Make Your Mind Up Time Coming As Scottish Parliament Election called in Highland

16th March 2026

The Notice of Election for the 2026 Scottish Parliament Election has been published today (Monday 16 March 2026).

The election will take place on Thursday 7 May 2026 with polling taking place in three Highland constituencies.

The Highland constituencies are:

Caithness, Sutherland and Ross.
Inverness and Nairn.
Skye, Lochaber and Badenoch.

Nomination forms are available on The Highland Council's website highland.gov.uk/spe2026 for candidates seeking election to the Scottish Parliament.

Prospective constituency candidates have until 4pm on Wednesday 1 April 2026 to submit their nomination forms.

As well as returning a Highland constituency Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP), electors will also be asked to elect seven additional Members from the Highlands and Islands Regional List.

The Highland and Islands Regional constituencies are:

Argyll and Bute
Caithness, Sutherland and Ross
Inverness and Nairn
Moray
Na h-Eileanan an Iar
Orkney
Shetland
Skye, Lochaber and Badenoch

Regional nomination forms are available for individual candidates or party list candidates seeking election to the Scottish Parliament on the Council's website highland.gov.uk/spe2026. The deadline for nominations to be submitted is also 4pm on Wednesday 1 April 2026.

The public are reminded that to take part they will need to ensure that they are registered to vote by the deadline of Monday 20 April 2026. The quickest and easiest way to register is online at gov.uk/register-to-vote or phone the Electoral Registration Office on 0800 393 783 to request a paper form.

Voters will be able to opt to vote in person at a polling station, apply for a proxy vote so someone can vote on their behalf or vote by post.

The deadline to apply for a postal vote is 5pm, Tuesday 21 April 2026. Application forms and full information can be downloaded from saa.gov.uk/h-wi-vjb. If you are unable to print the form, you can request application forms to be sent to you or your household. The Electoral Registration Office can arrange for an application form to be sent to you in the post.

For further information about the Scottish Parliament election visit highland.gov.uk/spe2026

The electoral system for the Scottish Parliament election
Members of the Scottish Parliament are elected under the Additional Member System (AMS). Under this electoral system, voters are given two ballot papers: one for the constituency election and one for the regional election.

On the constituency ballot paper, voters are asked to put an X next to the candidate of their choice.

On the regional ballot paper, voters are asked to put an X next to the party or individual candidate of their choice.

There are 129 Members of the Scottish Parliament (MSPs) - 73 constituency MSPs and 56 regional MSPs, with 7 regional MSPs elected to represent each of the 8 electoral regions.
https://www.electoralcommission.org.uk/
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