The 2026 Scottish Parliament election is planned to be held on Thursday 7 May 2026, and will elect 129 members to the Scottish Parliament. It will be the seventh general election since the devolved parliament was established in 1999.
Six parties currently have MSPs in the sixth parliament, although only five won seats at the last Scottish Parliament election in 2021: 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 co-leaders Gillian Mackay and Ross Greer, and the Scottish Liberal Democrats, led by Alex Cole-Hamilton. Of these five parties, four have changed their leaders since the 2021 election. In addition, Reform UK have one MSP following a defection from the Conservatives. Six members sit as independents after leaving or being suspended or expelled from their respective parties - two from the SNP, two from Labour, and one Conservative. Ash Regan left the SNP for Alba before later becoming an independent.