Scottish Parliament
Also known as Holyrood
devolved parliament of Scotland
AI overview
The Scottish Parliament is a devolved legislature that handles laws and policies for Scotland in areas like education, health, and justice, while the UK Parliament in Westminster retains control over defense, foreign policy, and other matters. It matters because it gives Scotland a degree of self-governance and allows Scottish elected representatives to make decisions on issues that directly affect Scottish citizens.
AI-generated from the Wikipedia summary — may contain errors.
Article
The Scottish Parliament (Scottish Gaelic: Pàrlamaid na h-Alba [ˈpʰaːrˠl̪ˠəmɪtʲ nə ˈhal̪ˠapə]; Scots: Scots Pairlament) is the devolved, unicameral legislature of Scotland. It is located in the Holyrood area of Edinburgh, and is frequently referred to by the metonym Holyrood. It is a democratically elected body and its role is to scrutinise the Scottish Government and legislate on devolved matters that are not reserved to the Parliament of the United Kingdom.
The Scottish Parliament comprises 129 members known as Members of the Scottish Parliament (MSPs), elected for five-year terms under the regionalised form of Additional-member system (MMP): 73 MSPs represent individual geographical constituencies elected by the plurality (first-past-the-post) system, while a further 56 are returned as list members from eight additional member regions. Each region elects seven party-list MSPs. Each region elects 15 to 17 MSPs in total. The most recent general election to the Parliament was held on 7 May 2026, with the Scottish National Party winning the most seats but falling short of a majority.