Scottish Liberal Democrats in the context of "2022 Scottish local elections"

Orkney is a county constituency of the Scottish Parliament covering the council area of Orkney. It elects one Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) by the first past the post method of election. Under the additional-member electoral system used for elections to the Scottish Parliament, it is also one of eight constituencies in the Highlands and Islands electoral region, which elects seven additional members, in addition to the eight constituency MSPs, to produce a form of proportional representation for the region as a whole.

Orkney has been held by the Liberal Democrats at all elections since the formation of the Scottish Parliament in 1999, with the current MSP being Liam McArthur, who won the seat at the 2007 Scottish Parliament election. The former Deputy First Minister Jim Wallace represented the constituency from 1999 to 2007.

Shetland is a county constituency of the Scottish Parliament covering the council area of Shetland. It elects one Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) by the first past the post method of election. Under the additional-member electoral system used for elections to the Scottish Parliament, it is also one of eight constituencies in the Highlands and Islands electoral region, which elects seven additional members, in addition to the eight constituency MSPs, to produce a form of proportional representation for the region as a whole.

Shetland has been held by the Liberal Democrats at all elections since the formation of the Scottish Parliament in 1999, with the current MSP being Beatrice Wishart, who won the seat at a 2019 by-election held following the resignation of former party leader Tavish Scott.

The 2021 Scottish Parliament election took place on 6 May 2021 under the provisions of the Scotland Act 1998. It was the sixth Scottish Parliament election since the devolved parliament was established in 1999. 129 Members of the Scottish Parliament were elected. The election was held alongside the Senedd election in Wales, English local elections, London Assembly and mayoral election and the Hartlepool by-election.

The election campaign started on 25 March 2021, during the COVID-19 pandemic in Scotland. As a result, Parliament went into recess on 5 May, the day before the election. The main parties fielding candidates were: 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, jointly led by Patrick Harvie and Lorna Slater. Of those five parties, three had changed their leader since the 2016 election.

The 2011 Scottish Parliament election was held on Thursday, 5 May 2011 to elect 129 members to the Scottish Parliament.

The election delivered the first majority government since the opening of Holyrood, a remarkable feat as the Additional Member System used to elect MSPs was allegedly originally implemented to prevent any party achieving an overall parliamentary majority. The Scottish National Party (SNP) won a landslide of 69 seats, the most the party has ever held at either a Holyrood or Westminster election, allowing leader Alex Salmond to remain as First Minister of Scotland for a second term. The SNP gained 32 constituencies, twenty two from Scottish Labour, nine from the Scottish Liberal Democrats and one from the Scottish Conservatives. Such was the scale of their gains that, of the 73 constituencies in Scotland, only 20 came to be represented by MSPs of other political parties. Scottish Labour lost seven seats and suffered their worst election defeat in Scotland since 1931, with huge losses in their traditional Central Belt constituencies and for the first time having to rely on the regional lists to elect members within these areas. They did, however, remain the largest opposition party. Party leader Iain Gray announced his resignation following his party's disappointing result. The Scottish Liberal Democrats were soundly defeated; their popular vote share was cut in half and their seat total reduced from 16 to 5. Tavish Scott announced his resignation as party leader shortly after the election. For Scottish Conservatives, the election proved disappointing as their popular vote dropped slightly and their number of seats fell by 2, with party leader Annabel Goldie also announcing her resignation.

The 2016 Scottish parliament election was held on Thursday, 5 May 2016 to elect 129 members to the Scottish Parliament. It was the fifth election held since the devolved parliament was established in 1999. It was the first parliamentary election in Scotland in which 16 and 17 year olds were eligible to vote, under the provisions of the Scottish Elections (Reduction of Voting Age) Act (the voting age had previously been 16 in the 2014 Independence Referendum). It was also the first time the three largest parties were led by women.

Parliament went into dissolution on 24 March 2016, allowing the official period of campaigning to get underway. Five parties had MSPs in the previous parliament: Scottish National Party (SNP) led by First Minister Nicola Sturgeon, Scottish Labour led by Kezia Dugdale, Scottish Conservatives led by Ruth Davidson, Scottish Liberal Democrats led by Willie Rennie, Scottish Greens, led by their co-conveners Patrick Harvie and Maggie Chapman. Of those five parties, four changed their leader since the 2011 election.

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.

The Liberal Democrat Headquarters is the principal centre of operations and offices of the British Liberal Democrats. As of September 2025, the headquarters of the party is located at 66 Buckingham Gate, London, SW1E 6AU. The headquarters is located within two miles of the Houses of Parliament, as are the Labour Party Headquarters and the Conservative Campaign Headquarters (formerly known as Conservative Central Office).

Scottish Liberal Democrats have their own headquarters, which are located at Clifton Terrace in Edinburgh, whilst the Welsh Liberal Democrats' headquarters are based at Bute Street, in Cardiff.