Elections to the Scottish Parliament
How are MSPs elected to the Scottish Parliament?
Watch this video to learn how MSPs are elected using an electoral system called the Additional Member System or AMS.
What is the Additional Member System?
How often are MSPs elected?
Members of the Scottish Parliament (MSPs) are usually elected every four years. This sometimes changes to five years if it clashes with UK Parliament elections.
The system used to elect MSPs is known as the Additional Member System (AMS).
Scotland has 129 MSPs. There are 73 constituency MSPs and 56 regional list MSPs.
The last election to the Scottish Parliament was in 2021. The SNP was the biggest party and has formed a minority government. This means that they have less than half of the total MSPs.