THE Scottish Parliamentary elections take place every five years, with the upcoming Holyrood election expected to be held in May 2026.
The last Scottish Parliament election was held in 2021, which saw the SNP form a minority government before entering a ruling agreement with the Greens.
In March, a poll by Survation predicted that in 2026 the SNP would win 34% of the constituency share and 29% on the regional vote, while Scottish Labour came second on 23% and 20% respectively.
Read on for all the latest Holyrood election 2026 news, interviews and updates.
Latest Holyrood election 2026 news
As reported by The National, here is a selection of the latest Holyrood election 2026 news stories.
Scottish independence support at 58 per cent if Nigel Farage becomes PM
A different kind of politics is needed to beat Reform in Scotland
Patrick Harvie faces Holyrood election challenge from activist
How Holyrood elections work
Voters will have two votes each at the Scottish Parliament elections.
The Additional Member Voting system allows people to choose their MSPs by casting one vote for their constituency and one for their region.
In the constituency, parties field specific candidates. On the regional list, people vote for a party and the party then decides the order of their candidates.
There are 129 MSPs in total— 73 constituency members and 56 regional members.
Calling for an early election
First Minister John Swinney had previously stated that he would call for a snap election if the SNP's budget failed to secure sufficient support.
The SNP secured support from the LibDems and the Greens to pass their budget. However, neither was needed after Scottish Labour said they would be abstaining, meaning the SNP MSPs had the number to pass it themselves.
