Bill extending Holyrood parliamentary term to five years introduced

The Scottish Government has published its plans to extend the next Scottish Parliament term to five years to prevent a clash with the UK general election.

The Scottish Elections (Dates) Bill means the next Scottish Government, due to be elected next May, will run until 2021.

Council elections will also take place a year after originally planned to prevent a repeat of 2007 when the two polls coincided.

A Holyrood election had been due to take place earlier this year but was moved back 12 months following the introduction of the Fixed-term Parliaments Act at Westminster.

The Scotland Bill, currently going through Westminster, will hand the Scottish Parliament full powers over future elections.

However, the power to set an alternative date for the election due to take place in 2020 was fast-tracked earlier this year. 

Joe FitzPatrick, Minister for Parliamentary Business, said: “To help eliminate potential voter confusion, this Bill avoids a clash with the next UK General Election in 2020.

“The Scottish and UK Governments agreed to keep the elections separate and I welcome the cross-party support in Scotland. This Bill represents a pragmatic and straightforward solution to the immediate problem.

“When the Scotland Bill transfers full powers over elections to the Scottish Parliament, we can then agree permanently the best term lengths and dates for Scottish elections.”

If the Bill is implemented then the Scottish Parliament election, due to take place on 7 May 2020, will be scheduled for 6 May 2021.

Local government elections, due on 6 May 2021, will take place on 5 May 2022. Elections for Scottish local government will revert to being held every four years after the 2022 elections.