In September 2022, Boundaries Scotland began the second review of Scottish Parliament boundaries. Boundaries Scotland is a statutory advisory non-departmental public body which is independent of the Scottish Government and local government. SPICe has previously published a blog with more detail on the role of Boundaries Scotland and how reviews are undertaken.
This review is considering the constituencies and regions used to elect Members of the Scottish Parliament (MSPs), taking into account changes to the population and the electorate across Scotland since the last review in 2010. The review will not affect UK Parliament constituency boundaries or those of local authority areas or ward boundaries.
SPICe published a blog in October 2024 providing background information on the review, and summarising the proposals for new constituency and region boundaries made in the review up to that point. This blog provides an overview of the latest proposals published by Boundaries Scotland in January 2025, and sets out the remaining steps in the review process.
What is the background to the latest proposals?
On 23 January 2025, Boundaries Scotland published its Additional Proposals for constituency boundaries and Revised Proposals for region boundaries, and launched a public consultation on these proposals, which ran until 24 February.
These recommendations build on and amend Boundaries Scotland’s Further Proposals for constituency boundaries and Provisional Proposals for region boundaries, published in September 2024, and on which it consulted between 26 September and 26 October 2024. Details of the September 2024 Proposals can be found in the blog published by SPICe in October 2024.
In earlier stages of the review, Boundaries Scotland also published and consulted on Provisional Proposals for constituency boundaries (published in May 2023) and Revised Proposals for constituency boundaries (published in April 2024).
Timeline – Second Review of Scottish Parliament boundaries
September 2022: Boundaries Scotland launches Review
May 2023 – June 2023: Boundaries Scotland publishes and consults on its Provisional Proposals for constituencies
April 2024 – May 2024: Boundaries Scotland publishes and consults on its Revised Proposals for constituencies
September 2024 – October 2024: Boundaries Scotland publishes and consults on its Further Proposals for constituencies and Provisional Proposals for regions
January 2025 – February 2025: Boundaries Scotland publishes and consults on its Additional Proposals for constituencies and Revised Proposals for Regions
May 2025: Deadline for Boundaries Scotland to submit final recommendations to
Scottish Ministers
How were the previous proposals scrutinised?
Boundaries Scotland’s Further Proposals for constituency boundaries (September 2024) made updated recommendations for the names and/or boundaries of 29 proposed constituencies. Of these, it consulted on 26, receiving over 200 responses.
It did not consult on its recommendations for the constituencies of Eastwood, Falkirk East and Falkirk West. Boundaries Scotland had recommended changing these constituencies’ names and/or boundaries in earlier stages of its review, but its recommendations at the Further Proposals stage saw these constituencies revert to their existing names and boundaries.
With regard to region boundaries, Boundaries Scotland’s Provisional Proposals (September 2024) recommended that one existing Scottish Parliament region (Mid Scotland and Fife) remain unchanged, and that the remaining seven keep their existing names but with changes to their boundaries. Its consultation on these Provisional Proposals received over 250 responses.
Following the consultation on its Further Proposals for constituencies and Provisional Proposals for regions, Boundaries Scotland held local inquiries in Paisley and Whitburn in late 2024. According to Boundaries Scotland, the inquiries were intended to “provide an opportunity for local people, Councils and elected representatives to put their views forward”.
- The Paisley local inquiry concerned the proposed boundaries for two Scottish Parliament regions (Glasgow and West Scotland) and two constituencies (Erskine, Renfrew and Cardonald, and Renfrewshire West).
- The Whitburn local inquiry concerned the proposed boundaries for two Scottish Parliament regions (Central Scotland and Lothian) and the Airdrie constituency.
The transcripts and reports from these local inquiries have been published on Boundaries Scotland’s website.
What’s changed in the latest proposals?
Boundaries Scotland has used the information gathered from the consultation on its Further Proposals for constituencies and Provisional Proposals for regions, and from the Paisley and Whitburn local inquiries, to further amend its proposals for constituency and region boundaries. Its latest recommendations were published in January 2025 as the Additional Proposals for constituency boundaries and Revised Proposals for region boundaries.
Changes to constituency proposals
Compared to the proposals set out in September 2024 (the Further Proposals), Boundaries Scotland’s Additional Proposals for constituency boundaries recommend:
- Four constituencies with amended names and boundaries (Bathgate; Falkirk East and Linlithgow; Renfrewshire North and Cardonald; and Renfrewshire West and Levern Valley)
- Three constituencies with some changes to boundaries but retaining their names from the Further Proposals stage (Almond Valley; Falkirk West; and Paisley)
- One constituency reverting to its existing name and boundary (Cumbernauld and Kilsyth)
- One constituency which retains its name from the Further Proposals stage but which reverts to its existing boundary (Airdrie).
Notably, while Boundaries Scotland’s Further Proposals for constituency boundaries (published in September 2024) had envisaged the Falkirk East and Falkirk West constituencies reverting to their existing names and boundaries, the Additional Proposals now recommend changes to these constituencies’ boundaries (and, in the case of Falkirk East, a change to its name).
