John Ramsay Swinney is a Scottish politician who served as Deputy First Minister of Scotland from 2014 to 2023. He held various Scottish Cabinet roles under First Ministers Alex Salmond and Nicola Sturgeon from 2007 to 2023. Swinney has served as the Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for Perthshire North since 2011, having previously represented North Tayside from 1999 to 2011. He was the Leader of the Scottish National Party (SNP) from 2000 to 2004.
Kenneth Donald Macintosh is a Scottish politician who served as the Presiding Officer of the Scottish Parliament from 2016 to 2021. Elected as a member of Scottish Labour, he suspended his party membership on becoming Presiding Officer. Macintosh was a Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) from 1999 to 2021, representing the Eastwood constituency from 1999 to 2016, and then the West Scotland region from 2016 to 2021.
William John Graham Scott is a Scottish farmer and former Scottish Conservative politician. He was the Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for Ayr from 2000 to 2021.
Annabel MacNicoll Goldie, Baroness Goldie is a Scottish politician and life peer who served as Leader of the Scottish Conservative Party from 2005 to 2011 and Minister of State for Defence from 2019 to 2023. She was a Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP), as one of the additional members for the West Scotland region, from 1999 to 2016.
The Scottish Conservative & Unionist Party is part of the UK Conservative Party active in Scotland. It is a centre right party. The party holds 31 of the 129 seats in the Scottish Parliament and 7 out of the 59 Scottish seats in the House of Commons in Westminster. It has 209 local councillors of 1,227.
Murdo MacKenzie Fraser is a Scottish politician who served as Deputy Leader of the Scottish Conservative Party from 2005 to 2011. He has been a Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for the Mid Scotland and Fife region since 2001. Since May 2021, he has served as Shadow Cabinet Secretary for Covid Recovery, shadowing Deputy First Minister John Swinney.
Alexander Elliot Anderson Salmond is a Scottish politician, economist and television host, who served as First Minister of Scotland from 2007 to 2014. A prominent figure in the Scottish nationalist movement, he has served as Leader of the Alba Party since 2021. Salmond was leader of the Scottish National Party (SNP), on two occasions, from 1990 to 2000 and from 2004 to 2014. He served as the party's depute leader from 1987 to 1990. Salmond hosted The Alex Salmond Show (2017–2022) on RT UK. He currently hosts Scotland Speaks with Alex Salmond (2023–present).
The 2021 Scottish Parliament election took place on 6 May 2021, under the provisions of the Scotland Act 1998. All 129 Members of the Scottish Parliament were elected in the sixth election since the parliament was re-established in 1999. The election was held alongside the Senedd election, English local elections, London Assembly and mayoral election and the Hartlepool by-election.
Ruth Elizabeth Davidson, Baroness Davidson of Lundin Links,, is a Scottish politician who served as Leader of the Scottish Conservative Party from 2011 to 2019 and Leader of the Scottish Conservative Party in the Scottish Parliament from 2020 to 2021. She served as a Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for Glasgow from 2011 to 2016 and for Edinburgh Central from 2016 to 2021.
The 2011 Scottish Conservatives leadership election was an internal party election to choose a new leader of the Scottish Conservatives, who at the time were the third-largest political party in the devolved Scottish Parliament. Ruth Davidson was declared the winner of the contest on 4 November 2011 and succeeded Annabel Goldie. The election was triggered when incumbent party leader Annabel Goldie resigned her position on 9 May 2011, following her party's self-described 'disappointing' result in the 2011 Scottish Parliament election, where the Conservatives were reduced from 17 seats to 15.
Kezia Alexandra Ross Dugdale is a Scottish former politician who served as Leader of the Scottish Labour Party from 2015 to 2017. A former member of the Scottish Labour Party and Co-operative Party, she was a Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for the Lothian region from 2011 to 2019.
Carol Ann "Annie" Wells is a British politician of the Scottish Conservatives, who served as Deputy Leader of the Scottish Conservative Party to Jackson Carlaw in 2020. She has served as a Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for the Glasgow region since 2016.
Douglas Gordon Ross is a Scottish politician who has served as Leader of the Scottish Conservative Party since 2020 and Leader of the Opposition in Scotland since 2021. He has served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Moray since 2017. In addition to his seat in Westminster, he serves as a Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for the Highlands and Islands, having been elected as a regional list MSP in 2021. He was previously MSP for the region from 2016 to 2017.
Donald Andrew John Cameron, Baron Cameron of Lochiel, is a Scottish Conservative politician and life peer who has served as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Scotland since 2024. He was elected a member of the Scottish Parliament for the electoral region of the Highlands and Islands in 2016, serving in various roles in the Conservative shadow cabinet before his appointment to the House of Lords in 2024. Cameron succeeded his father as the 28th Lochiel, the hereditary chief of Clan Cameron, in 2023.
Liam Kerr is a British politician of the Scottish Conservative Party, who served as Deputy Leader of the Scottish Conservative Party from 2019 to 2020 and as the Scottish Conservatives’ Shadow Cabinet Secretary for Justice from 2017 to 2021. Kerr has served as Shadow Cabinet Secretary for Net Zero, Energy & Transport since 2021 and as a Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for the North East Scotland region since 2016.
Rachael Georgina Hamilton is a Scottish Conservative Party politician, who has served as the Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire since 2017.
Michelle Lorraine Ballantyne is a British politician and former nurse who served as Leader of Reform UK Scotland from January 2021 to February 2022. She was a Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for the South Scotland region from 2017 to 2021, having been elected for the Scottish Conservatives.
The February 2020 Scottish Conservative Party leadership election was the fourth internal party election to elect the next leader of the Scottish Conservatives, part of the British Conservative Party and the second-largest political party in the devolved Scottish Parliament. Ruth Davidson, who won the previous leadership election in 2011, resigned on 29 August 2019. Two candidates contested the election: Jackson Carlaw MSP, who served as the Scottish Conservatives' interim leader, and Michelle Ballantyne MSP. Carlaw was seen as the favourite in the contest, and won the endorsement of most of the party's MSPs and MPs. Carlaw won the election on 14 February 2020, winning more than three-quarters of the votes of party members.
The August 2020 Scottish Conservative Party leadership election was the fifth internal party election to elect the next leader of the Scottish Conservatives, part of the British Conservative Party and the second-largest political party in the devolved Scottish Parliament.
In the Scottish Parliament, the Leader of the Opposition is an unofficial title held by the leader of the largest political party in the Scottish Parliament that is not in government. The role has also been referred to as the Shadow First Minister.
