The Scottish National Party (SNP) have won the Scottish parliamentary election and their leader Nicola Sturgeon has been re-elected meaning she will now return as First Minister for a second term. Five political parties won seats: the SNP, the Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party (also known as Conservatives or Tories), Scottish Labour, the Scottish Greens and the Scottish Liberal Democrats (also known as Lib Dems). The turnout in this election was the highest since the parliament was formed in 1999- 63.2% of people living in Scotland voted.  

In Scotland, the voting system is an Additional Members System. This means that voters have two votes: one vote for the candidate they would like to represent them as a Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) in their constituency, and one vote for the party they would like to represent their wider region. This second vote is called a list vote and is designed to create more accurate representation of parties in regions. For example, if one party very narrowly won all seats in a region over another party, the percentage of votes would be very similar, but the elected MSPs would not represent that- they'd all be from one party. The MSPs for the regional seats are calculated using the equation regional votes ÷ (number of constituency seats already won in region + 1). 

There are 129 seats in the Scottish parliament. There are 73 constituency seats and the remaining 56 are regional seats. There are eight regions: Highlands & Islands, Northeast Scotland, Mid Scotland & Fife, West Scotland, Glasgow, Central Scotland, Lothian and South Scotland. Each region has seven seats.  

This election, the SNP won 64 seats- just one seat under a majority of 65. Of these, 62 were constituency seats and two were regional seats. They held all their constituency seats, gained Ayr and Edinburgh Central from the Conservatives and gained East Lothian from Labour. They lost two regional seats as they won more constituency seats, but overall managed to gain one seat.  

The Conservatives were second place with 31 seats. Five of these were constituency seats and 26 were regional. Although they lost two seats to the SNP, they held the SNP target of Aberdeenshire West and gained two regional seats, meaning they have the same number of seats as last parliamentary term. Leader Douglas Ross was elected in the Highlands and Islands list. He will now be both a MP and an MSP- he represents Moray in the UK parliament.  

Third was Labour, with 22 seats. Two were constituencies and 20 were regional. They lost one constituency seat to the SNP, but Jackie Baillie managed to hold on to Dumbarton, increasing her very slim majority of 109 votes in 2016 to 1,483. This was a crucial point in denying the SNP a majority. She has now held the seat for all six elections since the Scottish Parliament was formed. Leader Anas Sarwar didn’t manage to beat Nicola Sturgeon in Glasgow Southside, which was predicted, but he did reduce her share slightly and got elected on the Glasgow list. However, Labour also lost a list seat and didn’t gain anything so overall they have lost two seats.  

The Greens took eight seats, all regional, including their co-leaders Patrick Harvie and Lorna Slater. They gained two, making this election a record high for the party.  

The Lib Dems held four constituency seats, including their leader, Willie Rennie. However, they lost a regional seat, meaning they lost one overall.  

Alex Salmond, former leader of the SNP who has been in the public eye recently after controversy over allegations against him, hoped to win even more pro-independence seats for his newly formed Alba party. His idea was that tactical pro-independence voters should vote SNP in constituency seats but Alba on the list. This is because the SNP hardly win any regional seats as a result of winning so many constituencies. However, Alba failed to win any seats. 

The first two women of colour were elected, a big step for more diverse and accurate representation in the parliament. Kaukab Stewart won Glasgow Kelvin for the SNP and Pam Gosal won a West Scotland regional seat for the Conservatives. In her acceptance speech, Ms. Stewart said “It has taken too long but to all women and girls of colour out there- the Scottish Parliament belongs to you too. So whilst I may be the first I will not be the last.”  

Pam Duncan-Glancy also made history as she became the first permanent wheelchair user to be elected as an MSP. She had been denied entry to the ballot counting on Friday as officials didn’t believe she was a candidate. She said: “What happened yesterday happens to disabled people across Scotland and the country, and indeed the world, I’m sure, on a daily basis. And it shouldn’t. That’s one of the reasons I have always been involved in politics. It’s why I’m an activist. It’s why I believe in equality and human rights. I will speak up for disabled people’s human rights.”  

In total, 58 women were elected- a record 45% of MSPs. The SNP’s policy of all-female shortlists where male MSPs were retiring was a big factor in this. The new parliament been described as “[maybe] the most diverse parliament to date”. 

The SNP is pro-independence, a very dividing issue in Scotland. In 2014, they held a referendum, where 55.3% of voters voted ‘no’ to the question “Should Scotland be an independent country?”. They now plan to hold another referendum, after dealing with the Covid-19 pandemic. In her victory speech, Nicola Sturgeon said: “Getting through the Covid crisis has to come first. […] Of course, my immediate job is to get on with steering us through that crisis, but then, it is for the people of Scotland to decide their own future. And that is not a demand from me or the SNP, that is what the Scottish people have voted for.” The pro-independence majority has now increased from to 69 to 72 as both the SNP and the Greens are pro-independence. However, UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson described the plan for a second referendum as “irresponsible and reckless” talk of “ripping our country apart”. He would need to allow an independence vote to happen, but Sturgeon says there would be “no democratic justification” to block it.  

The SNP manifesto includes several targets on healthcare: “increase NHS frontline spending by at least 20%”, “create a National Care Service” and “give a fair pay rise to NHS staff, offering a 4% increase on average”. Other targets include: “deliver a further 100,000 affordable homes by 2032”, “freeze income tax rates and bands”, “invest an additional £500 million to support new jobs and reskill people”, “invest over £33 billion over the next five years in our National Infrastructure Mission”, “maintain and strengthen Scotland’s relationship with our EU partners” and “bring Scotrail into public ownership”. 

Targets specifically concerning children and young people are: “double the Scottish Child Payment to £20 per child per week”, “invest a further £1 billion over the next parliament to close the school attainment gap and recruit 3500 additional teachers and classroom assistants”, “provide free school breakfasts and lunches to every primary school pupil in Scotland, all year round, and for all children in state-funded special schools in Scotland”, “provide every child in Scotland with a device to get online” and “build a wraparound childcare system”. Environmental targets are: “deliver a green transport revolution to meet our net zero targets” and “decarbonise the heating of 1 million homes by 2030”. 

The new Scottish parliamentary term begins.