6th Scottish Parliament
Legislature elected in 2021
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The 6th Scottish Parliament was elected at the 2021 Scottish Parliament election.[2] It was opened with the Escort to the Crown of Scotland Parade and Speech from the Throne on 2 October 2021.
Legislative bodyScottish Parliament
JurisdictionScotland
Meeting placeScottish Parliament Building
Term13 May 2021 – 8 April 2026[1]
| 6th Scottish Parliament | |||||
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| Overview | |||||
| Legislative body | Scottish Parliament | ||||
| Jurisdiction | Scotland | ||||
| Meeting place | Scottish Parliament Building | ||||
| Term | 13 May 2021 – 8 April 2026[1] | ||||
| Election | 2021 | ||||
| Government | |||||
| Members | 129 | ||||
| Presiding Officer | Alison Johnstone | ||||
| First Minister | Nicola Sturgeon (2021–2023) Humza Yousaf (2023–2024) John Swinney (2024–2026) | ||||
| Deputy First Minister | John Swinney (2021–2023) Shona Robison (2023–2024) Kate Forbes (2024–2026) | ||||
| Leader of the largest opposition party | Douglas Ross (2021–2024) Russell Findlay (2024–2026) | ||||
Composition
| Party | May 2021 election |
At dissolution | |
|---|---|---|---|
| • | Scottish National Party | 64 | 60 |
| Scottish Conservatives | 31 | 28 | |
| Scottish Labour | 22[a] | 20[b] | |
| Scottish Greens | 8 | 7 | |
| Scottish Liberal Democrats | 4 | 5 | |
| Reform UK Scotland | 0 | 1 | |
| Independent | 0 | 7 | |
| Presiding Officer | 0 | 1 | |
| Total | 129 | ||
| Government majority | 0 | – 8 | |
Government parties denoted with bullets (•)
Leadership
- Presiding Officer: Alison Johnstone (Independent)[c]
- Deputy Presiding Officers: Annabelle Ewing (SNP), Liam McArthur (Lib Dems)
Government
- First Minister: Nicola Sturgeon (SNP) (until 28 March 2023) Humza Yousaf (SNP) (29 March 2023 – 7 May 2024) John Swinney (SNP) (8 May 2024 – 8 April 2026)
- Deputy First Minister: John Swinney (SNP) (until 28 March 2023) Shona Robison (SNP) (29 March 2023 – 8 May 2024) Kate Forbes (SNP) (8 May 2024 – 8 April 2026)
- Minister for Parliamentary Business: George Adam (SNP) (May 2021 – May 2024) Jamie Hepburn (SNP) (May 2024 – September 2025) Graeme Dey (SNP) (September 2025 – April 2026)
Opposition parties
- Conservative leader: Russell Findlay[3]
- Labour leader: Anas Sarwar
- Greens leaders: Ross Greer & Gillian Mackay
- Liberal Democrats leader: Alex Cole-Hamilton
- Includes 11 MSPs sponsored by the Co-operative Party, who are designated Labour and Co-operative.
- Includes 10 MSPs sponsored by the Co-operative Party, who are designated Labour and Co-operative.
- Johnstone was elected as Green MSP but relinquished her membership in order to take the office of Presiding Officer.
List of MSPs
This is a list of MSPs so far elected.[4] The changes table below records all changes in party affiliation during the session, since the May 2021 election.
There are eight MSPs who have been constant members since the inauguration of the Parliament in 1999 (ten other founding members retired prior to the 2021 election): Jackie Baillie, Fergus Ewing and John Swinney have been elected six times under the same constituency (Swinney's was renamed with different boundaries in 2011); Christine Grahame, Fiona Hyslop, Michael Matheson, Shona Robison and Nicola Sturgeon were returned as a list member then a constituency member. A ninth MSP Richard Lochhead has served almost the same term, resigning his list seat in 2006 to successfully contest a by-election a few weeks later for a constituency seat, which he has defended since then.[5]
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Former MSPs
| Name | Image | Member for | Type | Party | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dean Lockhart |  |
Mid Scotland and Fife | Regional | Scottish Conservatives | Resigned 5 September 2022[6] | |
| Donald Cameron |  |
Highlands and Islands | Regional | Scottish Conservatives | Resigned 9 February 2024[7] | |
| Christina McKelvie |  |
Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse | Constituency | Scottish National Party | Died 27 March 2025[8] | |
Changes
| Date | Constituency/region | Gain | Loss | Note | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 13 May 2021 | Lothian | Presiding Officer | Green | Alison Johnstone was elected Presiding Officer and consequently had to renounce her party affiliation.[9] | ||
| 5 September 2022 | Mid Scotland and Fife | Conservative | Conservative | Dean Lockhart resigned his seat in the Scottish Parliament.[6] He was succeeded by Roz McCall, who was sworn in on 20 September.[10] | ||
| 28 October 2023 | Edinburgh Eastern | Alba | SNP | Ash Regan defected from the SNP to Alba, becoming the party's first MSP.[11] | ||
| 9 February 2024 | Highlands and Islands | Conservative | Conservative | Donald Cameron was appointed to the House of Lords in the 2024 Special Honours and was replaced by Tim Eagle.[7] | ||
| 17 August 2024 | Glasgow Shettleston | Independent | SNP | John Mason had whip suspended over Gaza comments.[12] | ||
| 4 April 2025 | West Scotland | Liberal Democrats | Conservative | Jamie Greene left the Conservative Party due to his disagreement with it becoming "Trump-esque in both style and substance", and joined the Liberal Democrats the next day.[13] | ||
| 6 June 2025 | Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse | Labour | SNP | Davy Russell won the Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse by-election following the death of SNP MSP Christina McKelvie.[14] | ||
| 20 June 2025 | Inverness and Nairn | Independent | SNP | Fergus Ewing announced he would stand as an independent in the 2026 parliament election. Ewing said he had not quit the SNP, but a party source said his membership automatically ceased when he announced his independent run, a violation of the SNP's party constitution.[15] | ||
| 20 August 2025 | South Scotland | Independent | Labour Co-op | Colin Smyth was suspended from the Labour and Co-operative Party after being charged with possession of indecent images.[16] | ||
| 22 August 2025 | Lothian | Independent | Conservative | Jeremy Balfour resigned from the Scottish Conservatives due to disagreements over policy and direction [17] | ||
| 27 August 2025 | Central Scotland | Reform | Conservative | Graham Simpson resigned from the Scottish Conservatives and joined Reform UK [18] | ||
| 27 September 2025 | Lothian | Independent | Labour | Foysol Choudhury was suspended from the Labour Party over an allegation of inappropriate conduct pending an investigation.[19] | ||
| 10 October 2025 | Edinburgh Eastern | Independent | Alba | Ash Regan resigned from the Alba Party to focus on the Prostitution (Offences and Support) (Scotland) Bill.[20] | ||
| 10 February 2026 | Glasgow | Independent | Labour | Pam Duncan-Glancy was suspended from the Labour Party over her friendship with former Labour councillor and convicted sex offender Sean Morton.[21] | ||