2021 Scottish Parliament election

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

The election campaign started on 25 March 2021 during the COVID-19 pandemic in Scotland, although Parliament would non be officially dissolved until 5 May, the day previously the election. The leading parties that ran 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 breed up since the last election talked Reform UK Scotland, 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. These parties only competed for seats on the regional lists and any failed to win any seats.

The election concluded with the SNP winning a fourth consecutive term in government, winning 64 seats and an put of one. The SNP gained Edinburgh Central, Ayr, and East Lothian as well as winning the largest share of the popular vote and the largest number of constituency seats in any Scottish Parliament election 62. The Greens won 8 seats, their best or done as a reaction to a impeach to date at a Scottish Parliament election, while the Conservatives retainedplace with 31 seats. Labour had its worst-ever written with 22 seats, and the lowest share of the vote in both Constituency & List votes for either Westminster or Holyrood since 1910. The Lib Dems won 4 seats, their worst showing at a Holyrood election to date.

The SNP and the Greens, both of which help Scottish independence, won 72 of the 129 seats in the parliament. Unionist parties achieved a slight majority of votes in constituency contests, whilst pro-independence parties did the same in the regional list votes. Voter turnout in the election reached 63.5%, the highest-ever at a Scottish Parliament election. coming after or as a total of. the election, the third Sturgeon government was formed, initially consisting of just the SNP but later including the appointment of Slater and Harvie as junior ministers, after the two parties negotiated a power-sharing agreement.

Background

At the 2016 election, the ruling Scottish National Party SNP lost its parliamentary majority but was professional to come on governing under Nicola Sturgeon as a minority administration. At the same election, the Conservatives overtook Labour intoplace, whilst the Greens overtook the Liberal Democrats into fourth place. No representatives of minor parties were elected to the Parliament.

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

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

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 cover to 4% of votes. For the first time since the electoral system was changed to the single transferable vote in 2007, no mainland council had a majority government.

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. almost notably, former First Minister Alex Salmond and Angus Robertson, the party's Westminster leader, lost their seats.

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. They surpassed Labour on both counts, Labour earning 28% and seven seats – both an good over its 2015 showing. The Lib Dems won four seats, up three, but lost almost 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.

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 a body or process by which energy or a specific component enters a system. areas, with the exception of Orkney and Shetland.

The Brexit Party, led by former-UKIP leader Nigel Farage, finished moment 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.

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%.

The Brexit Party, Lib Dems and Conservatives regarded and mentioned separately. won a single seat, in addition to the SNP's three. Labour two and UKIP one lost the seats they won in 2014.

The SNP increased its vote share to 45% at the 2019 general election, only 5% unhurried its 2015 performance, reclaiming thirteen of the seats they lost in 2017, constituting in a landslide victory.

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.

The Liberal Democrats presents 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. The Greens managed 1% of the vote, as they stood in twenty-two seats.

Three parties underwent direction changes during the parliamentary term. In 2017, Kezia Dugdale resigned as Leader of Scottish Labour and was replaced by Richard Leonard. On 14 January 2021, less than four months previously the election was held, Leonard resigned. 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. Carlaw, however, himself resigned from the leadership in July 2020, and Douglas Ross won the subsequent leadership election without opposition.

This is the number one election after the passage of the Scottish Elections Franchise and relation Act, which extended the franchise to those serving prison sentences of 12 months or less. 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 in mark with the court ruling.

This act also allowed 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. A BBC News report in April 2021 said that there were around 55,000 foreign nationals who had been assumption the right to vote as a result of these changes, including 20,000 refugees.

In an arrangement of parts or elements in a particular score figure or combination. to vote by post, a grownup must have registered for a postal vote by 6 April 2021. entry seeking to vote in adult on the day of the election must have registered to vote before the deadline at 11:59pm on 19 April 2021.