Rebuilding Scotland's "New Politics": a constructive parliament to build trust in Scottish politics

Twenty-seven years of devolution have disappointed hopes that the Scottish parliament would foster a fresh “new politics” in Scotland. Voter turnout collapsed in 2026, mirroring the slump in citizens’ regard for their political class. Only a minority trusts the parliament to work in Scotland’s interests while two thirds say politicians do not listen to people like them.  

Disillusionment with the parliament is not just a widespread public feeling, it is also felt by MSPs themselves, with a record number deciding not to stand again at the last election. This report, based on a set of anonymised “exit interviews” with high profile MSPs, reveals deep frustrations with how politics and policymaking currently work. Across different political parties we heard common complaints of limited involvement in policymaking processes, an ineffective committee system, incentives to make bad legislation, but above all about partisanship getting in the way of agreeing good policy. 

Scotland’s political institutions are stuck between two poles. On the one hand, the design of parliament and its procedures assumes a process of negotiation, in which representatives of different groups and interests work together to build a consensus. On the other hand, Scottish politics inherited many of the impulses of Westminster to conduct politics as a contest between adversaries each trying to secure a majority. 

This mismatch leads to many of the dysfunctions that frustrate MSPs and voters alike. Where parliamentary debates should be a constructive search for common ground and compromise, they turn into “reading out contests”. Where committees should be deep pools of expertise capable of interrogating ministers and shaping laws, they have veered towards the shallow, the formulaic and party-lines. Where legislation should be a collaborative process drawing on expertise and ideas both within and beyond parliament it has tended towards the performative and headline grabbing, resulting in what many MSPs describe as bad law.