Next Scottish Parliament election

The election is scheduled to be held on 1 May 2031, but could be held earlier in the case of premature dissolution. Under the Scottish Elections (Reform) Act 2020, ordinary general elections to the Scottish Parliament are held on the first Thursday in May, five years after the 2026 election.^[1][2]

An earlier election is possible if Parliament itself resolves that it should be dissolved. This would require at least two-thirds of the members (i.e. 86 Members) to vote in favour, following which the Presiding Officer would propose a date for an extraordinary general election and the Parliament is dissolved by the monarch by royal proclamation. It does not necessarily require a two-thirds majority to precipitate an extraordinary general election, because under the Scotland Act Parliament is also dissolved if it fails to nominate one of its members to be First Minister within certain time limits, irrespective of whether at the beginning or in the middle of a parliamentary term. Therefore, if the First Minister resigned, Parliament would then have 28 days to elect a successor. If no new First Minister was elected then the Presiding Officer would ask for Parliament to be dissolved. This process could also be triggered if the First Minister lost a vote of confidence by a simple majority (i.e. more than 50%), as they must then resign. No extraordinary general elections have been held to date. Any extraordinary general elections would be in addition to ordinary general elections, unless held less than six months before the due date of an ordinary general election, in which case they supplant it. The subsequent ordinary general election reverts to the first Thursday in May, five years after the previous ordinary election.^[1][2]

Graph of opinion poll results prior to the next Scottish Parliament election. Trendlines are 30-day moving averages.

Key

  SNP – Scottish National Party
  Labour – Scottish Labour
  Reform – Reform UK
  Green – Scottish Greens
  Conservative – Scottish Conservatives
  Lib Dem – Scottish Liberal Democrats

Below are listed all the constituencies which required a swing of less than 5% from the 2026 result to change hands.^{[citation needed]} Shetland is also included due to its small electorate size.