Democracy must be built through open societies that share information. When there is information, there is enlightenment. When there is debate, there are solutions. When there is no sharing of power, no rule of law, no accountability, there is abuse, corruption, subjugation and indignation. – Atifete Jahjaga
The Scottish Election season is underway and parties are now laying out their positions and are courting your votes. As I have with every other election since I started this blog, I’ll continue keeping a place here for party neutral information, including a post aimed at first time voters on how to vote in the elections and how that vote is translated into seats. Until I write an updated version specifically for the election this May, you can refer to my previous How Scotland Votes post for the 2016 election here.
In this post I intend to gather as many of the political party manifestos as I can as they are published. I can’t cover independent candidates fairly (by definition, an independent can stand in only one region at best) and I may miss a few of the smaller parties. If I do miss a party manifesto, please let me know and I’ll add it.
All of the manifestos below are presented for your information and the presence or absence of any of them should not be taken as an endorsement or otherwise of any of the parties or of any of the policies that they may be promoting.
Incumbent Parties
(The following parties were represented by at least one MSP during the 2016-2021 Parliament)
Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
[To Be Published]
Scottish Green Party
[To Be Published]
Scottish Labour Party
[To Be Published]
Scottish Liberal Democrats
[To Be Published]
Scottish National Party
[To Be Published]
Insurgent Parties
(The following parties were not represented in the 2016-2021 Parliament.)
Alba Party
[To Be Published]
All For Unity
Independence for Scotland Party *
Scottish Family Party
(Note: Newsletter sign-up required)
Scottish Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition
Check back frequently as more manifestos are published.
*Note:- On March 29th the Independence for Scotland Party stood down all of their candidates in the wake of the launch of the Alba Party. Nonetheless, they have published their manifesto hence its inclusion here.
[Update: 01/04/21 – Added SFP and STUSC. Clarified inclusion criteria. Re-grouped the parties into two categories to represent incumbents in the previous Parliament and other parties.]
[Update 07/04/21 – Added All For Unity.]