With the deadline for new voter registration at 11:59pm on MONDAY 20 APRIL fast approaching, the city council is reminding all eligible residents in Edinburgh to register in time.
Registering online is quick and easy, with full details on the UK Government’s website. If you have recently moved home or your details have changed you will need to register to vote again.
The deadline to apply for a postal vote is 5pm on Tuesday 21 April, and for a proxy vote it’s 5pm on Tuesday 28 April.
Returning Officer for Edinburgh, Paul Lawrence said: “Next week marks several crucial milestones as our city prepares for polling day.
“We want everyone to be able to cast their vote and make their voice heard in this election. I’d urge anyone in Edinburgh who is eligible to make the necessary arrangements as soon as possible.”
Polls will be open from 7am to 10pm on Thursday May 7. You can find your nearest polling place on our website. The count will take place on Friday May 8.
GIRLGUIDING are delighted to have been included in Together – Scottish Alliance for Children’s Rights Manifesto 2026. They’ve brought together manifestos from across the sector to highlight how the next Scottish government can ensure children’s rights are upheld.
Our manifesto asks have been featured including:
Prevent and eliminate violence against young women and girls, with long-term funding for specialist women’s and youth organisations.
Ensure safe and inclusive learning environments for girls.
Take a look at Together’s full manifesto, urging the next Scottish Government to ensure children’s rights are at the heart of the next Government
Many things must change if we’re to end homelessness in Scotland. Since 2012, Social Bite has always pushed for innovation.
Ahead of the Scottish Parliament election, we’re launching our first manifesto. More than a political wish list, the manifesto asks every party, every leader, every MSP: stop managing homelessness. End it.
The actions we’re calling for are practical, cost‑effective, and achievable. Most importantly, they will change lives:
1. High standard homes
Ensuring Scotland’s housing stock is of a high standard and fit for purpose across all tenures, including high quality temporary supported accommodation.
2. Work as a way out
Focusing on getting people experiencing homelessness into work, with employment support and welfare systems matching individuals’ needs to retain roles and afford living.
3. Build now, build faster
Recognising that we need homes and we need them quickly. Systems and solutions need to match the level of urgency.
‘Sensational’ Opinion Poll Predicts Alliance to Liberate Scotland Party Breakthrough in May – Tommy Sheridan and Craig Murray set for election to the Scottish Parliament?
Find Out Now is a reputable opinion polling organisation belonging to the British Opinion Polling Council. They were commissioned by former MEP Hugh Kerr to add three specific questions to their monthly poll of Scottish opinion regarding the forthcoming election of May 7th – and the results are outstanding for the new Alliance to Liberate Scotland Party which was only officially registered with the Electoral Commission in February.
Find Out Now specifically asked voters in the Glasgow Region, the Lothians East Region and across Scotland if they would consider voting for the Scottish independence party at May’s election. Around 500 voters were polled in Glasgow and Lothians East and 1,000 voters were polled nationally.
In Glasgow former MSP and well-known independence campaigner Tommy Sheridan is the lead candidate for the Alliance to Liberate Scotland Party.
In the critical ‘Definitely’ of ‘Very Likely’ category 7% of voters said they would vote for the Alliance Party and Sheridan which would mean Sheridan’s re-election to Holyrood. In past elections 5% of the regional list vote has been enough to be elected and last time in 2021 the 7th list seat in Glasgow was won by the Tories on 6.1%. This opinion poll predicts Sheridan will replace a Tory to represent the Glasgow Region.
The poll across Lothians East where former British Ambassador and outspoken champion of Scottish independence Craig Murray is leading the Alliance to Liberate Scotland election challenge the result is even better.
A ‘very encouraging’ 8% of voters say they are definite or very likely Alliance voters, and that level of support will see Craig Murray elected in place of another Tory.
At a national level the level of support is also extremely encouraging for the new Alliance Party. Across 1,000 voters polled a significant8% say they will vote for the single-issue party on May 7th.
