Newscast Electioncast: Here We Go Again!
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Apr 3, 2026 Felicity Evans, Walescast presenter and BBC Wales money editor focused on Welsh politics. James Cook, BBC Scotland editor and analyst of Holyrood and constitutional issues. Joe Pike, BBC senior correspondent covering UK elections and local political strategy. They discuss May’s Senedd, Holyrood and English local contests. Topics include new Welsh voting rules, Scotland’s mixed system, local election types, regional finance and how national narratives shape local races.
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How Scottish Parliament Seats Are Elected
- Scotland uses mixed voting: 73 constituency MSPs by first-past-the-post and 56 regional list MSPs allocated with the D'Hondt formula.
- The D'Hondt weighting reduces list seats for parties that win many constituencies to increase proportionality.
Wales Moves To Full Proportional Representation
- Wales has switched to full D'Hondt proportional representation and expanded the Senedd from 60 to 96 members.
- Voters will now have a single party list vote with six candidates per region, making outcomes more proportional but complex to project.
Use Notional Baselines To Compare Electoral Change
- Baselines matter: 2021 Scottish results (SNP 64, Conservatives 31, Labour 22) are adjusted notionally due to boundary changes.
- Analysts compare results to a notional baseline, not the raw 2021 counts, to judge gains and losses.