Elections 2026

Committed to repealing the Hate Crime and Public Order (Scotland) Act. 

Committed to “ending Police Scotland’s use of non-crime hate incidents that threatens the freedom of speech of law-abiding citizens in Scotland.” (Page 86). 

There is no reference to hate crime in the Scottish Labour manifesto. 

There is no reference to Banning Conversion Practices in the Reform Party Scotland Manifesto. 

There is no reference to Banning Conversion Practices in the Scottish Conservative’s Manifesto. 

Committed to “Work to deliver a conversion practices ban on a four nation basis to prevent the creation of any possible loopholes across the UK and protect LGBT+ people from harmful conversion practices.” (page 51) 

There is no reference to LGBTQ+ young people in the Reform Party Scotland Manifesto.  

Committed to “introducing parent panels to oversee the content their children are taught on socially contentious issues such as sex education.” (Page 65-66).  

Committed to scrapping the LGBT Inclusive Education Guidance (Page 79-80). 

There is no reference to LGBTQ+ young people in the Scottish Labour Manifesto. 

 Plaid Cymru commit to ‘Strengthen hate crime reporting and victim support, ensuring incidents are addressed promptly and effectively’ in relation to racist abuse. 

There is no reference to Hate Crime in the Reform Wales Manifesto. 

There is no reference to Hate Crime in the Wales Green Party Manifesto 

Committed to “use every tool to tackle hate crimes, including continuing support for our Hate Hurts Wales campaign. We will also promote cohesive communities by safeguarding funding for community cohesion workers and continuing to support the Faith Communities Forum.” (Page 60). 

Plaid Cymru commit to ‘Press the UK Government on a full, trans-inclusive ban on so-called ‘conversion therapy’, maximising Welsh Government action to tackle these harmful practices and support survivors.’ 

There is no reference to Banning Conversion Practices in the Reform Wales Manifesto. 

There is no reference to Banning Conversion Practices in the Wales Green Party’s Manifesto. 

There is no reference to Banning Conversion Practices in the Welsh Conservative’s Manifesto. 

There is no specific reference to banning Conversion Practices, but the manifesto does commit to refreshing the LGBTQ+ action plan which currently includes this commitment. 

Commitment to ‘Ensure that education – including on sex and healthy relationships – is LGBTQ+ inclusive, and embed antibullying measures in schools.’ (Page 62) 

Commitment to ‘Support the development of the Welsh Gender Service in line with best international practice, ensuring that people – including young people – can access appropriate and timely care in Wales without needing to travel to England.’ (page 62) 

Commitment to “raise the minimum age at which explicit sexual content can be taught in schools and make curriculum materials accessible to parents” (Page 18).  

Commitment to ensure the curriculum is “inclusive of LGBTQIA relationships” (Page 33). 

Commitment to “improve placement stability, particularly for LGBTQIA children” in relation to children’s care.   

Commitment to ‘establish a dedicated gender service for young people under 17 to access support and therapy, provide resources such as voice training, and offer advice to parents, alongside dedicated routes to healthcare provision (both mental health and physical). The service will also provide support for accessing adult youth services to avoid facing gaps in support.’ (pp. 20-21). 

The Wales Green party has also stated their belief that ‘Talking therapies, HRT, and puberty blockers should all be accessible. …puberty blockers have been shown to be safe and effective as a treatment method.’ (page 21) 

Commitment to “re-establish the right for parents to withdraw their children from sex education and religious education lessons” (Page 9). 

The modern Scottish Parliament, also known as ‘Holyrood’, was established in 1999 following the 1997 Scottish devolution referendum and the introduction of the Scotland Act 1998.   

Elected Members of the Scottish Parliament (MSPs) debate and pass laws on areas where powers have been devolved from the UK Parliament - these include most aspects of day-to-day life in Scotland, such as education, health, and some aspects of equality legislation.  

The UK Parliament at Westminster can pass laws on reserved matters, which are generally those with a UK-wide or international impact - such as defence, foreign policy and immigration.  

You can find out more about the different Devolved and Reserved Powers on The Scottish Parliament website.  