Details of Boundaries Scotland’s latest recommendations for the seven constituencies with amended boundaries, and how these recommendations have been informed by its previous consultation, can be found on the Boundaries Scotland website.
For the remaining constituencies which are unchanged from the Further Proposals stage, Boundaries Scotland has agreed to adopt the names and boundaries set out in the Further Proposals as its Final Recommendations, subject to there being no knock-on impacts from any further changes in neighbouring areas.
In total, based on the recommendations in Boundaries Scotland’s Additional Proposals:
- 28 proposed constituencies would retain their existing names and boundaries
- 3 proposed constituencies would retain their existing boundaries but have a new name
- 22 proposed constituencies would retain their existing name but have new boundaries
- 20 proposed constituencies would have both new boundaries and a new name.
You can use the interactive map below to explore how Boundaries Scotland’s latest proposals (the ‘Additional Proposals’) compare with current constituency boundaries or names.
Changes to region proposals
Compared with its Provisional Proposals (September 2024), Boundaries Scotland’s Revised Proposals for region boundaries recommend:
- No changes to the proposed names or boundaries of the Highlands and Islands, North East Scotland, or Mid Scotland and Fife regions
- Changes to the boundaries but not the names of three regions (Glasgow, South Scotland, and West Scotland)
- Changing the boundary of the Central Scotland region, and renaming it Central Scotland and Lothians West
- Changing the name of the Lothian region to Edinburgh and Lothians East, but retaining its proposed boundary.
For the regions that are unchanged from the Provisional Proposals stage, Boundaries Scotland has agreed to adopt those Provisional Proposals as its Final Recommendations, subject to there being no knock-on impacts from any further changes in neighbouring regions.
According to Boundaries Scotland:
Changes have been made to the existing regions to reflect the changes in the electorate and to try and achieve electoral parity between regions. The Commission has recognised the special geographical conditions that exist in the Highland and Islands and South Scotland regions where the electorate is substantially lower than other regions but the geographical area is vast.
What happens next?
Boundaries Scotland ran a consultation on its Additional Proposals for constituency boundaries and Revised Proposals for region boundaries between 24 January and 24 February 2025. The consultation considered seven constituencies and five regions. It did not consider the 64 constituencies or 3 regions that were unchanged from Boundaries Scotland’s September 2024 Further Proposals for constituency boundaries and Provisional Proposals for region boundaries.
It also did not consider the two proposed constituencies of Airdrie or Cumbernauld and Kilsyth, as Boundaries Scotland’s recommendations at the Additional Proposals stage saw these constituencies revert to their existing boundaries (though, for Airdrie, with a new name, to help distinguish it from the UK Parliament constituency of Airdrie and Shotts).
Boundaries Scotland has stated that, after the consultation closes, it will consider all responses received. If Boundaries Scotland considers it necessary to make further changes, either to the Revised Proposals for regions or to the Additional Proposals for constituencies, another one-month consultation may be held.
It has also stated that it may hold further local inquiries where objections to its latest Proposals are made either by a local authority covering the proposed constituency or included (wholly or partly) within the proposed region, or by a certain number of electors resident in the proposed constituency or region (100 or 500 electors respectively). It can also hold an inquiry if it feels that further information may be helpful or that there is another good reason for doing so.
When will the final updated boundaries be agreed?
Boundaries Scotland must submit a report setting out its final proposals for constituency and region boundaries to Scottish Ministers by 1 May 2025. According to the process set out in Schedule 1 of the Scotland Act 1998 (as amended by the Scottish Elections (Reform) Act 2020), the Scottish Parliament will then vote on whether to approve the proposals, in the form of a draft Order in Council which would give effect to the recommendations in the report.
If Parliament agrees the draft Order, it is submitted to His Majesty the King for approval, and the new boundaries would be expected to be in place at the next Scottish Parliament election (due to be held in May 2026).
If Parliament rejects the draft Order, Scottish Ministers may then require Boundaries Scotland to conduct a further review of its proposals, and submit a supplementary report before a specified date, or (if no such direction is given) within what Boundaries Scotland otherwise determines as a reasonable timeframe.
Will future boundary changes be adopted automatically?
As part of the Scottish Government’s December 2022 consultation on electoral reform, it sought views on the automatic acceptance of recommendations by Boundaries Scotland (and so, removing any Parliamentary process in their adoption). However, no proposals to this effect subsequently appeared in the Scottish Elections (Representation and Reform) Bill.
In December 2024, the Minister for Parliamentary Business, Jamie Hepburn MSP, wrote to the Convenors of the Local Government, Housing and Planning Committee and the Standards, Procedures and Public Appointments Committees, indicating that the Scottish Government would establish an independent review of the process for determining electoral boundaries in Scotland. The review’s terms of reference will focus on how automatic approval of changes to electoral boundaries for Scottish Parliament and local government elections could work.
In February 2025, the Convenor of the Local Government, Housing and Planning Committee responded to the Minister’s letter, seeking further detail on the remit of the review; progress towards appointment of a chair; and the timescales for launch and completion of the review.
Duncan Sim, Researcher, SPICe