Holyrood elections 2026: All you need to know about the new Bathgate constituency
What are parties saying about the election in this slice of West Lothian?
Bathgate is a brand new constituency created as part of a big shake-up affecting almost every seat in Edinburgh and the Lothians.
Based on the town of Bathgate - which used to be in the Linlithgow constituency - the new seat takes in Armadale, Blackridge, Whitburn, Blackburn, Broxburn, Uphall and Winchburgh.
The SNP candidate is Bathgate councillor Pauline Stafford, a professional musician and deputy leader of the opposition SNP group on West Lothian Council.
She says the cost of living is a big concern. "People here are really struggling. There are huge pressures, which I see a lot through my work as a councillor. But I think people are responding to our positive message.
“In our manifesto there are some creative uses of the powers that we've got, to go as far as we can to protect people." She points to the plan to cap food prices and the £2 cap on bus fares. “And it’s great to see the commitment to a station for Winchburgh. It’s a bold manifesto and it's really cutting through to people, but also giving them that hope about what a future could look like if we had more powers.
“In a place like West Lothian, where we have a really strong mining heritage, and Bathgate is also home to the world's first commercial oil refinery, the fact we're now living with such huge levels of fuel poverty is one of the clearest issues we can highlight for why Scotland should be independent when we're so energy rich.”
She highlights big new housing developments place at Whitburn Heartlands and Winchburgh, but says at the same time there has been a review of community centres in West Lothian and some swimming pools have closed.
“There is a disconnect between communities seeing lots of housebuilding and more pressure on services, but at the same time, a lot of these places that help towards community building are being removed. I've fought really hard against nursery closures, community centre closures and the loss of the swimming pool in Armadale.”
Cllr Stafford is a classical pianist and still does some work for the National Youth Choir of Scotland. And she is proud of West Lothian’s musical tradition. “The constituency is home to the world's number one pipe band in the Boghall and Bathgate Pipe Band. Whitburn Brass Band have just come first in the UK. And we've got Lewis Capaldi, so we can boast quite lot on the music scene.”
Labour candidate Jenny Young is a former teacher of French and Spanish who worked in West Lothian high schools but for the past three years has been a researcher in the Scottish Parliament for Labour frontbencher Michael Marra.
Across Scotland, Labour is suffering because of the unpopularity of the UK Government. But Ms Young says: “As the election gets closer, a lot of people are turning their attention to the record of the government that’s actually up for election.”
Healthcare and education are the biggest concerns she hears on the doorstep. “In places like Winchburgh and Armadale, there’s a huge explosion in housebuilding, but the GP practice is the same size as it was before. And there are a lot of families with kids on the CAMHS (Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services) waiting list.
“A lot of parents and grandparents have shared what they would like to see changed in education or issues their kids or grandkids have had at school or worries about the future in terms of apprenticeships, college places or getting into university.”
She says people also raise cuts to council services, leisure centre and community centres being closed or having their hours reduced. “I say, it’s happening in councils run by every political party - it’s not a party thing, it’s a funding issue, it’s the Scottish Government to giving councils enough money.”
Ms Young says there is a lot of antipathy towards the SNP and believes some Tory and Lib Dem voters will back her in order to defeat the Nationalists. She expects the result to be close between the SNP and Labour and says she is “very much in contention”. “I think it’s going to be a lot closer than the polls and pundits would have you believe.”
Tory candidate Peter Heggie has been a councillor in West Lothian for the past nine years and Depute Provost since 2022. But he says he is also "a massive community activist - I've always really enjoyed being involved in communities".
This is his first time standing for parliament. "I hope people would look beyond the headline party and look much more at the individual who will champion their community.”
He names the cost of living, access to medical care, education and housing as the topics people raise most on the doorstep. And he says West Lothian has been let down by the Scottish Government over the problem of RAAC concrete in St Kentigern’s Academy in Blackburn. More than half the school had to be demolished and rebuilt at a cost of £35m - the council found £20m from its own resources but repeatedly asked the government to fund the rest.
Cllr Heggie says: "When St Kentigern's was affected by RAAC, the minister came through and said 'We'll definitely give you support' but West Lothian Council is still waiting on that £15m.”
Liberal Democrat candidate Stephen Harte also cites the RAAC saga at St Kentigern’s as evidence of Scottish Government failings.
He says: “The SNP argues it should be a Westminster problem because it happened before devolution. When they don’t want to do something they just go to the tired old constitutional argument. What's more galling is we've had two leading SNP MSPs, both in Cabinet, and they couldn't deliver a result for that school.”
Mr Harte is a lawyer and used to travel the world, negotiating big oil contracts, but now works for a start-up trying to get approval for the first tablet treatment for early stage Alzheimers.
He says voters are disillusioned. “People are fed up with the way the government is going at the moment, fed up with the cost of living, they don't trust the government to do things competently.
"People are looking for an alternative. Our slogan 'Change with fairness at its heart' is resonating with people because people are fed up, they want change, but they don't necessarily want to go down the bitter road that Reform are setting out.”
David McLennan became Reform’s first elected councillor in Scotland when he won the Whitburn and Blackburn by-election in December last year. Now he is standing for Holyrood.
“I’m being listened to more than I’m being turned away. But I’m not saying just because I won the by-election I’m going to win the constituency, that would be foolish.
“The issues at local level are not the issues at national level. It’s not so much about immigration up here yet, although it is raised, but things like the cost of living, the NHS, education and how we’re going to tackle them, they come up all the time.”
Gus Ferguson of the British Unionist Party describes himself as the "wild card" candidate. He claims Scotland's "fundamentally unionist identity" has been lost. And his party ultimately wants to abolish the Scottish Parliament. “It's an expensive talking shop . But you have to get elected to it to do something about it.”
Candidates
FERGUSON Gus - British Unionist Party
HARTE Stephen John - Scottish Liberal Democrats
HEGGIE Peter - Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
MCLENNAN David - Reform UK
STAFFORD Pauline - Scottish National Party
YOUNG Jenny - Scottish Labour Party
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