Reading Time: 3 minutesThis blog explains how the Parliament nominates a candidate for First Minister.
Explainer: how does the Parliament elect a Presiding Officer?
Reading Time: 7 minutesAfter MSPs are sworn in, the first job of the new Parliament is to elect a Presiding Officer and two Deputy Presiding Officers. This is
Explainer: how are Members of the Scottish Parliament sworn in?
Reading Time: 5 minutesThe first order of business for the new Parliament is the swearing in of members of the Scottish Parliament (MSPs) returned at the general election
SPICe Hub: the Session 7 Parliament
Reading Time: 2 minutesFollowing the general election to the Scottish Parliament on 7 May 2026, the Parliament is due to meet for the first time on Thursday 14th May as detailed in the Business Bulletin on Tuesday 24 March 2026.
As the Session 7 Parliament gets underway, SPICe will publish a series of blogs to explain what will happen in the first few meetings of the Parliament. This mini blogpost provides a central hub for this work to assist Members and others.
The results are in – general election 2026
Reading Time: 7 minutesThis blog sets out the election results for the 2026 Scottish Parliament and what they mean for the make-up of the Session 7 Parliament.
Prevention: The “urgent” topic of the last decade
Reading Time: 8 minutesThis blog talks about prevention as a method of delivery of public services. It also introduces some of the challenges with implementing prevention from a resource allocation point of view.
What’s Changing in Scotland’s National Performance Framework and Why It Matters
Reading Time: 6 minutesThis blog sets out what is changing with the National Performance Framework, why the reform matters, and what happens next as the Scottish Government prepares its final proposals for the next administration.
Campaign period and SPICe publications
Reading Time: < 1 minuteThe Scottish Parliament election is due to be held on Thursday 7 May 2026. The formal election timetable starts with the dissolution of The Scottish Parliament. The current five-year session of
Àm iomairt agus foillseachaidhean SPICe
Reading Time: 2 minutesTha dùil gun tèid taghadh Pàrlamaid na h-Alba a chumail air Diardaoin 7 Cèitean 2026. Bidh clàr-ama foirmeil an taghaidh a’ tòiseachadh le sgaoileadh Pàrlamaid na
Draft Climate Change Plan 2026-2040: scrutiny and academic engagement
Reading Time: 3 minutesThis blog provides an overview of how academic engagement supported parliamentary scrutiny of the draft Climate Change Plan (CCP), the statutory plan setting out how the Scottish Government intends to meet emissions-reduction targets.