Party leaders make pitches to Scots as they hit campaign trail

Scotland's political leaders are hitting the campaign trail ahead of May's Holyrood election.

With polling day just six weeks away, hopefuls are setting out their stalls to voters.

Coinciding with the Welsh Senedd election and English local elections, the Holyrood vote could have major implications for politics across the UK.

In 2021, the SNP returned 64 seats, just one short of a majority.

This time the party is aiming to win its fifth consecutive Scottish election.

Polling suggests the party's popularity has dipped since Nicola Sturgeon's time in charge, but her former deputy John Swinney is hoping to convince independence supporters to come out in force in May.

At an event in Glasgow, Swinney pledged to improve NHS performance, help first-time home buyers with a £10,000 grant and expand free childcare.

The SNP leader said that if his party won a majority - at least 65 out of 129 seats - it would deliver the "prize" of securing Scotland's right to decide its constitutional future in a referendum.

A second referendum would have to be signed off by the UK government, which has repeatedly refused to countenance another vote.

Swinney also said an SNP majority would "lock Nigel Farage out of any influence" at Holyrood, claiming there could be a "grubby backroom deal" between Farage's party and Labour after the election.

Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar has positioned himself as the leading candidate to replace Swinney as first minister.

His party seemed on track to sweep aside the SNP after a landslide victory in the 2024 UK general election.

Recent polling, however, suggests the party is in a battle for second place.

Sarwar, also in Glasgow, insisted that he planned to walk the "narrow path" he had to become first minister, and said Swinney should be "ashamed" for suggesting Labour could agree a deal with Reform.

He added that the SNP leader wanted to talk up Reform rather than his party's own record.

Sarwar accused Nigel Farage's party of previously running "horrific adverts" about him as he accused Reform of being "the Tories in disguise".

At the Glasgow event, Sarwar unveiled plans to recruit 2,000 specialist teachers to help children who have fallen behind in literacy and numeracy catch up, as well as an additional 1,500 classroom assistants.

He vowed his party would "fix the mess, get the basics right and build a better future".

The Conservatives - who since 2016 have been Holyrood's second-largest party - are facing a tough fight to retain that position.

The party is one of several which could find itself squeezed by a rise in support for Reform, which is hoping to make an electoral breakthrough north of the border in May.

Scottish Tory leader Russell Findlay urged unionist voters to rally behind his party to prevent an SNP majority and a second referendum.

Ahead of an event in Edinburgh, he said: "MSPs in the next parliament should be using all their energy to tackle the cost-of-living crisis, bring down people's bills and grow Scotland's economy.

"Yet John Swinney is prioritising another independence referendum above all else – despite knowing it is not a priority for the public.

"That is why in six weeks' time it is more important than ever that pro-UK voters use their peach ballot paper to vote for the Scottish Conservatives, wherever they are in Scotland, to help stop an SNP majority."

The Scottish Greens returned a record eight MSPs in 2021. They are aiming higher this year, though they face stiff competition on regional list ballots where they have traditionally won their seats.

The party endured a tumultuous parliamentary term after initially entering government with the SNP, only for the power-sharing deal agreed with Nicola Sturgeon to be dramatically torn up by Humza Yousaf, leading to his resignation as first minister.

Since then the Greens have replaced co-leaders Patrick Harvie and Lorna Slater with Ross Greer and Gillian Mackay.

The pair began their campaign in the capital, pledging to expand free childcare and to provide free bus travel for all.

The party is offering a vision of a fairer, greener Scotland and will propose "additional taxes for the super rich" to help fund better services.

Making her pitch to voters, Mackay told BBC Scotland News: "We know you're scunnered with politics at the moment, and we know you're looking for a bit of hope, we're going to offer that."

She said her party was aiming to return an MSP in each of Scotland's regions, as well as targeting constituency seats in Glasgow Southside and Edinburgh Central.

The Scottish Liberal Democrats are also hoping to improve on their return from 2021, when they gained four seats.

Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Alex Cole-Hamilton, also in Edinburgh, claimed his party could deprive the SNP of a majority by winning 10 constituency seats and returning more MSPs on the regional ballot.

He said: "Household bills are soaring, the long waits to see your GP, the national embarrassment of the ferries fiasco, and Scottish education just isn't what it used to be.

"That's why we have a realistic plan to get things done, delivering first-rate health care, helping you with the cost of living, getting Scotland moving again, and getting Scottish education back to its best."

Reform UK has never had an MSP elected to Holyrood before but Farage's party has ambitions to become a major force in Scottish politics.

The party's leader north of the border, Malcolm Offord, has declared his intention to become first minister.

He launched the party's manifesto and unveiled constituency candidates last week.

Since then, however, Offord has faced criticism over a crude joke at a rugby club dinner in 2018, while four of the candidates have dropped out.

Linda Holt, who was standing in the Fife North constituency, is among them, citing a lack of support from the party. She had been criticised for previously calling Humza Yousaf a "grandstanding Islamist moron".

Dundee City West candidate Stuart Niven was suspended after reports he was disqualified as a company director. Jordan Brown, the party's Aberdeen Central candidate, and Roland Jackson, who was announced as standing in Mid Fife and Glenrothes, have both withdrawn according to newspaper reports.

Speaking as Reform unveiled their regional candidates on Wednesday, Offord said: "The announcement signals the beginning of an intense campaign period, as Reform UK Scotland sets out its vision to cut taxes, unlock economic growth and deliver practical solutions on the issues that matter most to communities across the country."