December 2020 Scottish Parliament election |
All 129 seats to the Scottish Parliament 65 seats needed for a majority |
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Opinion polls |
|
First party
|
Second party
|
Third party
|
|
|
|
|
Leader
|
Tommy2Boys
|
NeatSaucer
|
NorthernWomble
|
Party
|
Conservative
|
Labour
|
Liberal Democrats
|
Leader since
|
27 June 2020[2]
|
4 November 2020[3]
|
26 July 2020[1]
|
Leader's seat
|
Aberdeen Central
|
Almond Valley
|
Orkney Islands
|
Last election
|
56 seats
|
42 seats
|
7 seats
|
Seats before
|
56
|
42
|
7
|
Seats won
|
63
|
17
|
17
|
Seat change
|
7
|
25
|
10
|
Popular vote
|
1,193,785
|
364,382
|
316,950
|
Percentage
|
46.5%
|
14.2%
|
12.4%
|
Swing
|
1.2%
|
20.2%
|
7.3%[a]
|
|
|
Fourth party
|
Fifth party
|
Sixth party
|
|
|
|
|
Leader
|
chainchompsky1
|
Imadearedditaccount5 / Model-Eddy
|
ThreeCommasClub
|
Party
|
SNP
|
Progressives
|
Libertarian
|
Leader since
|
11 September 2020[5]
|
8 July 2020[6]
|
13 November 2020[4]
|
Leader's seat
|
Aberdeenshire East
|
Dumbarton / Edinburgh Central
|
Stirlingshire and Upper Strathclyde
|
Last election
|
3 seats[b]
|
5 seats (combined)
|
15 seats
|
Seats before
|
3 seats
|
5
|
15
|
Seats won
|
13
|
13
|
5
|
Seat change
|
10
|
8
|
10
|
Popular vote
|
281,799
|
271,644
|
126,245
|
Percentage
|
11.0%
|
10.6%
|
4.9%
|
Swing
|
8.4%
|
5.2%
|
7.2%
|
|
|
Seventh party
|
|
|
|
|
Leader
|
shetgirl3456
|
|
Party
|
Free Shetland
|
|
Leader since
|
12 November 2020[7]
|
|
Leader's seat
|
Shetland Islands
|
|
Last election
|
Did not contest
|
|
Seats before
|
Outside parliament
|
|
Seats won
|
1
|
|
Seat change
|
1
|
|
Popular vote
|
10,695
|
|
Percentage
|
0.4%
|
|
Swing
|
0.4%
|
|
|
|
The December 2020 Scottish Parliament election was held on Thursday, 3 December 2020 to elect 129 members to the Scottish Parliament. The incumbent Scottish Conservatives under Tommy2Boys expanded their vote by 1%, but ultimately came up 2 seats short of a majority. The Scottish Labour party more than halved their vote, falling to 17 seats. This loss led to the gain of smaller parties, such as the Scottish Liberal Democrats, who won an equal amount of seats to Labour, the Scottish National Party, who won 11% in their debut election, and the Scottish Progressives, who won over 10% of the vote and doubled their seat count- the regionalist Free Shetland party also won a single seat. A notable exception to this trend were the Scottish Libertarians, who lost two-thirds of their seats.
Electoral system
There are 10 regions contested as multi-member constituencies, with each party nominating one candidate for each region. The seats in each region range from 12 to 14. MPs will take up either an FPTP seat (more common for major parties) with an example being Tommy2Boys' seat of Aberdeen Central (located in the Grampian region), or a list seat (more common for minor parties) with an example being Friedmanite19, nationwide LPUK leader, taking up the Scottish Libertarians' list seat in the Fife and the Forth Valley.
Parties and candidates contesting the election
The close of nominations was at 10PM, 27 November 2020, and the official list of nominations was released shortly after. 7 political parties contested this election, down from 9 in June 2020. Among the parties that contested the previous election, the Conservatives, Labour, Liberal Democrats and Libertarians all contested this election, while the Scottish Reformists and Scottish People's Unity Party merged to form the Scottish Progressives. Change merged with the Liberal Democrats, while the Scottish Socialist Party merged with the newly-founded Scottish National Party. There was also an additional party that was founded midterm, called Free Shetland. Below is a table of candidates.[8]
Results
The Scottish Progressive performance is calculated from the combined Scottish Reformist/Scottish People's Unity performance in June 2020. The Scottish National Party performance is calculated from the Scottish Socialist performance in June 2020. The Liberal Democrat performance includes any Change performance in June 2020.
