Since devolution, the Liberal Democrats and, to a lesser extent, the Greens have consistently performed better on the regional ballot in Shetland than in the rest of Scotland. Conversely, Labour and the Conservatives have consistently underperformed in Shetland. These trends continued into 2026.

In 2011, the Liberal Democrats performed significantly better on the regional ballot in Shetland than in Orkney, where the Scottish National Party and Conservatives instead outperformed.

3% of MSPs elected to the Scottish Parliament are Orcadians and Shetlanders: -Hannah Mary Goodlad (Shetland, SNP) -Neil Gray (Airdrie, SNP) -Kristopher Leask (Highlands and Islands, Green) -Liam McArthur (Orkney, Liberal Democrat)

Shetland's regional ballot continues to diverge much less from the rest of the country than its constituency ballot, largely due to fewer incentives for tactical voting.

Orkney and Shetland were once electorally tied at the hip when it came to their constituency vote - electing Liberal Democrat MSPs by similarly sized landslides, having viable independents in the same elections, and so on.

Although the SNP regional vote fell in Shetland, it did so by less than in the rest of the Highlands and Islands - meaning that, for the first time, the SNP's vote share in Shetland (very slightly) outperformed the rest of the region.

From the creation of the Scottish Parliament, the Liberal Democrats were traditionally the only party to significantly overperform on Shetland's constituency ballot versus the regional ballot - until this week.

Shetland (Scottish Parliament regional list): after sitting out the 2021 election, the Scottish Christian Party returned just 0.3% this year, its worst result in Shetland on record.

Shetland (Scottish Parliament regional list): in its second electoral contest, the Scottish Libertarian Party received 0.3% of the vote, slightly down from the 0.4% that it received in 2021.

Shetland (Scottish Parliament regional list): in its second electoral contest, the Scottish Family Party matched its 2021 result of 0.8% - in fact, the party won exactly 93 votes in Shetland each time.

Shetland (Scottish Parliament regional list): Sovereignty/the Alliance to Liberate Scotland received 0.5% of the vote, slightly increased from the 0.4% that Sovereignty's predecessor party, Restore Scotland, won in 2021.

Shetland (Scottish Parliament regional list): as on the constituency ballot, independent candidates did not fare well on Shetland's regional ballot. They received the lowest cumulative result for any election contested by independent candidates. Note that the data for 1999 and 2003 is incomplete.

Shetland (Scottish Parliament regional list): after sitting out the 2021 election, the Scottish Socialist Party returned just 0.3% this year, its worst result in Shetland on record.

Shetland (Scottish Parliament regional list): Labour's vote share has fallen in every election since the creation of the Scottish Parliament, and 2026 was no exception, with the party falling to a new low of 5.4%. For the first time, Shetlanders will not be represented by a Labour regional MSP.

Shetland (Scottish Parliament regional list): after achieving a record high result of 15.7% in Shetland in 2021, the Conservatives fell to a record low of 4.8% this year. However, that still helped to elect one regional MSP for the Highlands and Islands.

Shetland (Scottish Parliament regional list): Reform UK secured 11.4% of the vote, up from just 0.5% in 2021 - helping the party to elect two regional MSPs for the Highlands and Islands.

Shetland (Scottish Parliament regional list): the Scottish Greens achieved their best ever result in Shetland, reaching 16.2% of the vote - helping the party to elect two regional MSPs for the Highlands and Islands.

Shetland (Scottish Parliament regional list): the SNP fell back to 27.0% in this week's election, down from 34.5% in 2021. That is despite the party's constituency candidate, Hannah Mary Goodlad, increasing the party's constituency vote share to be elected as Shetland's first SNP MSP.

Shetland (Scottish Parliament regional list): although not one of their best results, the Liberal Democrats managed to regain some ground on Shetland's regional ballot and rise to 30.7%, once again becoming the first placed party.

