The Scottish Countryside Alliance team attended the Scottish Conservative Party Conference on 20-21 February in Edinburgh, where we had the opportunity to meet some of the new party candidates for the 2026 election. Of particular note was the fringe event entitled “Standing up for rural communities” hosted by Harriet Cross, MP for Gordon and Buchan.

In his keynote speech, delivered at the conference, party leader Russell Findlay outlined some of his party’s campaign pledges for the 2026 elections:

• Scrap the Curriculum for Excellence and replace it with a knowledge-based Curriculum for Aspiration.
• Ban phones in the classroom.
• Upgrade Scotland’s trunk roads and create a new national pothole fund.
• Rip up red tape for housebuilders and abolish the tax on buying a home in Scotland for those purchasing a primary residence.
• Cut income tax to 19 pence in the pound for lower and middle income earners.
• Turn the Scottish government’s annual underspend into a taxpayer dividend. Based on last year’s underspend, this surplus would provide every household in Scotland with an estimated £200 dividend.

Read the Scottish Conservative Party manifesto here.

Our next outing was to the SNP Campaign Conference on Saturday 14 March for a day of meetings and events. We were particularly interested in what would be appearing in the SNP manifesto, however at the time of writing, this is still being finalised so we will have to wait a little while longer for that.

First Minister John Swinney did give us a little sneak peek at what will be appearing with some campaign promises in his keynote speech:

• Extend childcare for every child in the country from nine months old to the end of primary school, available 52 weeks a year, including over the summer holidays. Families will benefit from between £1,400 up to over £11,000 dependent on need.
• 30,000 extra care hours every month through the Displaced Workers Scheme.
• Deliver an additional 30 GP walk-in clinics across the country. In Angus, Livingston, Paisley, Inverness, Glasgow, Falkirk, Ayrshire, Edinburgh, Lanarkshire, East Kilbride, Tweed Valley, East Renfrewshire and Dumbarton.
• A new public Housing Agency to ensure every man, woman and child in Scotland has access to affordable good-quality housing.
• Provide up to £10,000 towards a deposit to give people the help they need to buy their first home.

On Thursday 19 March we attended the Reform UK Scotland Conference near Glasgow to meet the newly announced candidates for the Holyrood elections. The party also launched their manifesto, and of particular note there was a two-page spread on rural Scotland, farming and fishing. Key pledges from Reform UK Scotland leader, Malcolm Offord included, in brief:

• Fix the NHS and cut waiting lists by training more doctors and nurses. The NHS will remain free at the point of need and be fully funded by general taxation.
• Reduce the cost of living by cutting income tax for working Scots by abolishing the six tiers of income tax, replacing it with a three-tier system in line with the rest of the UK. Additionally, the tax rate will be 1p below each UK band.
• Reduce energy bills, scrap the SNP Net Zero targets and renew / grant licences for North Sea oil and gas.
• Protect rural Scotland by maintaining traditional country sports, investing in rural infrastructure, broadband connectivity and supporting self-build and small-scale developments to reverse rural depopulation.

We will keep you updated on everything that’s happening on the run up to the 2026 Holyrood elections, including updates when the remaining party manifestos are published.

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