Elections in Scotland
Scotland has elections to several bodies: the Scottish Parliament, the United Kingdom Parliament, local councils and community councils. Before the United Kingdom left the European Union, Scotland elected members to the European Parliament. Scottish Parliament. Scottish Parliamentary elections use the Additional Member System (AMS). Under this system, voters are given two votes: one for their constituency, which elects a single MSP by first-past-the-post; and one for their region, which elects seven MSPs by closed list. Five Scottish Parliamentary elections have been held since the reconvention of the Scottish Parliament in 1999. Elections are held  every five years, on the first Thursday in May. UK Parliament. 2015. At the 2015 election the SNP won a majority of Scottish seats for the first time. 2010. Philip Lardner, the Conservative candidate for North Ayrshire and Arran was disowned by the Conservative Party for comments he posted on his website, calling homosexuality 'abnormal'. It was too late for him to be replaced and he still read as the Scottish Conservative & Unionist Party candidate on the ballot paper. Local councils. Since 1995, local elections in Scotland have been generally held every four years for all the 32 unitary authorities  created under the Local Government etc. (Scotland) Act 1994. Between 1975 and 1992, elections were held every two years for either district or regional council, which sat for four-year terms. Those arrangements were set up by the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973. As one consequence of the Gould Report, which was a response to the fiasco of the 2007 elections, the next council elections were scheduled for 2012 (one year "after" the Parliamentary elections in 2011). The next local elections in Scotland are due to be held in 2022. 2017. The elections were held again using the STV system  of proportional representation, and as with the 2012 Scottish local elections, they were delayed for one year to ensure they were not held on the same day as the 2016 Scottish Parliament elections (which was delayed for a year, owing to the 2015 general election). For full analysis see 2017 Scottish local elections. 2012. The election was contested for the second time under the STV system of proportional representation. It was the first time in 13 years that the elections had not been held on the same day as the Scottish Parliament elections. European Parliament. In 1999, a Scotland-wide  constituency replaced eight first-past-the-post constituencies used in the elections between 1979 and 1994. This returned eight MEPs under the d'Hondt method of party-list proportional representation system. Since then the number of MEPs returned by Scotland has been reduced twice, to seven in 2004, and then to six in 2009. Following the United Kingdom's exit from the European Union on 31 January 2020, Scotland no longer elects representatives to the European Parliament. Elected candidates are shown in bold. Brackets indicate the number of votes per seat won. Pre-1999 elections. For full details of results please referee  to related articles; Referendums. To date eight referendums have been held in Scotland, covering a wide range of issues.