Edinburgh Central
Three-way toss-up on new 2026 boundaries (Old/New Town, Morningside, Sighthill, Southside). No candidate has ever won above 40% here. Greens in contention for a first-ever Holyrood constituency win — Lorna Slater challenging Cabinet Secretary Angus Robertson (SNP).
11 candidates confirmed for 7 May 2026.
Result · declared
08/05/2026, 20:03 ✓ Forecast correct
Green wins
· majority 4,582 (13.0 pts)
| Green Lorna Jane Slater | 12,680 | 36.0% |
| Labour James William Dalgleish | 8,098 | 23.0% |
| SNP Angus Robertson | 7,702 | 21.9% |
| Conservative Jo Mowat | 2,262 | 6.4% |
| Lib Dem Charles Dundas | 2,168 | 6.2% |
| Reform Gary Neill | 1,876 | 5.3% |
| ind Bonnie Prince Bob | 176 | 0.5% |
| alliance-to-liberate-scotland Craig John Murray | 150 | 0.4% |
| scottish-libertarian-party Tam Laird | 56 | 0.2% |
| ind Robert Neill Pownall | 41 | 0.1% |
| ind Chris Creighton | 32 | 0.1% |
Closest national poll on the winning party's share: Find Out Now (Scot Goes Pop) — off by 24.0 pts.
Quiz candidates · included in vote compass matching
Incumbent
Angus Robertson
Scottish National Party (SNP)
MSP for Edinburgh Central since 2021. Cabinet Secretary for Culture and External Affairs. MP for Moray (2001-2017) and SNP Westminster leader (2007-2017). Led party through 2014 independence referendum.
Charles Dundas
Liberal Democrats
Lib Dem candidate. Party's Edinburgh focus is mainly on Northern and North Western seats. Edinburgh Central has been competitive for Lib Dems historically — they nearly won in 2007.
Gary Neill
Reform UK
International sales professional with over 30 years' experience in building relationships, negotiating complex deals and leading cross-cultural teams. Reform UK candidate for Edinburgh Central, having previously contested Edinburgh's Fountainbridge and Craiglockhart ward.
James William Dalgleish
Labour Party
Standing for Labour in Edinburgh Central. We have not identified independent biographical sources for this candidate beyond the party listing.
Jo Mowat
Conservative and Unionist Party
Edinburgh city councillor standing for Edinburgh Central. Also 5th on the Conservative Lothian regional list.
Lorna Jane Slater
Scottish Green Party
Former Scottish Green co-leader (2019-2025) and MSP for Lothian since 2021. Minister for Green Skills, Circular Economy and Biodiversity (2021-2024) under the Bute House Agreement. Former tidal energy engineer.
Other candidates
Bonnie Prince Bob
Independent
Independent candidate for Edinburgh Central.
Chris Creighton
Independent
Independent candidate for Edinburgh Central.
Craig John Murray
Alliance to Liberate Scotland
Former British Ambassador to Uzbekistan (2002-2004). Exposed human rights violations under the Karimov regime. Author and human rights campaigner.
Robert Neill Pownall
Independent
Independent candidate for Edinburgh Central.
Tam Laird
Scottish Libertarian Party
Leader of the Scottish Libertarian Party. Former British Army infantry soldier stationed in Northern Ireland. Veteran candidate in Scottish elections.
Compare candidates side by side
Side-by-Side Comparison
Edinburgh Central
Policy positions shown are based on party platforms. Individual candidates may hold different views.
What each candidate actually stands for on each issue
Scotland's Future
SNP: Support independence. An SNP majority at this election is framed as a mandate for a referendum. Independence cited as essential to Scotland's future prosperity.
Lib Dem: Oppose independence. Back a written constitution for a federal United Kingdom and a new bespoke UK-EU customs union.
Reform: Oppose independence. Strong unionist position rejecting another referendum as a distraction from Scotland's day-to-day problems.
Labour: Oppose independence. Focus on delivery within the UK and Scotland's strengths in the UK growth sectors. Frame the election as a choice between delivery and SNP-led constitutional distraction.
Tory: Strong opposition to independence. Stand up for Scotland's place in the Union and stop another independence referendum.
Green: Support independence and full powers of a sovereign nation, while pressing ahead with change using devolved powers now.
NHS & Health
SNP: Significant NHS investment. Expand GP walk-in clinics, shorten waiting times, deliver more operations and community diagnostics. NHS described as Scotland's most precious public service.
Lib Dem: A 10-year NHS and care workforce plan, new neighbourhood health teams giving every GP practice the equivalent of an extra clinical staff member, walk-in mental health services and a Fair Deal for Rural Healthcare.
Reform: NHS Scotland stays free at the point of need and funded by general taxation, but needs major reform. A workforce plan to train more doctors and nurses and a shift to prevention.
Labour: End the 8am GP rush, bring back the family doctor, cut waiting times with funding following the patient, introduce an NHS app and AI scanners, and deliver £15/hr for social care workers.
Tory: Focus on faster GP appointments and reducing waiting lists by increasing NHS capacity for procedures. Efficiency-led NHS reform rather than new spending commitments.
Green: Introduce a £15 per hour minimum wage for social care, a network of free walk-in mental health support hubs, and invest in the NHS workforce.
Housing
SNP: Build 110,000 affordable homes by 2032 (70% social rent), create a new housing agency, retain the rent control framework, and provide deposit support of up to £10,000 for first-time buyers.