e • d
Parties
|
Votes
|
%
|
±
|
Seats
|
±
|
|
Conservative
|
1,193,785
|
46.5%
|
1.2%
|
63
|
7
|
|
Labour
|
364,382
|
14.2%
|
20.2%
|
17
|
25
|
|
Liberal Democrats
|
316,950
|
12.4%
|
7.3%
|
17
|
10
|
|
SNP
|
281,799
|
11.0%
|
8.4%
|
13
|
10
|
|
Progressives
|
271,644
|
10.6%
|
5.2%
|
13
|
8
|
|
Libertarian
|
126,245
|
4.9%
|
7.2%
|
5
|
10
|
|
Free Shetland
|
10,695
|
0.4%
|
0.4%
|
1
|
1
|
Total
|
2,565,500[9]
|
129
|
Highlands and Islands
Grampian
Tayside
December 2020 Scottish Parliament election: Tayside[8][9]
|
Party
|
Candidate
|
Seats
|
+/−
|
Votes
|
%
|
+/−%
|
|
Conservative
|
atrastically
|
7
|
±0
|
115,732
|
55.4%
|
-3.1%
|
|
Labour
|
Maroiogog
|
2
|
-1
|
33,874
|
16.2%
|
-3.8%
|
|
SNP
|
Zurikurta
|
2
|
+2
|
25,215
|
12.1%
|
+12.1%
|
|
Progressives
|
SomeBritishDude26
|
2
|
+1
|
23,706
|
11.3%
|
+2.7%
|
|
Liberal Democrats
|
tiber_augustus
|
0
|
±0
|
6,427
|
3.1%
|
+3.1%
|
|
Libertarian
|
model-saunders
|
0
|
-2
|
4,110
|
2.0%
|
-10.9%
|
Fife and the Forth Valley
December 2020 Scottish Parliament election: Fife and the Forth Valley[8][9]
|
Party
|
Candidate
|
Seats
|
+/−
|
Votes
|
%
|
+/−%
|
|
Conservative
|
model-conf
|
7
|
+1
|
139,081
|
52.0%
|
+7.9%
|
|
Progressives
|
LightningMinion
|
4
|
+3
|
92,946
|
34.8%
|
+24.9%
|
|
SNP
|
later_slater1407_
|
2
|
+2
|
31,064
|
11.6%
|
+11.6%
|
|
Libertarian
|
zhuk236
|
0
|
-1
|
4,207
|
1.6%
|
-8.1%
|
Edinburgh
Stirlingshire and Upper Strathclyde
Lower Strathclyde
Clyde Valley
December 2020 Scottish Parliament election: Clyde Valley[8][9]
|
Party
|
Candidate
|
Seats
|
+/−
|
Votes
|
%
|
+/−%
|
|
Conservative
|
DriftersBuddy
|
6
|
+1
|
119,276
|
41.0%
|
+11.2%
|
|
Labour
|
NGSpy
|
4
|
-1
|
83,909
|
28.8%
|
-9.6%
|
|
Liberal Democrats
|
LastBlueHero
|
2
|
+2
|
51,860
|
17.8%
|
+17.8%
|
|
SNP
|
wiredcookie1
|
1
|
±0
|
29,810
|
10.2%
|
+1.8%
|
|
Libertarian
|
Cody5200
|
0
|
-2
|
6,201
|
2.1%
|
-12.4%
|
Glasgow City
December 2020 Scottish Parliament election: Glasgow City[8][9]
|
Party
|
Candidate
|
Seats
|
+/−
|
Votes
|
%
|
+/−%
|
|
Conservative
|
Skullduggery12
|
7
|
+2
|
120,854
|
46.7%
|
+10.7%
|
|
Liberal Democrats
|
model-willem
|
4
|
+3
|
75,971
|
29.3%
|
+20.6%
|
|
SNP
|
icecreamsandwich401
|
2
|
+1
|
43,757
|
16.9%
|
+7.2%
|
|
Labour
|
VerkhovnaGeordie
|
1
|
-6
|
14,872
|
5.7%
|
-39.9%
|
|
Libertarian
|
Tarkin15
|
0
|
±0
|
3,608
|
1.4%
|
+1.4%
|
Southern Marches
December 2020 Scottish Parliament election: Southern Marches[8][9]
|
Party
|
Candidate
|
Seats
|
+/−
|
Votes
|
%
|
+/−%
|
|
Conservative
|
chi0121
|
7
|
+1
|
125,432
|
59.7%
|
+7.6%
|
|
Liberal Democrats
|
scubaguy194
|
3
|
+1
|
51,005
|
24.3%
|
+17.5%
|
|
SNP
|
KarlYonedaStan
|
1
|
+1
|
21,918
|
10.4%
|
+10.4%
|
|
Labour
|
Rinarchy
|
1
|
-3
|
8,567
|
4.1%
|
-27.2%
|
|
Libertarian
|
unitedlover14
|
0
|
±0
|
3,269
|
1.6%
|
+1.6%
|
References
- ^ Includes the performance of Change, a minor party which contested the June 2020 election and later merged with the Liberal Democrats.
- ^ Perfomance of the Scottish Socialist Party, who later merged into the Scottish National Party