Parties in early pitch to voters with six months to go until Holyrood election

Scotland’s political leaders have made an early bid to woo voters, with six months to go until next May’s Holyrood election.

Scots will go to the polls to elect the latest batch of MSPs on May 7, 2026 – with John Swinney’s SNP hoping for a record fifth consecutive victory at the Scottish Parliament.

Scottish Labour led by Anas Sarwar, however, is vying to oust the SNP from power – although its popularity in the polls has fallen following the election of a Labour Government at Westminster last year.

Other parties are hoping to increase their standing at Holyrood, with polls suggesting the election could see the first ever group of Reform UK MSPs.

Speaking on Friday, with exactly six months to go until polling day, SNP campaign director Angus Robertson said his party has “delivered for the people of Scotland”.

Mr Swinney has already said the SNP is hoping to win an overall majority of MSPs at the Scottish Parliament – something it only achieved in 2011 – in the hope this will lead Westminster to grant a second referendum on Scottish independence.

Mr Robertson said the SNP will use the campaign to “set out a bold, optimistic vision for Scotland’s future”.

He told voters: “We can reject Westminster’s politics of decline and division and instead vote for a vision of hope for the future.

“A better future is possible when that future is in Scotland’s own hands and, next year, people can vote SNP for a fresh start with independence.”

Mr Sarwar said the “stakes could not be higher” in next year’s election, as he told voters: “I truly fear our health service will not survive a third decade of this SNP failure.”

Accusing the SNP of having “blown a hole in the founding principles” of the NHS, the Scottish Labour leader said: “Right now, one in six Scots are on an NHS waiting list, record numbers of people are being forced to go private, and thousands of patients every week face dangerously long waits in A&E.

“Too many Scots are being let down in their hour of need, being forced to spend their life savings on private healthcare or languish on waiting lists for years on end.

“We have six months to get rid of this tired, incompetent SNP Government and save Scotland’s NHS.

“The only way to save Scotland’s NHS is by getting rid of the SNP in six months’ time, and the only party that can do that is Scottish Labour.”

The Scottish Liberal Democrats are hoping to boost their numbers at Holyrood following the party’s gains in the 2024 general election.

Lib Dem campaign chairwoman Wendy Chamberlain acknowledged for many people “it feels like our country simply isn’t working” as she spoke about “soaring” household bills and “long waits” for NHS care.

Ms Chamberlain said there are “many constituencies” where her party is “on the verge of winning against the SNP”.

But she also told voters that “wherever you are, every vote for the Scottish Liberal Democrats on the second peach ballot will deliver change with fairness at its heart”.

She added: “In six months’ time, voters can kick the parties who have let you down to the curb.”