderated by the corporation's Scotland editor Sarah Smith.[77] The debate included the key questions from the audience on the Covid-19 recovery, climate change, and a second independence referendum on Scottish independence. The second BBC debate is to follow towards the end of the election campaign.[78] Commercial broadcaster STV held their leaders' debate on 13 April, moderated by their political editor Colin Mackay.[79][80][81] NUS Scotland held a debate on specifically on student issues which was moderated by NUS Scotland president, Matt Crilly on 20 April which featured the three main party leaders.[82]

On 1 April, Planet Radio announced their Clyde 2 station would be hosting a Leaders Phone-In with the main parties' leaders every Sunday before the election. Douglas Ross was the first to be interviewed on 4 April,[83] with Willie Rennie following on 18 April. Whilst Nicola Sturgeon was set to be interviewed on 11 April, campaigning was delayed following the death of Prince Philip and her phone-in was instead held on 22 April. Patrick Harvie will follow on 25 April; and Anas Sarwar will have the final phone-in on 2 May.[84]

Following Prince Philip's death on 9 April, the SNP, Conservatives, Labour, Greens and Liberal Democrats said they would suspend election campaigning until further notice.[85][86][87] After discussion between the parties, they agreed to resume campaigning after a special parliamentary session on 12 April to make tributes and to pause activities again on the day of the funeral (17 April).[30][88]

Election debates

2021 Scottish Parliament election debates
Date Organisers Moderator(s)  P  Present[g]    S  Surrogate[h]    NI  Not invited   A  Absent invitee  INV Invited 
SNP Conservatives Labour Greens Lib Dems Audience Ref.
style="background:Template:Scottish National Party/meta/color;"| style="background:Template:Scottish Conservatives/meta/color;"| style="background:Template:Scottish Labour/meta/color;"| style="background:Template:Scottish Greens/meta/color;"| style="background:Template:Scottish Liberal Democrats/meta/color;"|
30 March BBC Scotland
Sarah Smith
 P
Sturgeon 		P
Ross 		P
Sarwar 		P
Slater 		P
Rennie 		Virtual [89]
13 April STV Colin Mackay P
Sturgeon 		P
Ross 		P
Sarwar 		P
Harvie 		P
Rennie 		[90]
20 April NUS Scotland Matt Crilly P
Sturgeon 		P
Ross 		P
Sarwar 		S
Greer 		S
Ford[i] 		Virtual [82]
22 April BBC (Question Time Special) Fiona Bruce S
Brown 		P
Ross 		P
Sarwar 		P
Slater 		P
Rennie 		Virtual [91]
27 April Channel 4 News Krishnan Guru-Murthy P
Sturgeon 		P
Ross 		P
Sarwar 		P
Harvie 		P
Rennie 		[92]
4 May BBC Scotland Glenn Campbell P
Sturgeon 		P
Ross 		P
Sarwar 		P
Harvie 		P
Rennie 		[93]

Opinion polling

Main article: Opinion polling for the 2021 Scottish Parliament election

Graph of opinion poll results for the next Scottish Parliament election. Trendlines are 30-day moving averages.

Key

  SNP – Scottish National Party
  Conservative – Scottish Conservatives
  Labour – Scottish Labour
  Lib Dem – Scottish Liberal Democrats
  Green – Scottish Greens
  UKIP – UK Independence Party
  Reform – Reform UK
  SSP – Scottish Socialist Party
  Alba – Alba Party
  AFU – All for Unity

Target seats

Below are listed all the constituencies which require a swing of less than 5% from the 2016 result to change hands. The Greens require a 7.1% swing to gain Glasgow Kelvin and the Liberal Democrats require a 6.1% swing to gain Caithness, Sutherland and Ross. In both cases these are the most marginal opportunities for these parties.

SNP targets

Rank Constituency Winning party 2016 Swing to gain % SNP's place 2016 Result
1 Dumbarton

style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #E4003B;" data-sort-value="Scottish Labour" |

Labour 0.17 2nd
2 Edinburgh Central

style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #0087DC;" data-sort-value="Scottish Conservatives" |

Conservative 0.90 2nd
3 Ayr

style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #0087DC;" data-sort-value="Scottish Conservatives" |

Conservative 1.00 2nd
4 Aberdeenshire West

style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #0087DC;" data-sort-value="Scottish Conservatives" |

Conservative 1.28 2nd
5 East Lothian

style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #E4003B;" data-sort-value="Scottish Labour" |

Labour 1.45 2nd
6 Edinburgh Southern

style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #E4003B;" data-sort-value="Scottish Labour" |

Labour 1.47 2nd
7 Dumfriesshire

style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #0087DC;" data-sort-value="Scottish Conservatives" |

Conservative 1.70 2nd
8 Eastwood

style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #0087DC;" data-sort-value="Scottish Conservatives" |