The Alliance to Liberate Scotland Party are promoting only one issue and that issue is Scottish independence. If the support for the Alliance stays as high as 8% or increases the new party will send 8 MSPs to the Scottish Parliament on a mission to pursue Scottish independence as the priority issue.
In most of the regional list seats around 6% of the list votes is enough to secure election and win one of the seven regional seats. With the Alliance to Liberate Scotland Party running at 8% it seems an electoral breakthrough is certain.
Alliance for Liberate Scotland has four candidates in Glasgow, Tommy Sheridan, Dhruva Kumar, Gail Sheridan and Hilda McMahon.
Lead Alliance candidate in Glasgow Tommy Sheridan said:“This opinion poll is sensational for the Alliance to Liberate Scotland Party. We were only registered in February and are not yet widely known but our determination to make Scottish independence the primary issue is clearly attracting votes from those sick and tired of Westminster corruption and the constant exploitation of Scotland.
“Independence supporters in Glasgow know list votes for SNP don’t count for them because they win the constituency seats. This poll shows I will take a list seat from a unionist Tory. That is good news for Glasgow and Scotland.
“I will demand our independence from Westminster is front and centre of the agenda after May’s election”.
Responding to the polling which suggests he is in line for election to the Scottish Parliament Craig Murray said:“More and more independence voters realise the utter folly of giving Regional List votes to the SNP. They simply don’t count because the voting system penalises parties that do well in constituency votes. The SNP will win most constituencies which is why they win no List seats.
“By giving their List votes to the Alliance to Liberate Scotland Party the independence community is blocking unionists from Labour and the Tories and racists like Reform from getting elected. They understand a List vote for the Alliance helps the independence cause”.
The Alliance to Liberate Scotland Party is standing in all eight of the regional list seats with over 32 candidates. They are also fielding candidates in several constituency seats in protest at the lack of progress by the SNP in advancing the cause of Scottish independence.
Hi Drylaw, Telford and Edinburgh Northern Constituents,
Thank you to everyone that has shown an interest, and to those of you who have your tickets booked, we look forward to welcoming you to our event on Monday evening!
If you have a ticket booked, but can no longer attend, please cancel your ticket, contact us at hustings@drylawtelfordcc.org.uk or message the FB page as we do have a waiting list of people that would also like to attend.
For those that have received a waiting list spot, we will contact you if a ticket becomes available.
ALL those in attendance, must have a valid ticket due to fire regulations.
A new youth-led broadcast project is set to tackle misinformation and disinformation during the upcoming Scottish Elections, giving young people across the country a platform to investigate claims and engage voters with fact-checked reporting.
Launched yesterday (25 March 2026) Future Proof is an innovative initiative led by the Scottish Youth Film Foundation (SYFF). Six young journalists from across Scotland have been recruited to report on election campaigns through the lens of misinformation, disinformation and AI-generated content.
One of the six journalists is Rory Kirkpatrick from Portobello. Rory said: “As misinformation seems to get more and more prevalent, bringing attention to the truth only becomes more important.
“I believe we all must adapt to the ways that the spread of misinformation is changing in the age of social media.
“I’m joining SYFF’s Future Proof newsroom with the aim of helping people stay informed so that they can make decisions based off facts.”
Also joining Rory will be Emilie from Fort William, Robert from Kiltarlity, Rachel and Santi from Glasgow, and Tom from Kirkcaldy. Together, they offer a broad and diverse perspective on the issues affecting young people across the country.
Starting from 8 April, the team will produce four weekly live shows on YouTube, broadcasting every Tuesday at 6pm until 29 April. Each programme will investigate misleading claims, fabricated facts and AI generated content circulating during the campaign, while highlighting the issues that matter most to young voters.
Following each broadcast, the team will host a companion interactive webinar, allowing young people across Scotland to question the journalists directly and engage with expert guests on the key topics shaping the election.