There are 129 Members of the Scottish Parliament (MSPs). Everyone in Scotland is represented by 8 MSPs. One is a constituency MSP and the other 7 are regional MSPs.   

At Scottish Parliament elections, every voter has two votes: one for their constituency and one for their region. This is known as the Additional Member System (AMS) – a form of proportional representation. You can find out more about this here: https://youtu.be/zXjh7kOsRmg?si=J7T78-ZciWVJHTUI   

With your:  

• constituency vote – you are choosing an individual candidate to represent you 
• regional vote – you are choosing a party or independent candidate to represent you   

Constituency votes are counted first. The candidate with the most votes in each constituency wins.  

Regional votes are counted next, and regional MSPs are elected using a formula. This means that the number of seats a party gets in total across a region is about the same as the percentage of votes it receives.  

Scotland is divided into 73 constituencies, each one represented by 1 MSP. Scotland is also divided into 8 regions (larger areas covering several constituencies). Each region is represented by 7 MSPs.  

This results in 129 MSPs in total: 73 constituency MSPs and 56 regional MSPs.  

After the election  

After an election, every MSP is sworn in by taking an oath or affirmation. The parliament then appoints:  

• the Presiding Officer and Deputy Presiding Officers 
• the First Minister  

The First Minister then selects ministers for the Scottish Government. Members of the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body are appointed, and parliamentary committees are established.  

[Source: Election 2026 | Scottish Parliament Website]  

The Senedd is where decisions are made about many aspects of life in Wales, like health, education, transport, and the environment. 

From 2026 it will be made up of 96 Members, elected from all over Wales to speak up for their communities. 

A Senedd election is your chance to choose who those Members are. A Senedd election is when voters in Wales decide who they want to represent their local area – their constituency - in the Welsh Parliament. 

In 2026 each area will have six ‘seats’ in the Senedd, which means each constituency will elect six Members. 

On the day of the election you will have one vote for the political party or independent candidate you want to represent your constituency in the Senedd. 

The Senedd does not have the same level of devolved powers as Holyrood. For more information on the devolved powers in Wales please see the Senedd Website here. 

The Senedd is changing from 2026, meaning this election will be quite different from previous ones. Here are the key changes: 

• 96 Members: From the election in May 2026, the Senedd will have 96 Members instead of 60.
• New voting system: Everyone 16+ will now have one vote, choosing a political party or independent candidate.
• New constituencies: Wales will have 16 constituencies. Each constituency will elect six Members.
• New rules: Anyone standing for election must live in Wales. 

For more information on these changes please see the Senedd page here. 

After the election  

Scottish Parliament elections  

To vote in Scottish Parliament elections, you must live in Scotland and be either:  

• a British citizen 
• an Irish citizen 
• a foreign national of another country who is permitted to enter or stay in the UK 
• registered to vote at an address in Scotland  

You must be aged 16 on the day of the election.  

The deadline for registering to vote in the 7 May 2026 Scottish Parliament elections is 11:59pm on 20 April 2026.   

You can register to vote for all elections on the UK Government website: https://www.gov.uk/register-to-vote   

Senedd elections  

To vote in the Senedd elections, you must:  

• be 16 years of age or over on the day of the election (polling day) 
• be registered to vote 
• be a British, Irish or qualifying Commonwealth citizen, a citizen of the European Union, or a qualifying foreign citizen 
• live in Wales, and 
• be legally allowed to vote  

The deadline for registering to vote in the 7 May 2026 Senedd elections is 11:59pm on 20 April 2026.   

You can register to vote for all elections on the UK Government website: https://www.gov.uk/register-to-vote   

Once you have registered to vote, you can vote by the following means:  

• in person at a polling station 
• by post 
• by getting someone else to vote for you (a proxy vote)   

Polling stations will open at 7am and will close at 10pm on 7 May 2026.   

To vote by post, you must apply by 5pm on 21 April 2026.  

If you are voting by Proxy, you can only do this under certain circumstances. You must apply by 5pm on 28 April 2026 to vote by proxy.   

For both the Scottish Parliament and Senedd elections, you do not need to bring Photo ID to the polling station to be able to vote.   

You can find out more on the mygov.scot website: https://www.mygov.scot/vote-elections-scotland/how-to-vote