Twenty candidates have been confirmed across three Highland constituencies ahead of the Scottish Parliament election on Thursday 7 May 2026.
The announcement, issued by the Returning Officer, sets the stage for contests in Caithness, Sutherland and Ross, Inverness and Nairn, and Skye, Lochaber and Badenoch.
Each constituency will see a competitive field, with seven candidates in both Caithness, Sutherland and Ross and Inverness and Nairn, and six in Skye, Lochaber and Badenoch.
In Caithness, Sutherland and Ross, the candidates are David Green for the Scottish Liberal Democrats, Eva Kestner for the Scottish Labour Party, Andrew Ross Macdonald for the Alliance to Liberate Scotland and Sovereignty, Donald Mackenzie for the Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party, Matt Sheppard for Advance UK, Maree Todd for the Scottish National Party, and Steven Welsh for Reform UK.
In Inverness and Nairn, the candidates are Neil Alexander for the Scottish Liberal Democrats, Fred Campbell for Reform UK, Fergus Ewing standing as an independent, Shaun Alexander Fraser for the Scottish Labour Party, Emma Roddick for the Scottish National Party, Steve Skerrett for Advance UK, and Ruraidh Stewart for the Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party.
In Skye, Lochaber and Badenoch, the candidates are Andrew Phillip Baxter for the Scottish Liberal Democrats, Helen Crawford for the Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party, Laùra Hänsler for the Alliance to Liberate Scotland, Isla McCay for the Scottish Labour Party, Eilidh Munro for the Scottish National Party, and Jon Whitton for Reform UK.
Alongside the constituency contests, voters across the Highlands and Islands will also take part in the regional list vote, where 16 parties and two independent candidates are standing.
Those standing on the regional list include Advance UK, Alliance to Liberate Scotland for Independence, the Independence for Scotland Party, Independent Green Voice, Reform UK, the Scottish Christian Party, the Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party, the Scottish Family Party, the Scottish Green Party, the Scottish Labour Party, the Scottish Liberal Democrats, the Scottish Libertarian Party, the Scottish National Party, the Scottish Rural Party, the Scottish Socialist Party, the Workers Party of Britain, and independent candidates Duncan Macpherson and Mick Rice.
Voters will receive two ballot papers, a lilac paper for their constituency vote and a peach paper for the regional list, with one cross required on each.
Electors must be registered to vote by Monday 20 April, with postal and proxy voting deadlines following later in the month.
With the full field now confirmed, attention turns to the campaign ahead as candidates seek to make their case to voters across the Highlands.
