Scottish Parliament Election
An election will be held on 7 May 2026 to elect Members of Scottish Parliament (MSPs) to the Scottish Parliament.
Notice of Election was published on Monday 16 March. Nominations opened on Tuesday 17 March and closed on Wednesday 1 April at 4pm.
You can find out further details by emailing elections@edinburgh.gov.uk.
The Scottish Parliament and ΎΕΙ« Constituencies
There are currently 129 elected members in the Scottish Parliament at Holyrood, of which 73 are constituency members and 56 are Regional members.
Scottish Parliamentary Elections use the Additional Member System where each voter has two votes. One of these elects a constituency MSP using the first past the post system, and the other elects regional representatives from a list of political parties and individual candidates.
Everyone in Scotland is represented by 8 MSPs
- 1 for their constituency (for example, ΎΕΙ« Southern, Midlothian North and East Lothian Coast and Lammermuirs)
- 7 for the larger region in which they live (for example, ΎΕΙ« and Lothians East)
There are currently 6 Parliamentary Constituencies in the City of ΎΕΙ« Council area.
You can currently vote to return a constituency MSP for
- ΎΕΙ« Central
- ΎΕΙ« North Eastern and Leith
- ΎΕΙ« North Western
- ΎΕΙ« Northern
- ΎΕΙ« South Western
- ΎΕΙ« Southern
and Regional MSPs for the ΎΕΙ« and Lothians EastRegion.
The ΎΕΙ« and Lothians East Region includes
- East Lothian Coast and Lammermuirs
- ΎΕΙ« Central
- ΎΕΙ« Eastern, Musselburgh and Tranent
- ΎΕΙ« North Eastern and Leith
- ΎΕΙ« North Western
- ΎΕΙ« Northern
- ΎΕΙ« South Western
- ΎΕΙ« Southern
- Midlothian North
Paul Lawrence is the Returning Officer for the 6 ΎΕΙ« constituencies and is the Regional Returning Officer for the ΎΕΙ« and Lothians East Region.
The next election will be held on Thursday 7 May 2026.
View previous election results
Email elections@edinburgh.gov.uk.