2016 Scottish Parliament elections

Scottish Parliament election, 2016

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All 129 seats to the Scottish Parliament 65 seats needed for a majority
Opinion polls
Turnout	55.6% 5.2%
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 1,059,897 501,844 514,261  % 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 Nov. 2008 / Nov. 2013 17 May 2011 Leader's seat Glasgow / North East Scotland (Lost) 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 left side shows constituency winners of the election by their party colours. The right side shows regional winners of the election for the additional members by their party colours.
First Minister before election Nicola Sturgeon SNP Elected First Minister Nicola Sturgeon SNP

Nicola Sturgeon
SNP

Nicola Sturgeon
SNP

The 2016 Scottish Parliament election was held on Thursday 5 May 2016 to elect 129 members to the Scottish Parliament. It was the fifth general election since the parliament was established in 1999. It was the first parliamentary election in Scotland in which 16 and 17 year olds were able to vote, under the provisions of the Scottish Elections (Reduction of Voting Age) Act. It was also the first time the three main 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 Party 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.