Let's promise to have decency and honesty in politics in 2026

Yes of course, the Scottish Parliament elections will soon be upon us.

There are already some big things we know will happen at this election. For one, a lot of experience and expertise will be lost as dozens of high-profile MSPs have said they will be standing down from frontline politics.

This includes former first ministers Nicola Sturgeon and Humza Yousaf, Deputy First Minister Kate Forbes, cabinet secretaries such as Shona Robison, Fiona Hyslop and Mairi Gougeon, and former party leaders like Richard Leonard.

The so-called 1999 club, MSPs who have been in parliament since the dawn of devolution, is also dwindling. The only two remaining members standing for re-election are First Minister John Swinney and Scottish Labour’s deputy leader Dame Jackie Baillie.

Subscribe to our re-designed Steamie newsletter

So regardless of who comes out on top in this election, the faces in parliament and around the cabinet table are going to change dramatically in 2026.

But there are other changes on the horizon that are not quite so certain - what party these new faces will represent.

Several polls have hinted at the rise of Reform UK in Scotland, and we have now had a few surveys projecting them to finish in second place behind the SNP. Considering the party only has one MSP at the moment (and a defection, at that), this would be a momentous result for Nigel Farage’s party.

If this does play out at the ballots in May, it will fundamentally change the political makeup of Holyrood and cause some upset,not least amongst the unionist ranks who will suffer as a result of their success.

But this draws into focus an interesting question - how will all of this affect the election campaign?

Let us cast our minds back to the Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse by-election back in June. Reform UK came third in this vote, but the party put up a fight.

That fight did not necessarily go down well with everyone else though, particularly when it came to some of their campaign tactics.

The party came under heavy criticism for an advert suggesting Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar would prioritise the Pakistani community if his party won the 2026 election. Mr Sarwar never said this.

When Scottish journalists challenged Mr Farage on this, he doubled down and even went as far as accusing Mr Sarwar of fuelling sectarianism in Scotland.

This ugly incident is something that cannot happen again in the 2026 election fight.

There is another problem here too - the truth. Earlier this month Mr Farage spoke to his supporters at a hotel in Falkirk and claimed there had been three rapes in the town in the past week.

This was double-checked with Police Scotland and found to be inaccurate, but it did not matter - the statement had already been made and Reform supporters had already listened to it.

When it comes to making New Year’s resolutions, perhaps we could all make the pledge to make sure accuracy and common decency prevails in politics. I want to be optimistic that these principles will be adhered to in 2026.