Adobe StockVoters go to the polling stations on Thursday for the first Scottish Parliament election since 2021 and with the SNP aiming to win an overall majority.
At the previous election, the SNP won 64 seats, one short of the number needed for a majority, while the Conservatives won 31 seats, Labour 22, the Greens eight and the Liberal Democrats four.
SNP leader and Scottish First Minister John Swinney has said he would pursue another independence referendum if his party does win a majority of the 129 seats, but it has achieved that only once in its last four Holyrood victories.
There are 73 constituency seats at Holyrood elected by the first-past-the-post method, and eight electoral regions, each of which sends an additional seven members to the Parliament based on a form of proportional voting.
Boundary changes introduced at this year’s election mean that while some seats are unchanged, others have disappeared, been renamed, changed shape or are brand new, although there will still be 129 seats at Holyrood.
Polling stations will be open between 7am and 10pm on Thursday but there will be no results overnight. The first are expected to be declared early on Friday afternoon.
Estimated declaration times have been compiled by the Press Association, but all are approximate and can be affected by issues such as delays in verifying and counting ballots, or by recounts, as well as turnout.
Comparisons with declaration times at previous elections are not relevant because the 2021 one took place at a time when Covid restrictions meant counts took much longer than usual, with some results coming late on Saturday, while counting in 2016 took place overnight.
The list is organised alphabetically, and all timings relate to Friday, May 8.
– Aberdeen Central 3.30pm
– Aberdeen Deeside & North Kincardine 3.30pm
– Aberdeen Donside 3.30pm
– Aberdeenshire East 3.30pm
– Aberdeenshire West 3.30pm
– Airdrie 12pm
– Almond Valley 2pm
– Angus North & Mearns 4pm
– Angus South 4pm
– Argyll & Bute 3pm
– Ayr 1pm
– Banffshire & Buchan Coast 3.30pm
– Bathgate 2pm
– Caithness, Sutherland & Ross 4pm
– Carrick, Cumnock & Doon Valley 4pm
– Clackmannanshire & Dunblane 4pm
– Clydebank & Milngavie 5pm
– Clydesdale 4pm
– Coatbridge & Chryston 1pm
– Cowdenbeath 3pm
– Cumbernauld & Kilsyth 2pm
– Cunninghame North 2.30pm
– Cunninghame South 2.30pm
– Dumbarton 5pm
– Dumfriesshire 3.30pm
– Dundee City East 4pm
– Dundee City West 4pm
– Dunfermline 4pm
– East Kilbride 4pm
– East Lothian Coast & Lammermuirs 3pm
– Eastwood 4pm
– Edinburgh Central 3pm
– Edinburgh Eastern, Musselburgh & Tranent 3pm
– Edinburgh North Eastern & Leith 3pm
– Edinburgh Northern 3pm
– Edinburgh North Western 3pm
– Edinburgh Southern 3pm
– Edinburgh South Western 3pm
– Ettrick, Roxburgh & Berwickshire 4.30pm
– Falkirk East & Linlithgow 4.30pm
– Falkirk West 4pm
– Fife Mid & Glenrothes 3pm
– Fife North East 3pm
– Galloway & Dumfries West 3.30pm
– Glasgow Anniesland 2.15pm
– Glasgow Baillieston & Shettleston 2.45pm
– Glasgow Cathcart & Pollock 3.45pm
– Glasgow Central 3pm
– Glasgow Easterhouse & Springburn 2.30pm
– Glasgow Kelvin & Maryhill 3.30pm
– Glasgow Southside 3.15pm
– Hamilton, Larkhall & Stonehouse 4pm
– Inverclyde 4.30pm
– Inverness & Nairn 6.30pm
– Kilmarnock & Irvine Valley 4pm
– Kirkcaldy 3pm
– Midlothian North 4pm
– Midlothian South, Tweeddale & Lauderdale 4.30pm
– Moray 2pm
– Motherwell & Wishaw 3pm
– Na h-Eileanan an Iar 1.30pm
– Orkney Islands 2.30pm
– Paisley 3pm
– Perthshire North 2pm
– Perthshire South & Kinross-shire 2pm
– Renfrewshire North & Cardonald 3pm
– Renfrewshire West & Levern Valley 3pm
– Rutherglen & Cambuslang 4pm
– Shetland Islands 2.30pm
– Skye, Lochaber & Badenoch 6.30pm
– Stirling 4pm
– Strathkelvin & Bearsden 2pm
– Uddingston & Bellshill 4pm
– Edinburgh & Lothians East 6pm
– Glasgow 4.15pm
– Highlands & Islands 7pm
– Scotland Central & Lothians West 5pm
– Scotland Mid & Fife 5.30pm
– Scotland North East 3.30pm
– Scotland South 4pm
– Scotland West 4pm
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