Member toolkit: Scottish 2026 Holyrood Elections

Ahead of the Scottish 2026 Holyrood Elections taking place on 7 May, we're encouraging our members to use and sign up to the Call for a Co-operative Scotland to engage constructively and appropriately with candidates and political parties before, during and after the election.

Why co-operatives should engage with the Scottish 2026 Holyrood Elections

The 2026 Scottish Parliament elections present a key opportunity to raise the profile of co-operatives and to influence future policy in support of co-operative growth.

Our collective aim is to:

• Highlight the economic and social value of co-operatives
• Build long-term relationships with MSPs and candidates
• Encourage cross-party support for policies that enable co-operative growth
• Position co-operatives as a credible, scalable solution to Scotland’s economic challenges 

The Call for a Co-operative Scotland is a policy platform co-designed by Scottish co-operatives to act as a shared document all types of co-operatives can use to stress the sector’s collective needs to political parties ahead of the election.

Using the ‘Call for a Co-operative Scotland’

The Call for a Co-operative Scotland is the core advocacy tool for this election period. Members should use it as: 

• A conversation starter with candidates and MSPs
• A reference document when asking questions or proposing policy ideas
• A shared framework to ensure consistent messaging across the movement 

Key messages to reinforce 

The document outlines the several ‘super powers’ of co-operatives, when talking to candidates its worth emphasising these: 

• Connect co-operative growth to inclusive growth (Co-ops already contribute 1.9 billion in turnover to the Scottish economy), Decent employment, community wealth and resilience
• Use local examples such as your co-operative, but case studies are also included in the Call for a Co-operative Scotland
• Frame co-operatives as mainstream, proven and scalable, not niche

How to engage with the Scottish 2026 Holyrood Elections

Identify and contact candidates 

• Identify candidates 

Look up declared constituency and regional list candidates using Who Can I Vote For? to identify candidates in your area.

• Make initial contact

What to include in first contact:

• Who you are and what your co-operative does
• A link or copy of the Call for a Co-operative Scotland
• A request for a short meeting or conversation or ask them to back the Call for a Co-operative Scotland

Meeting or speaking with candidates 

The co-operative case  

• Highlight local impact of your co-operative
• Challenges your co-op faces
• How government can enable co-op growth (use the Call for Co-operative Scotland)

Asks of the candidate

Its essential to have clear asks of the candidate during any meeting or visit some possible asks of the candidate could be to: 

• Use and sign up in support of the Call for Co-operative Scotland
• Support measures to grow co-operatives in Scotland
• Engage with the co-operative sector if elected
• Join a future cross party group on the subject if elected 

Next steps 

Follow up on the meeting possibly setting another or invite the candidate to visit your co-op and see your impact. 

Once the election is over, we strongly encourage inviting the winning candidate to come on another visit and to ensure you do some promotion of the visit to the press to highlight what your co-op does and the impact your having in your community. 

Please share any feedback from candidates with Co-operatives UK at [email protected] to help shape post-election work. 

Writing to candidates effectively 

When writing:

• Keep emails to one page
• Focus on one or two issues
• Attach or link to the Call for a Co-operative Scotland
• Ask a clear question

After the election

• Congratulate elected MSPs
• Request follow-up meetings with them on topics you discussed during the campaign
• Invite MSPs for visits 

Support from Co-operatives UK 

We can:

• Provide briefing materials
• Offer advice on engagement