2016 Scottish Parliament election

2016 Scottish Parliament election

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All 129 seats to the Scottish Parliament 65 seats needed for a majority
Opinion polls
Turnout	Constituency – 55.8% 5.3 pp Regional – 55.8% 5.3pp
First party Second party Third party   Leader Nicola Sturgeon Ruth Davidson Kezia Dugdale Party SNP Conservative Labour Leader since 14 November 2014 4 November 2011 15 August 2015 Leader's seat Glasgow Southside Edinburgh Central Lothian Last election 69 seats 15 seats 37 seats Seats before 64 15 38 Seats won 63 31 24 Seat change 6 16 13 Constituency vote 1,059,898 501,844 514,261 % and swing 46.5% 1.1% 22.0% 8.1% 22.6% 9.2% Regional vote 953,587 524,222 435,919 % and swing 41.7% 2.3% 22.9% 10.6% 19.1% 7.2%   Fourth party Fifth party   Leader Patrick Harvie / Maggie Chapman Willie Rennie Party Scottish Green Liberal Democrats Leader since 22 November 2008 / 25 November 2013 17 May 2011 Leader's seat Glasgow / Contested North East Scotland  North East Fife Last election 2 seats 5 seats Seats before 2 5 Seats won 6 5 Seat change 4 Constituency vote 13,172 178,238 % and swing 0.6% 0.6% 7.8% 0.1% Regional vote 150,426 119,284 % and swing 6.6% 2.2% 5.2%
The map shows the election results in single-member constituencies. The additional member MSPs in the 8 regions are shown around the map.
First Minister before election Nicola Sturgeon SNP First Minister after election Nicola Sturgeon SNP

The 2016 Scottish parliament election was held on Thursday, 5 May 2016^[1] 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.^[2][3] 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.

During the campaign, a series of televised debates took place, including party leaders of the elected parties. BBC Scotland held the first leaders' debate on 24 March, STV broadcast the next on 29 March, and BBC Scotland hosted the final debate on 1 May.

The election resulted in a hung parliament with the Scottish National Party winning a third term in government, but falling two seats short of securing a second consecutive overall majority.^[4][5] The Conservatives saw a significant increase in support and replaced the Labour Party as the second-largest party and main opposition in the Scottish Parliament. This was the first time that Labour had finished in third place at a Scottish election in 98 years.^[4][5] The Scottish Greens won six seats on the regional list and overtook the Liberal Democrats, who remained on five seats.^[4][5]

Although the SNP had lost their majority, it was still by far the largest single party in the Scottish Parliament, with more than double the seats of the Conservatives. Accordingly, Sturgeon announced she would form a minority SNP government. She was voted in for a second term as First Minister on 17 May.^[6]