Call on elections ‘not mine to make’

The Holyrood elections planned for 6 May should go ahead if it is possible on a “safe base”, the First Minister has said, after concerns were raised the timing of the vote comes just a week after Scotland’s lockdown is due to be lifted.

However, Nicola Sturgeon said as Scotland was not “a one-party state”, the decision on whether the election should go ahead was not hers to make.

The lockdown route map Ms Sturgeon has outlined would see Scotland moving into a tiered system in the last week of April, but restrictions on movement would still apply.

"Obviously there are things happening just now within the context of Covid – some children back at school, some parts of the economy opening – where steps and measures are being taken to keep people safe, and that’s how an election would proceed," she said. “There are many countries during the pandemic which have had elections and I think democracy is important.

“So my view is if we can allow it to go forward on a safe basis, we should do that.”

She added: “Parliament has legislation in place which provides a framework for any decision about the election to take place, so it’s for the Parliament acting on a crossparty basis to make a decision on the date of the election or the conduct of the election in terms of whether there are to be changes in the arrangements.

“Elections are really not down to my decision alone.”