It is now less than a year to go until the 2026 Scottish Parliament election - and the starting gun has been well and truly fired.
The leaders of the main political parties have spent the past week already setting out their stalls and their pitches to woo voters over the next 12 months.
The SNP also unveiled its list of candidates for the constituency seats, with a number of familiar names making the cut.
But there are some seats which will be interesting ones to watch, with high-profile names after a spot and tight margins being contested.
Here are 16 seats that will be either hotly contested, involve high-profile names or will be ones to watch for next year’s count.
9. Edinburgh Eastern Musselburgh and Tranent
Edinburgh Eastern was won by the SNP’s Ash Regan in 2021 with a huge majority of 10,117. However she defected to the Alba Party in 2023 and the latest polling predicts Alba will fail to win any seats at all in 2026. In last year’s general election Scottish Labour unseated the SNP’s Tommy Shepperd and the party will be hoping to do this again in 2026 with their candidate Katherine Sangster. Ms Sangster’s bid to become the Labour candidate for this seat has been backed by the Co-operative Party, Community, The GMB, Unison and Usdaw. | PA
10. Skye, Lochaber and Badenoch
This is another Highland seat the Scottish Lib Dems want to win in 2026 - they won this area at last year’s general election, and it is home to the late Lib Dem giant Charles Kennedy. But they face an almost impossible task. Deputy First Minister Kate Forbes secured the highest majority of any MSP in the 2021 election in this seat by 15,861. They may be able to make a dent in this majority, but Ms Forbes will pull out all the stops to hold on to her popularity. Photo: Lisa Ferguson
11. Shetland Islands
Shetland is another stronghold for the Scottish Lib Dems, but the islands’ current MSP Beatrice Wishart is stepping down in 2026. There may be another problem for the party - in 2021 they held onto the seat, but their vote share decreased by 18.8 per cent. It was a better story for the second placed SNP, who saw their vote share increase in Shetland by 18.8 per cent - the party’s Hannah Mary Goodlad will be hoping to go one step further next year. Photo: JPI
12. Midlothian North
Former SNP treasurer Colin Beattie is hoping to be re-elected in 2026 - but will face a challenge to emerge from the dark cloud of Operation Branchform. Mr Beattie was arrested as part of Police Scotland’s investigation into SNP finances, but was later released without charge. Earlier this year it was confirmed Police Scotland was no longer investigating Mr Beattie. He will be hoping to move the narrative on from Operation Branchform in the 2026 election. | PA