Holyrood elections 2026: All you need to know about Midlothian South, Tweeddale and Lauderdale

But Ms Grahame is retiring, aged 81, after being in the Scottish Parliament since the start, and a new MSP will be elected on May 7. The seat includes the Penicuik and Gorebridge areas of Midlothian and extends down Galashiels, Innerleithen and Peebles.

The SNP's choice to replace Ms Grahame is Calum Kerr, who represented Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk at Westminster for two years, from 2015 to 2017. Born in Galashiels, he went to Peebles High School and raised his family in the area.

He says: “I’m standing to be a strong local voice for Midlothian South, Tweeddale and Lauderdale because this is my home and I care deeply about its future.

“The biggest issue people raise with me is the cost of living. It’s being felt everywhere, but here it has a sharper edge, with higher fuel and transport costs, rising energy bills, and real pressure on local services. In rural areas, services can still feel out of reach, while in parts of Midlothian infrastructure is struggling to keep up.

“What’s really stood out during the campaign, though, is how positive and engaged people are. On doorsteps across the constituency, people want to see their area thrive and have strong ideas about how we get there. These challenges are all connected and are shaping everyday life, especially for young people.

“The SNP has shown that different choices can deliver, from reducing child poverty to improving NHS waiting times, but there’s more to do to make sure that reaches every part of this constituency.

“My focus is on practical action, tackling the cost of living, improving transport with a £2 bus fare cap, investing in affordable housing, expanding childcare, and making it easier to see a GP. This is an area with huge potential, and it deserves representation that delivers for local people.”

The Conservatives finished second in the constituency in 2021 and 2016. Their candidate Keith Cockburn stood in Midlothian at the 2024 general election and is a former Borders councillor. He has lived in Tweeddale all his life.

He says he is having a "really positive" campaign. Key issues which people raise with him on the doorstep include the economy, NHS waiting lists, the state of roads, education, business rates and underfunded local authorities.

But planning applications for energy infrastructure, such as wind farms, are also a big concern for people, he says. "People recognise renewable energy is going to be an important part of the energy production of tomorrow, but they feel they're not being listened to when it comes to the planning applications."

He says too many of the applications are currently decided by the Scottish Government's central Energy Consents Unit. "We would abolish the Energy Consents Unit and return the power to local authorities, where it belongs."

And he says the need for infrastructure to accompany new housing developments is another issue in the Midlothian part of the constituency. "We understand that local authorities need more funding, especially growing areas like Midlothian. All these houses are going up, which is great because we need more houses, but we're not matching it with infrastructure. You might have a beautiful house in a beautiful area, but when it comes to your child going to school or trying to get an appointment with the GP - which is already difficult - it's just going to make it harder and harder."

Lib Dem candidate Duncan Dunlop - who is also number one on the party's list for the South Scotland region - was chief executive of the charity Who Cares? Scotland and has over 25 years' experience of working with vulnerable young people in the UK and abroad.

He points out that the constituency includes large areas of what used to be "traditional Lib Dem land". "And what's interesting in the Midlothian part of the seat is how many Lab voters who do not want to vote Tory and have no intention of voting SNP are looking for a home this time round. I was out in North Middleton, just south of Gorebridge, the other night and had an unbelievable response."

He says he wants to see more powers given to communities. "What we're saying - and what I like in our manifesto - is to give local authorities the right to be broken up so communities can better represent themselves on issues of interest. So you'd have somewhere like Penicuik being able to say, 'We want the power to make decisions over our health care, over our housing, our education, our transport'. What you get from that is far better engagement, and you can start building trust back in politics and it enables people to get involved."

Like Lib Dems everywhere, he is encouraging people to vote for the party on the peach ballot paper for the list. But he also says: "We want to give the SNP a fright in this constituency - I think they're being relatively complacent, thinking they'll retain it, but I think we can give them a decent run for their money in this election."

The Labour candidate is Daniel Coleman, who fought the overlapping Westminster seat of Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale and Tweeddale at the 2024 general election.

He highlights the housing growth in Midlothian but the lack of essential services to go with it. "People aren't seeing the GPs and the schools they need. And roads throughout the constituency are an absolute disgrace."

He says the big issues people speak to him about are the cost of living and the NHS. "Particularly in Midlothian, people really struggle to see a GP. Waiting lists are far too long and a lot of people are having to go private.

"On the cost of living, we're going to have a £110m cost of living fund where we're going to bulk buy fuel to try and drive fuel prices down; we'll be providing emergency loans and bail-outs to businesses, families and individuals who need it and increase the provision of tax-free childcare, freeze income tax with the ambition to cut it, and invest £100m in community energy schemes.”

On the NHS they would negotiate a new GP contract to try and deal with the 8am rush; adopt a national approach to waiting lists so that if people can travel they can go wherever capacity is available for the treatment they require.

"On investment and opportunity, we'll have 9,000 more apprenticeships a year, so that will be guaranteed apprenticeships for any qualified applicant; 2,000 more teachers, 1,500 more classroom assistants, 300 more ASN teachers; we'll have a named police officer for every council ward in Scotland; £350m to fill in the potholes; and we'll also have a fair funding formula for local councils which could take into account things like the number of young people, children, elderly people, how fast an area is growing.”

Standing for Reform is Carolyn Grant, who works in IT and has lived near Galashiels for 20 years. She says key issues include the cost of living, but also energy infrastructure - wind farms, solar farms and battery farms.

She says: "The whole renewables energy project is an absolute shambles. The planning law is not being followed. These people are allowed to do anything they want.”

Candidates

Keith Cockburn - Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party

Daniel Coleman - Scottish Labour Party

Duncan Angus Melville Dunlop - Scottish Liberal Democrats

Carolyn Grant - Reform UK

Calum Kerr - Scottish National Party (SNP)

2021 result

Christine Grahame SNP 19,807

Shona Haslam Con 12,981

Katherine Sangster Lab 5,410

AC May Lib Dem 2,615

Dominic Ashmole Green 2,154