Tag: scottish lib dems

Scottish Lib Dems commit to political reforms in 2026 manifesto

By Richard Wood

The Scottish Liberal Democrats are the last of Scotland’s six main parties to publish their manifesto ahead of elections on Thursday 7 May.

Their plans for Scotland were announced on Friday 17 April, one day after the SNP published their own document.

Overall, the Scottish Lib Dems have some promising policies in their manifesto on the issues of democratic and electoral reform.

Changing the Additional Member System

The Scottish Liberal Democrats are the only one of the six main parties to have explicitly committed to replacing Holyrood’s Additional Member System with a fairer alternative, in this case the Single Transferable Vote.

Scotland is on track for its least representative election ever, yet other parties have failed to grasp the seriousness of this. If designed well, STV would improve proportionality and, crucially, strengthen voter power over individual candidates up for election.

READ MORE: Will the Scottish Parliament change its voting system?

Introducing an Accountability Act

An eye-catching proposal is Alex Cole-Hamilton’s plan for an Accountability Act, which would improve ministerial accountability and introduce a recall rule for MSPs.

READ MORE: SNP manifesto is limited on democratic reform ahead of 2026 election

Protect devolution

The Scottish Lib Dems have also pledged to protect drovlution by removing the ability of the UK Parliament to unilaterally change the powers of devolved parliaments.

There are also proposals to reform Quangos, implement a federal, written constitution, and devolve power to local communities.

The full Scottish Liberal Democrat manifesto is available to download here.

READ MORE: Manifesto 2026: How would Scottish Labour and Anas Sarwar reform democracy?

What do you think of the Lib Dems manifesto? How does it compare to the other five, or any proposals put forward by minor parties?

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

By Richard Wood

The first of six parties expected to win seats in 2026’s Scottish Parliament election published its manifesto on Thursday 19 March.

Reform UK launched their manifesto with worrying proposals including cutting the number of MSPs at Holyrood to 113 and regular reviews of devolution powers.

The party launched its manifesto significantly earlier than other parties in 2021.

READ MORE: Reform UK’s manifesto: Malcolm Offord’s party on Scottish democracy

Here’s when each of the other five main parties published their manifestos in 2021:

  • 🟢 Scottish Greens: 14 April 2021
  • 🟡 Scottish National Party: 15 April 2021
  • 🟠 Scottish Liberal Democrats: 16 April 2021
  • 🔵 Scottish Conservatives: 19 April 2021
  • 🔴 Scottish Labour Party: 22 April 2021

All were published in a tight window of 14–22 April 2021.

When can we expect publication of the other manifestos in 2026?

Going by the most recent election, April looks most likely but there is little information available about when manifesto launches will actually be.

It remains to be seen whether parties stick with the mid-April clustering, or if they spread out launches.

Update:

  • The Scottish Conservatives published their manifesto on Tuesday 7 April 2026 in Edinburgh.
  • Scottish Labour published their manifesto on Monday 13 April 2026 in Edinburgh.

READ MORE: Will the Scottish Parliament change its voting system?