Counting underway in the Holyrood Election
Written by MartyM on 8 May 2026
By Jamie McDonald
Counting underway in the Holyrood Election
Counting has begun in the Holyrood election. The first results are expected by early afternoon. The seat of Skye, Lochaber and Badenoch is likely to be declared by around 6.30pm.
There are six candidates in total for the seat:
Andrew Baxter – Scottish Liberal Democrats
Helen Crawford– Scottish Conservatives
Laùra Hänsler – Alliance to Liberate Scotland
Isla McCay– Scottish Labour
Eilidh Munro – SNP
Jon Whitton – Reform UK
The count for the Highlands is taking place at Inverness Leisure Centre.
Inverness Leisure Centre
As well as Skye, Lochaber and Badenoch, there are two other Highland seats up for grabs. They are Inverness and Nairn where the former SNP MSP Fergus Ewing is standing as an independent. And there’s Caithness, Sutherland and Ross where the SNP’s Maree Todd is in a tight contest with the Scottish Liberal Democrats.
On top of that there are a further 7 Highland MSPs who will be elected via the regional vote, or ‘the list’. We should find out who they are at around 7pm.
The number to watch out for is 65. If any party gets over that hurdle, they will form a majority in the Scottish Parliament.
It’s only happened once since 1999 when the SNP won 69 out of 129 seats in 2011 under Alex Salmond.
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