Holyrood Election 2026: What does it mean for BME Political Representation?
The new batch of Black and minority ethnic Holyrood MSPs are more diverse, but still low in number. CRER looks behind the headlines for the 2026 Scottish Parliament elections and explores how political representation has changed.
Friday’s Scottish Parliament election results created a major shake-up in the political arena - not least for those who, like CRER, have an interest in political representation for Black and minority ethnic (BME) communities.
Labour leader Anas Sarwar lost his bid for a constituency seat, calling into question the future of Scotland’s first BME party leader. The second person to achieve party leadership, former First Minister Humza Yousaf, elected not to stand. This ended his 15 year tenure in the Scottish Parliament, during which he spoke openly about his experiences of racism both as a politician and in his personal life.
A record breaking 42 MSPs did not seek re-election, creating opportunities for new candidates to come forward.
In total, 43 candidates from BME backgrounds stood in constituency and regional seats at the election. Seven were successful.
The first MSPs of Black, Tamil and East Asian heritage were elected, ending the stubborn trend of diversity at Holyrood being limited to people from South Asian backgrounds. This is perhaps the most notable development in representation for BME people emerging from the election.
The rise of Reform, who gained 17 regional seats, has also been prominent in post-election debate.
While CRER is preparing to work with the new Scottish Government once formed, we’ll also be paying close attention to the new political make-up of Parliament and what that could mean for our own Manifesto priorities.
How will diversity in the Scottish Parliament change?
Now that the dust has settled, the broader picture of changing political representation is emerging.
In the previous Parliamentary Session, Scotland had six MSPs from Black and minority ethnic backgrounds. Of the original six, only Anas Sarwar remains, securing a regional seat following his loss at constituency level to the SNP’s Zen Ghani.
Foysol Choudry, who was suspended from Scottish Labour following an inappropriate conduct claim in 2025, was excluded from selection. The remaining three previous MSPs lost their seats; former SNP Minister for Equalities Kaukab Stewart, and Conservatives Sandesh Gullane and Pam Gosal.
Which BME candidates won?
Two BME SNP candidates succeeded at constituency level – as previously mentioned, Zen Ghani in Glasgow Cathcart and Pollok, and Simita Kumar in Edinburgh South Western.
Regionally, five further BME MSPs gained seats, perhaps unsurprisingly in the most diverse areas of Scotland. All but one of these had lost out on a constituency seat, the exception being Q Manivannan, who stood only as a regional candidate (Edinburgh and Lothians East).
Alongside Iris Duane (Glasgow), Q Manivannan is one of two new Green Party MSPs bringing intersectional boosts for diversity. They made history as Holyrood’s first transgender MSPs, and became Scotland’s first MSPs from Black and Tamil backgrounds, respectively. The Liberal Democrat’s Yi-Pei Chou Turvey (North East Scotland), born in Taiwan, became the first MSP from an East Asian background.
Four of the seven successful BME candidates are women, up from two in 2021. At an election where women’s overall representation has fallen, and where BME women candidates have historically been sidelined into unwinnable seats, this is a small but meaningful shift.
Anas Sarwar retained a seat through the regional list in Glasgow, and new Labour MSP Irshad Ahmed gained a seat in Edinburgh and Lothians East. Both are of Pakistani heritage.
Traditionally, Glasgow seats have held the greatest diversity. In 2026, BME representatives can also be found in Edinburgh and Lothians East and North East Scotland. Simita Kumar is the first BME constituency MSP to be elected outside of Glasgow.
The two constituencies represented by BME MSPs, Glasgow Cathcart and Pollok and Edinburgh South Western, are amongst Scotland’s most diverse constituencies. Glasgow Cathcart and Pollok has the 5th highest percentage of BME people in Scotland (after Glasgow Central, Southside, Kelvin and Maryhill, Aberdeen Central), and Edinburgh Southern 7th (after Glasgow Easterhouse and Anniesland).
For the regional candidates, all but the two Green candidates were successful due to being placed at the top of their party’s list for the region. Without this factor, the final picture could have been very different.
Which parties were BME candidates standing for?
Another important factor lies in the relative success of the parties fielding BME candidates. The popularity of the SNP led to success for the two constituency MSPs elected, with the remaining six candidates for the SNP failing to gain a seat at either constituency or regional level. Meanwhile, the Additional Member System at regional level enabled two of the seven Labour Party candidates to gain a seat, plus two of the six Green Party candidates and one of the three Liberal Democrats.
The following list gives the full rundown of BME candidate numbers for each party:
8 - Scottish National Party (SNP)
7 - Labour Party
6 - Scottish Green Party
6 - Conservative and Unionist Party
4 - Scottish Common Party
3 - Liberal Democrats
3 - Reform UK
3 - Workers Party of Britain
1 - Scottish Family Party
1 - Alliance to Liberate Scotland
1 – Independent
Whilst the order of ranking on the list system was key to success for some candidates, for others, it almost guaranteed defeat. For example, four of the SNP’s eight minority ethnic candidates stood only for a regional seat in Glasgow, ranked 5th, 10th, 11th and 12th. None were successful.
What do the results mean for political representation?
The breadth of diversity in the new Scottish Parliament intake has increased considerably, but in terms of numbers, the seven successful candidates represent an increase of just one extra seat held by someone from an adversely racialised background.
Post-election, the percentage of Scotland’s 129 MSPs from a Black and minority ethnic background is now just over 5% of the total. Given that 7.7% of the working age population are from BME backgrounds, equal representation remains just out of reach. Three more MSPs would be required to achieve this.
Where do we go from here?
We’ve come a long way since 1999, with no Black and minority ethnic MSPs featuring in the first or second sessions of the Scottish Parliament. The first, Bashir Ahmad, won a seat in Glasgow region almost 20 years ago in 2007, followed by Hanzala Malik and Humza Yousaf (also for Glasgow region) in 2011. Sadly, both Bashir Ahmad and Hanzala Malik have since passed away. They did not get the opportunity to see equal representation in the Scottish Parliament within their lifetimes.
Now Scotland’s political parties have five more years to get their houses in order and deliver a stronger approach to equality in the 2031 Scottish Parliament election.
To make the final push for equal representation, CRER’s recommendations for political parties remain the same as they have been since the beginning of the Scottish Parliament.
Attract and retain Black and minority ethnic party members to build the next generation of politicians
Use equality monitoring to measure progress and take action, for both members and candidates
Ensure a level playing field for potential new BME candidates in the selection process
Field BME constituency candidates in safe seats, not marginals or seats which can’t be won
Make sure that regional rankings don’t unfairly disadvantage BME candidates
Support successful candidates to thrive once in office, with a zero-tolerance approach to the racism they may face
It’s important to note that increasing diversity will not automatically result in a Parliament better equipped to tackle structural racism.
Black and minority ethnic people’s equal representation in elected membership is a goal in its own right. However, the seven new and returning BME MSPs will have their own policy platforms, interests and skills. It’s not necessarily their job to fix the ingrained issues which continue to disadvantage Black and minority ethnic communities across Scotland. Relying on people affected by structural racism to fix it isn’t a solution – it's part of the problem.
That’s why CRER will be seeking allies across the board within the Scottish Parliament. In the current climate, we need all the help we can get.
Find out more about CRER’s policy priorities for 2026: Manifesto for an Anti-Racist Scotland