The sessions aim to support engagement among young and first-time voters, while also providing relevant discussion material for teachers and pupils in schools.
David Barras, co-founder of the Scottish Youth Film Foundation, said: “It’s fantastic that Rory is supporting this really important project. Future Proof puts young people at the heart of one of the most important conversations in modern democracy – how we recognise truth in an age of misinformation.
“By giving young journalists the tools to investigate claims and question narratives, we’re helping ensure that the next generation of voters is informed, confident and ready to engage.
“The project was inspired by a discussion on media literacy and disinformation at the Scottish Parliament’s Festival of Politics in summer 2025. Building on that conversation, Future Proof invites young people to articulate the issues that go beyond party political priorities and bring their perspectives to the centre of election debate.”
The post-show webinars are being delivered with support from Scotland’s Development Education Centres, working collectively on media literacy as part of global citizenship education under the umbrella of Scotland’s International Development Alliance (SIDA).
The project is being advised by Huw Owen, a former BBC Scotland News Editor who is also the Co-Chair of the Education Committee of SIDA.
Huw Owen said: “The impact of malicious and careless communication via digital and social media is now having a profound effect on all our lives. Supercharged by AI fakes, it is fuelling polarisation and fear within and between many of our communities here in Scotland and beyond. It is a clear threat to civilised debate and long shared democratic values.
“Across the globe, the distortion or misinterpretation of facts about conflicts in Ukraine, Gaza and now Iran, or the undermining of well-established research on the climate crisis, must be combated with up-to-date guidance and support to help us turn the tide towards truth, honesty and decency in our politics.
“As a global citizenship community across Scotland and beyond, we firmly believe this effort must start in our schools and other places of learning. We need to reaffirm universal values of fairness and tolerance along with up-to-date tools and techniques to actively combat disinformation.
“This must be an overarching priority for whichever government is elected at Holyrood. It’s not too late to future proof our democracy.”
The initiative also brings together a range of national partners supporting young people’s participation in democratic debate.
Global fact-checking organisation Full Fact will provide training to the young journalists. The organisation has warned about the growing threat of AI-driven misinformation during election campaigns and continues to call for stronger responses to protect democratic processes.
Mark Frankel from Full Fact says: “These elections are taking place against a backdrop of an unprecedented distortion of facts. The public feels ill-equipped to deal with the manipulation of information they see before them and the threat of AI as they see it.
“Things are emerging online which are being pushed to them and they don’t know whether to believe it. It’s clear that this is undermining trust in our politicians, trust in the political system and the future of our democracies.”
Additional partners include Young Scot and the Scottish Youth Parliament, whose report “Young People and Politics” has informed the project and whose networks will help bring young voices into the conversation through guest speakers and participation opportunities.
The John Smith Centre will also contribute guest speakers and provide access to a youth hustings event taking place at St Giles’ Cathedral in Edinburgh on 26 April.
Future Proof will stream live on YouTube at 6pm on 8, 15, 22 and 29 April. Each broadcast will be followed by an interactive webinar open to schools, youth organisations and young people across Scotland.
It includes a rolling programme on BBC One Scotland during the day on Friday 8 May to report the breaking news from the declarations across the country
BBC Scotland has unveiled a wide range of television, radio, and digital content to serve audiences throughout the 2026 Scottish Parliament Election campaign.
It includes a rolling programme on BBC One Scotland and BBC Radio Scotland during the day on Friday 8 May to report the breaking news from the declarations across the country.
There will be no overnight declarations, with results instead being announced progressively the day after the 7 May poll has taken place.
Presented by Martin Geissler with Laura Miller and Gary Robertson in Pacific Quay, Glasgow, and Rebecca Curran in Holyrood, the programme will air from 9.30 am on BBC One Scotland, combining live declarations, interviews, and reporting from every count location across Scotland. There’ll also be extended teatime and late editions of Reporting Scotland, presented by Laura Goodwin.
