The class of 2026
Meet the new radical activists, crofters and the former MPS who will govern Scotland
Goodlad’s victory in Shetland marks the first time SNP have ever won
THE seventh session of the Scottish Parliament was always going to be quite different. The sheer number of people leaving at the end of the last session meant there were going to be lots of new faces.
The election result means there are 64 new faces, just shy of half of the 129 MSPS in the chamber.
These newcomers will start arriving in Parliament tomorrow for three days of inductions. They will get their tech, their offices and start hiring staff. The first order of business on Thursday is the election of the Presiding Officer. The vote for First Minister will take place next week.
But who are the class of 2026? Here is The Herald’s politics team’s pick of a few names you might be hearing a lot more about over the course of the next five years.
Senga Beresford: Reform
SENGA Beresford enters Holyrood as one of Reform UK’S most controversial new MSPS following her election on the South Scotland regional list.
A businesswoman and mother of four from Dumfries and Galloway, Ms Beresford became a central figure during the Holyrood campaign after scrutiny of social media posts in which she appeared to support the deportation of Muslims and endorse far-right activist Tommy Robinson.
In August 2024, she replied: “Me” to a post on the social media site X from Ashlea Simon, the deputy leader of the far-right party Britain First, which said: “In the UK, Muslims are demanding that Sharia law is implemented. I demand that we deport the lot of them. Who’s with me?”
Yi-pei Chou Turvey: Libdem
ORIGINALLY from Taiwan, Yi-pei Chou Turvey met her husband Michael – also a Libdem candidate, placed second on the same North East regional list – in Brussels in 2009, bonding over cooking dinner for friends, and the couple married three years later.
She won her Aberdeenshire Council seat with the highest vote the party had ever achieved in that ward, and has focused her campaigning on education, early years childcare and the cost of living.
Iris Duane: Scottish Greens
ONE of Scotland’s two first openly transgender MSPS, Iris Duane has a background in activism and student politics to Holyrood.
She describes herself as a socialist who was drawn into politics rather than having sought it out, and was previously the Scottish Greens’ candidate for Glasgow North in the 2024 Westminster election.
She was active in the Queen Margaret Union at the University of Glasgow, working on projects including support for survivors of gender-based violence.
Hannah Mary Goodlad: SNP
HANNAH Mary Goodlad’s victory in Shetland marked the first time the SNP had ever won the constituency, ending a Liberal Democrat grip on the seat that stretched back to devolution itself. She secured 5,453 votes – a 47% share – defeating the Libdem candidate
Emma Macdonald. A renewables executive with Norwegian state energy firm Equinor, Ms Goodlad returned to her homeland to also run an outdoor sauna business with her partner, and describes herself as emphatically not a career politician.
Thomas Kerr: Reform UK
AFTER Reform UK’S Holyrood breakthrough, Thomas Kerr enters Parliament as one of the party’s most recognisable new MSPS and potentially one of its most influential. He has been elected deputy leader by the party’s new MSP group. Born in 1996, he grew up in difficult circumstances — his mother struggled with heroin misuse and he was raised largely by his grandparents in Glasgow’s east end.
Originally elected as a Conservative councillor for Shettleston in 2017, he served as the Tory group leader on Glasgow City Council before defecting to Reform UK in 2025. He stood in Glasgow Baillieston and Shettleston, securing 25.8% of the vote before winning a regional list seat.
Donald Mackinnon: Scottish Labour
CROFTER Donald Mackinnon’s surprise victory in Na h-eileanan an Iar was a rare piece of good news for Labour. A community development worker who manages a community-owned trust in Carloway on the Isle of Lewis, he defeated the SNP incumbent Alasdair Allan by just 154 votes in a seat the nationalists had held since the creation of the Scottish Parliament in 1999.
Growing anger over the state of Scotland’s ferry services played a significant role in his victory, with Calmac disruption a live issue throughout the campaign. Mr Mackinnon is a former chair of the Scottish Crofting Federation.
Q Manivannan: Scottish Greens
Q Manivannan made history at the 2026 Holyrood election as the first openly transgender person elected to the Scottish Parliament, winning a seat on the Edinburgh and Lothians East regional list.
A community organiser, teacher and policy expert, Dr Manivannan has worked with the United Nations, trade unions, and Scottish human rights organisations. Dr Manivannan was able to stand for Parliament after the Scottish Government relaxed legislation to allow non-uk citizens to contest seats.
Alison Thewliss: SNP
ONE of the SNP’S most experienced new MSPS, Alison Thewliss arrives at Holyrood with a decade of Westminster behind her. She served as MP for Glasgow Central from 2015 until 2024, during which time she led for the SNP on the economy and later served as the party’s home affairs spokesperson.
She stood for the Westminster group leadership in 2022 following Ian Blackford’s resignation, losing narrowly to fellow Holyrood newcomer Stephen Flynn. She played a pivotal role in exposing the so-called rape clause, the exemption applied to the two-child payment cap. Before Westminster, she was a Glasgow city councillor.
Irshad Ahmad: Scottish Labour
BUSINESSMAN Irshad Ahmad enters Parliament with the shadow of unanswered questions over his ascension to the top of Scottish Labour’s Edinburgh and Lothian East list.
Not many politicians can say they have stood for election for three different parties in a 10-year period.
There’s already speculation Mr Ahmad could defect to a pro-independence party, having previously stood for the SNP and Alba.
Mr Ahmad won a shock internal ballot to top the regional list in his party, defeating two senior Labour MSPS – Daniel Johnson and Martin Whitfield.
Vic Currie: Reform UK
MYSTERY surrounded Vic Currie when he was selected as the Reform UK candidate for Shetland. Locals said they had not heard of the born and raised Edinburgh man.
But while the former Royal Navy pilot turned junior doctor missed out on the constituency seat, he was elected to the Highlands and Islands region.
Mr Currie had said during the election campaign that he would move to the island if elected.
Katie Hagmann: SNP
IN her role as Cosla’s resources spokeswoman, Katie Hagmann had been outspoken about the challenges facing local government.
The SNP councillor had warned about the “difficult balancing act” facing local government, where administrations were having to deliver vital public services with increasingly strained budgets from the Scottish Government.
As the new SNP MSP for Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley, her challenge is whether she will continue to advocate for more autonomy for local government now that she is part of the governing party in Holyrood.
Before being elected as an MSP, she was previously a councillor for Mid Galloway and Wigtown West and served as depute leader of Dumfries and Galloway Council.