Conservative 2.22 2nd
9 Galloway and West Dumfries

style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #0087DC;" data-sort-value="Scottish Conservatives" |

Conservative 2.27 2nd
10 Edinburgh Western

style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #FAA61A;" data-sort-value="Scottish Liberal Democrats" |

Liberal Democrats 3.73 2nd

Conservative targets

Rank Constituency Winning party 2016 Swing to gain % Con place 2016 Result
1 Perthshire South and Kinross-shire

style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #FDF38E;" data-sort-value="Scottish National Party" |

SNP 1.97 2nd
2 Edinburgh Pentlands

style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #FDF38E;" data-sort-value="Scottish National Party" |

SNP 3.68 2nd
3 Angus North and Mearns

style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #FDF38E;" data-sort-value="Scottish National Party" |

SNP 4.21 2nd
4 Aberdeen South and North Kincardine

style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #FDF38E;" data-sort-value="Scottish National Party" |

SNP 4.26 2nd
5 Moray

style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #FDF38E;" data-sort-value="Scottish National Party" |

SNP 4.30 2nd
6 Edinburgh Southern

style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #E4003B;" data-sort-value="Scottish Labour" |

Labour 4.74 3rd
7 Perthshire North

style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #FDF38E;" data-sort-value="Scottish National Party" |

SNP 4.90 2nd

Labour targets

Rank Constituency Winning party 2016 Swing to gain % Labour's place 2016 Result
1 Eastwood

style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #0087DC;" data-sort-value="Scottish Conservatives" |

Conservative 2.56 3rd
2 Edinburgh Central

style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #0087DC;" data-sort-value="Scottish Conservatives" |

Conservative 4.19 3rd

See also

Other elections in the UK due to be held on the same day:

Footnotes

  1. ^ Ross will stand on the Highlands and Islands regional list while concurrently sitting as a Westminster MP for Moray.[1] Ruth Davidson, currently Conservative leader at Holyrood, will stand down at the election and take a seat in the House of Lords.[2]
  2. ^ Slater will stand on the Lothian regional list and Edinburgh Northern and Leith constituency[3][4]
  3. ^ Originally elected as SNP
  4. ^ Originally elected as SNP
  5. ^ Co-opted to replace Richard Lochhead, who became a constituency MSP in the 2006 Moray by-election
  6. ^ Originally elected as Labour
  7. ^ Denotes a main invitee attending the event.
  8. ^ Denotes a main invitee not attending the event, sending a surrogate in their place.
  9. ^ Carole Ford, Liberal Democrat spokesperson on Children and Young People.

References

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  46. ^ Beaton, Ailean (11 June 2020). "Angus MacDonald to step down as MSP". Holyrood Magazine. Retrieved 11 June 2020.
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  48. ^ McCall, Chris (17 July 2020). "Tory MSP Adam Tomkins to stand down at 2021 Scottish Parliament election". Daily Record.
  49. ^ Stewart-Robertson, Tristan (31 July 2020). "Clydebank MSP Gil Paterson to retire at next election". Clydebank Post.
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  53. ^ "Former SNP minister Alex Neil to stand down as MSP". BBC News. 23 August 2020. Retrieved 23 August 2020.
  54. ^ "Jeane Freeman to stand down at Scottish election". 24 August 2020 – via www.bbc.co.uk.
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  61. ^ Scottish Conservatives [@ScotTories] (7 March 2021). "🔔@ScotTories candidate list rankings announcement🔔
    Here is Central Scotland 👇 https://t.co/Q1E84TYxBH"     (Tweet). Retrieved 7 March 2021 – via Twitter.
  62. ^ a b Scottish Conservatives [@ScotTories] (9 March 2021). "🔔@ScotTories candidate list rankings🔔
    Here is the North East. 👇 https://t.co/ULGBIUWGcB"     (Tweet). Retrieved 10 March 2021 – via Twitter.
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  91. ^ @bbcquestiontime (21 April 2021). "On the Question Time panel tomorrow, Fiona is joined by @KeithBrownSNP, @Douglas4Moray, @AnasSarwar, @lornaslater and @willie_rennie. With a virtual audience from Edinburgh, join us tomorrow at 10:45pm on @BBCOne. #bbcqt" (Tweet). Retrieved 22 April 2021 – via Twitter.
  92. ^ @channel4news (22 April 2021). "Channel 4 News is to host the first UK wide televised debate of Scotland's main party leaders. The 45-minute head-to-head will take place in Glasgow on Tuesday 27 April 2021 at 7pm ahead of the Scottish Parliament election on 6 May – presented by @krishgm" (Tweet). Retrieved 22 April 2021 – via Twitter.
  93. ^ Template:Cite https://www.thenational.scot/news/19253180.bbc-leaders-debate-format-change-means-no-live-audience-may-4-broadcast/
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