Coverage of the campaign will also include a live leaders debate broadcast from Paisley Town Hall on Sunday 12 April on BBC One Scotland and iPlayer from 7.00 – 8.30 pm.
Hosted by Stephen Jardine, The Debate Night Leaders Special will feature leaders from the Scottish Conservatives, Scottish Greens, Scottish Labour, Scottish Liberal Democrats, Scottish National Party, and Reform UK.
There’ll also be three regular Debate Night editions in the campaign, including one with a focus on hearing from younger voters.
BBC Scotland News online will run a daily live page starting on Tuesday 7 April, with news, features and interviews from the campaigns, and in-depth analysis of the big issues.
Digital content will include short-form pieces themed around explainers, news roundups, and manifesto digests. These will be on BBC digital channels and on a range of prominent social media platforms.
The digital offering will also include an online policy grid – an interactive tool giving a summary of where the main parties stand on the issues that are most important to voters.
BBC Scotland News will also host several hustings events across the country for radio and online, featuring candidate debates in specific constituencies.
On BBC Radio Scotland, Radio Scotland Breakfast will conduct a series of leader interviews, offering listeners the opportunity to hear directly from those seeking election.
The leaders will take calls on Mornings after their Radio Scotland Breakfast interview.
The BBC Verify team in Scotland will contribute specialist analysis and verification throughout the campaign, helping audiences to navigate the information and claims that will be aired in the weeks before polling day.
Coverage will also feature BBC Your Voice, a cross-platform project designed to amplify audience voices. It aims to reflect what audiences are saying to the BBC and will cover the issues that affect them.
Scotcast, the news and current affairs podcast, will continue its series of interviews with the leaders of the larger parties which began last week.
Weekend flagship politics programme,The Sunday Show, which is simulcast on television and radio, will be extended to an hour on BBC One Scotland. Presented by Gary Robertson the programme will focus on the big issues that matter to voters.
There’ll be extensive coverage for Gaelic audiences throughout the campaign on BBC Radio nan Gàidheal’s news programming, on BBC ALBA’s daily news programme show An Là, and online at bbc.co.uk/naidheachdan. On Friday 8 May, there’ll be continuous content on radio and online as the results come in.
Howard Simpson, Head of News and Current Affairs, BBC Scotland, said: ‘The range of programming and journalism we’re announcing today reflects our commitment to serving audiences across Scotland with trusted, high quality election coverage.
“Our principal aim is to be led by the issues that matter most to our audiences.
“The campaign coverage has a level of ambition, scale and geographical reach that will ensure the voting public are kept fully informed as they engage in the democratic process.
‘We’ve built a results service that’s fast, comprehensive, and accessible wherever people are. Our teams across the country will bring unrivalled reporting, sharp analysis and clear explanations as the picture develops.’
The ALLIANCE manifesto for the 2026 Scottish Parliament Election sets out our blueprint for the future of health and social care.
Ahead of the 2026 Scottish Parliament election, the ALLIANCE and our members call for all political parties to make several commitments, including to renew social care.
To do this, we call on parties to:
Develop national oversight and scrutiny of social care to end the postcode lottery and improve standards, access, quality and accountability.
Reform commissioning and procurement to take a collaborative and human rights based approach.
Abolish non-residential care charges.
Substantially increase financial investment in social care, to ensure demand is met and third sector providers are adequately funded.
Here’s a listing of all of our fantastic weekly classes, events, and cafes:
**** NEW MONDAY CAFE **** Currently every Monday 9-11am. Drop in for a cuppa, sausage roll, or bakery. Come and meet locals, hang out in our beautiful space, or volunteer for a couple of hours for that feel good factor.
Prevent and eliminate violence against young women and girls, with long-term funding for specialist women’s and youth organisations.
SOLD OUT
Hi Drylaw, Telford and Edinburgh Northern Constituents,
