By Richard Wood
A record number of MSPs are stepping down from the Scottish Parliament ahead of the 2026 election.
The current total (as of March 2026), just weeks before the poll, stands at 42 members. These include two former First Ministers (Nicola Sturgeon and Humza Yousaf), as well as Deputy First Minister Kate Forbes and other high-profile members in the current Scottish Cabinet.
Other retirees include the Lib Dems’ Beatrice Wishart, Labour’s Richard Leonard and the Conservatives’ Douglas Ross. Not to mention Presiding Officer Alison Johnstone, elected as a Green MSP.
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How many MSPs have stood down at each election?
A total of 34 MSPs stood down in 2021, including former Scottish Conservative leader Ruth Davidson.
While back in 2016, there were 25 MSPs who stood down (23 who retired and 2 who were deselected by their parties). Among the retirees that year were former First. Minister Alex Salmond, former Scottish Conservative leader Annabelle Goldie and the Presiding Officer Tricia Marwick.
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A similar number stepped down at the election before. Among the 20 who retired in 2011 were former Deputy First Minister Nichol Stephen.
Just 13 MSPs retired in 2007 including independent MSP Dennis Canavan and former Deputy First Minister Jim Wallace.
And in 2003, there were 10 MSPs who stepped down including our shortest-serving First Minister Henry McLeish and Westminster’s 1967 Hamilton by-election winner, the SNP’s Winnie Ewing.
Each year the number has gone up.
2026 – 42
2021 – 34
2016 – 25
2011 – 20
2007 – 13
2003 – 10
1999 – N/A
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