OpenLegislation

Explanatory note

Original text. Later amendments are not shown.

(This note is not part of the Order)

This Order designates regional returning officers for the purposes of elections to the Scottish Parliament. It also directs the constituency returning officers for those purposes for constituencies situated in more than one local authority area. For constituencies wholly situated in one local authority area, the constituency returning officer is the person who is the returning officer for elections of councillors for that local authority.

Paragraph 2 of schedule 1 of the Scotland Act 1998 (“1998 Act”) provides for there to be 8 regions for the purposes of the Act and for 7 regional members of the Scottish Parliament to be returned for each region. The regions are those specified in the Scottish Parliament (Constituencies and Regions) Order 2025 (“the boundaries Order”). Under the 1998 Act there are 73 Scottish Parliament constituencies in total. They are the 70 constituencies which are specified in the boundaries Order and the constituencies of Na h-Eileanan an Iar, the Orkney Islands, and the Shetland Islands which are provided for by paragraph 1(2) of schedule 1 of the Scotland Act 1998.

Article 2 designates the person who is the returning officer for elections of councillors for the local authority named in column 2 of the table in schedule 1 as the regional returning officer for the region named in the corresponding entry in column 1 of that table.

Article 3 directs the person who is the returning officer for elections of councillors for the local authority named in column 2 of the table in schedule 2 to be the constituency returning officer for the constituency named in the corresponding entry in column 1 of that table.

Article 4 revokes the Scottish Parliament Elections (Regional Returning Officers and Constituency Returning Officers) Order 2016 (“the 2016 Order”) which previously designated the regional returning officers for the 8 regions, and the constituency returning officers for constituencies situated in more than one local authority area.

This Order comes into force on 7 November 2025, however it has no effect in relation to any election for which the day of the poll is on or before 6 May 2026. Where a Scottish Parliament election occurs on or before 6 May 2026, the returning officers designated by the 2016 Order will continue to act.