‹ 2011  2020 ›
| ||||
| Scottish Parliament general election, 2016 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| All 129 seats to the Scottish Parliament
65 Seats were needed for a majority | ||||
| 5 May 2016 | ||||
| First party | Second party | Third party | ||
|
|
| ||
| Leader | Jim Murphy | Nicola Sturgeon | Ruth Davidson | |
| Party | Labour | SNP | Conservative Party | |
| Leader since | 30 October 2014 | 13 November 2014 | 4 November 2011 | |
| Leader's seat | Glasgow Central | Glasgow Southside | Glasgow | |
| Last election | 37 Seats | 69 Seats | 15 Seats | |
| Seats before | 38 | 69 | 15 | |
| Seats won | 59 | 50 | 8 | |
| Seat change |  21
|
 14
|
7
| |
| Fourth party | ||||
|
||||
| Leader | Willie Rennie | |||
| Party | Liberal Democrats
| |||
| Leader since | 17 May 2011 | |||
| Leader's seat | Mid Scotland and Fife (defeated) | |||
| Last election | 5 seats | |||
| Seats before | 5 | |||
| Seats won | 0 | |||
| Seat change | 5
| |||
First Minister before election
Nicola Sturgeon SNP
Elected First Minister
Anas Sarwar Labour | ||||
The 2016 Scottish Parliament general election was held on Thursday 5 May 2016 to elect 129 members to the Scottish Parliament. It was the fifth general election since the devolved parliament was established in 1999.
Following the elections, no party held the 65 seats needed for a majority; in consequence, the Labour and SNP Parties begrudgingly formed a collation government. This alliance was shaky, as SNP party leader, Nicola Sturgeon, had supported secession from the UK, while elected First Minister and Labour Party Leader, Jim Murphy, had not.
Background[]
In 2014, Scotland had rejected independence from the UK by ten points. Having been a staunch supporter of secession, and facing low approval ratings, First Minister Alex Salmond stepped down as SNP leader, and was replaced by Deputy Minister Nicola Sturgeon. Due to the turmoil, and unpopularity of the SNP, led many to believe the party would fall to becoming a second party.
Results[]
Because of Sturgeon's very low approval ratings, as well as the results of the referendum vote, the Labour Party gained the largest number of seats. However, The Labour Party failed to gain the 65 seats needed for a majority, and were forced to form a collation government with the SNP Party.
The Liberal Democrats were eliminated from Parliament, and disbanded as a result, meanwhile, the Scottish Conservative Party came dangerously close to elimination themselves, losing over half of their seats.