Lib Dem: Return housebuilding to 25,000 new homes annually, create key worker housing, and replace the SNP's housing strategy with a new holistic data-driven approach.
Reform: Repeal SNP tenancy regulations and introduce a Rent-To-Buy model for young people, first-time buyers and working families. Restore a local connection requirement for social housing.
Labour: Deliver 125,000 new homes by 2031 across all tenures. Build 20,000 mid-market rent homes to save tenants an average of £2,700 a year off market rents. Establish a Housing Bank and a private-rented-sector strategy (no new rent controls).
Tory: Market-led housing policy. Scrap SNP rent controls, stop costly housebuilding regulations, and abolish tax on buying a primary home (Land and Buildings Transaction Tax reform).
Green: Permanent rent controls, a higher tax rate on landlords' rental income, and stronger renters' rights to tackle the housing emergency.
Climate & Transport
SNP: Continue the transition to net zero by 2045 with a focus on Scotland's renewable energy wealth. Interim 2030 climate targets were dropped in 2024; emphasis is on energy costs and a just transition.
Lib Dem: Support net zero by 2045 with a programme for net zero new towns featuring rail links, district heating and 20-minute neighbourhoods.
Reform: Scrap all SNP Net Zero related targets, subsidies and quangos. End the ban on new nuclear in Scotland and rehabilitate North Sea gas as the primary energy system.
Labour: Achieve net zero by 2045 ambitions. Double home retrofits, back GB Energy and the Scottish National Investment Bank, end the block on clean nuclear energy, and deliver a fair energy transition for oil and gas workers.
Tory: Scrap the SNP's 2045 net zero target and drop policies that impose costs on households to meet it. Back the oil and gas industry and scrap carbon pricing schemes.
Green: Get Scotland back on track to deliver net zero by 2045 with a coordinated climate action delivery programme across transport, energy, farming and buildings.
Tax & Public Spending
SNP: Keep Scotland's progressive income tax, the fairest and most progressive in the UK. Introduce a mansion tax on properties valued above £1m from 2028.
Lib Dem: Where funds allow, lift tax thresholds in line with inflation and begin to close the tax differential with England in a balanced way that protects public services.
Reform: Cut income tax. Scrap Scotland's six income tax bands, mirror the rUK three bands at 1p below each, and aim for a 3p variation below rUK within the first five years.
Labour: Commit to no income tax rate rises for five years, with the ambition to lower taxes as the economy grows.
Tory: Cut income tax — raise the point at which you start paying in line with inflation, uprate the Higher Rate threshold, and lower income tax to 19p in the £1 for low- and middle-income households.
Green: Tax wealth rather than work. More progressive income tax, higher taxes on second and empty homes, and new taxes on private jets and mansions.
Economy & Jobs
SNP: Grow the economy while protecting public services. Unlock £20 billion of pension fund investment, back a just transition, and use Scotland's renewable energy wealth to cut costs for households and businesses.
Lib Dem: Reform business rates to stop sudden tax hikes on successful employers and help people upskill through new Job Transition Loans worth up to £5,000.
Reform: Cut £7.5bn of spending — £1bn from ideological Net Zero projects and £6.5bn from 132 quangos — to fund a new deal for Scotland that rewards work and aspiration.
Labour: Sustained economic growth as the route to improving living standards. Establish a Scottish Board of Trade, partner with GB Energy and the UK National Wealth Fund, and cut a third of quangos to end government waste.
Tory: Make economic growth the number one policy objective. Cut regulation, introduce Scottish Business Zones, and oppose tax rises and new taxes.
Green: Jobs in a green economy — clean industries, care, childcare and community wealth. Move away from expensive and volatile oil and gas.
Education & Childcare
SNP: A transformational national expansion of childcare from 9 months to the end of primary school, 52 weeks a year. Protect free university tuition and free school lunches.
Lib Dem: Hire 2,000 more pupil support assistants, roll out speech and language therapy and make every school a smartphone-free environment.
Reform: Direct school-leavers into trades via technical colleges rather than universities. Ban mobile phones in classrooms and give headteachers discretion over budgets and recruitment.
Labour: Breakfast clubs in every primary school, 2,000 Education Recovery teachers and 1,500 more classroom assistants, ban mobile phones in classrooms, and top up tax-free childcare to £3,000 per child.
Tory: Raise school standards. Empower headteachers and reduce bureaucracy to lift Scotland back up international rankings.
Green: Universal free childcare guarantee from 6 months until children start school, with significant investment in the childcare workforce.
Social Issues
SNP: Uphold and protect the human rights of trans people within devolved powers. Scotland is the first country in the world to incorporate LGBTQI+ education in schools. Strong commitment to equality across all groups.
Lib Dem: Strong defence of LGBT+ and trans rights. Ban all forms of conversion therapies and practices, working in partnership with the UK Government.
Reform: Socially conservative. Criticises existing gender policies as "woke" and argues the SNP has not protected women and girls in Scotland.
Labour: Recommit the NHS to single-sex wards on the basis of biological sex. Deliver a four-nation conversion practices ban to protect LGBT+ people. Tackle long waits for gynaecological procedures as part of a women's health plan.
Tory: Socially conservative. Guarantee every woman has access to single-sex wards, affirm biological sex under the Equality Act, and oppose the Non-Binary Equality Action Plan.
Green: Strong LGBT+ rights advocacy. Revisit NHS policy changes made as a result of the Cass Review and publish a gender-affirming care action plan to bring down waiting times.