By Richard Wood

Scottish Conservative leader Russell Findlay has today (Tuesday 7 April 2026) in Edinburgh launched his party’s manifesto exactly one month before the Scottish Parliament election on Thursday 7 May.

The party has dedicated over two pages to democracy and accountability issues. Here’s what they have to say.

READ MORE: What does Reform UK’s 2026 manifesto say on reforming Holyrood and the constitution?

What does the manifesto say on democracy and accountability?

The below is taken directly from the manifesto.

To strengthen democracy and accountability, Scottish Conservative MSPs will:

• Create a Scottish Information and Whistle blowers Commission – giving whistleblowers a place to expose state failings without fear of being punished.
• End the SNP’s culture of secrecy with a Government Transparency Bill.
• Require all third-sector organisations receiving taxpayer money to declare this fact explicitly on their website, social media and in front of parliamentary committees if they are giving evidence.
• Improve the transparency of public sector decision making by requiring taxpayer-funded pressure groups to disclose their lobbying efforts.
• End the use of non-disclosure agreements in the public sector, except for commercial reasons, so that whistleblowers are no longer silenced when they see wrongdoing.
• Review charity law to consider whether bodies that receive almost all their funding from government or the public sector should still be classed as charities.
• Place new restrictions on political appointments within government and the wider public sector to prevent ministers abusing these powers of patronage.
• Introduce a proper Recall Bill that will allow the public to sack MSPs who have broken the rules or are failing to do their job.

READ MORE: SNP could win unrepresentative majority on 29% of the vote, suggests MRP poll

Over two pages, you say? What’s on the rest of them?

The manifesto goes into a level of detail on these particular asks, often levelling criticism at the current Scottish Government, highlighting financial prudence and improving transparency and scrutiny.

What chance do the Scottish Conservatives have in May?

Elections are always difficult to predict and campaigns can certainly shift the dial. That all said, based on current polling and mood music across Scotland, the Scottish Conservatives are almost certain to lose a significant number of seats and crucially lose their status as the second largest party.

With the rise of Reform UK, there’s a real risk that this will be the Conservatives’ worst ever Holyrood election result.

The days of Ruth Davidson are gone.

Where can I read the Scottish Conservatives’ manifesto?

The full manifesto can be downloaded and viewed here.

What do you think of Russell Findlay’s plan for Scotland?

READ MORE: When did each Scottish party launch its manifesto in 2021? When are we expecting in 2026?