Shetland's representatives in the Scottish Parliament have fluctuated over the years. For the first time, Shetland is represented by two Green and two Reform UK MSPs, while its number of Conservative MSPs has fallen to a new low of one.

Shetland's new representatives in the Scottish Parliament by party: Scottish National Party: 2 (+1) Green: 2 (+1) Reform UK: 2 (+2) Conservative: 1 (-3) Liberal Democrat: 1 Labour: 0 (-1) +/- vs. 2021

Shetland (Scottish Parliament regional list): despite Hannah Mary Goodlad's decisive win in the constituency, the SNP actually fell back in Shetland's regional vote to 27.0%, down from from 34.5% in 2021 - in line with national trends. That allowed the Lib Dems to recover the top spot with 30.6%.

Shetland (Scottish Parliament constituency): Peter Tait's independent candidacy won 0.4% of the vote. Although that is higher than the 0.3% he won in the 2019 by-election, it marks the lowest collective result for independent candidates in the constituency's history.

Shetland (Scottish Parliament constituency): Sovereignty/the Alliance to Liberate Scotland received 0.6% of the vote, slightly down from the 0.8% won by Restore Scotland in 2011.

Shetland (Scottish Parliament constituency): the Conservatives fell to their worst result in the constituency's history, reaching 1.2% of the vote.

Shetland (Scottish Parliament constituency): at 1.5%, Labour received their second lowest result in the constituency's history, only narrowly above their 1.3% result in the 2019 by-election.

Shetland (Scottish Parliament constituency): Reform UK contested the constituency for the first time, finishing in fourth place with 6.3%.

Shetland (Scottish Parliament constituency): the Scottish Greens contested the constituency for the second time - and for the first time in a general election - achieving third place with 8.3%.

Shetland (Scottish Parliament constituency): the Liberal Democrats fell to a record low of 34.3%, losing the constituency for the first time since the Scottish Parliament was established in 1999.

Shetland (Scottish Parliament constituency): the Scottish National Party continued its upward streak from 2011, defying a national drop in vote share to reach 47.5% in Shetland, winning the constituency for the first time.

Shetland (Scottish Parliament constituency): Hannah Mary Goodlad's stunning win for the SNP continued the party's growth in the constituency that began in 2016, propelling it to victory for the first time with 47.5%.

UK (Scotland), Scottish parliament election: Seats won (final result) SNP-G/EFA: 58 (-6) LAB-S&D: 17 (-5) REFORM~NI: 17 (+17) SGP-G/EFA: 15 (+7) CON~ECR: 12 (-19) LDEM-RE: 10 (+6) +/- vs. 2021 election ➤ https://europeelects.eu/uk/Scotland

With the votes counted, here are Shetland's new representatives in the Scottish Parliament Constituency Hannah Mary Goodlad (SNP) Regional Max Bannerman (Reform) Ariane Burgess (Green) Vic Currie (Reform) Tim Eagle (Con) Kristopher Leask (Green) Morvern May MacCallum (Lib Dem) Maree Todd (SNP)

Shetland (Scottish Parliament regional list), final vote: Liberal Democrat: 30.6% (+5.1) Scottish National Party: 27.0% (-7.5) Green: 16.2% (+6.5) Reform UK: 11.4% (+10.9) Labour: 5.4% (-3.0) Independent Green Voice: 1.2% (+1.2) Scottish Family Party: 0.8% ... +/- vs. 2021 election

Na h-Eileanan an Iar (Scottish Parliament constituency), final result: Donald MacKinnon (Labour): 37.7% (+10.0) Alasdair Allan (SNP): 36.5% (-14.9) Malcolm McTaggart (Reform UK): 13.1% (+13.1) Jamie Dobson (Liberal Democrats): 6.6% (+4.2) ... +/- vs. 2021 election

BREAKING: Donald MacKinnon (Labour) has narrowly gained Na h-Eileanan an Iar from the SNP's Alasdair Allan - Labour's first win in the constituency since 2003.

Wouldn't read too much into this, but it's interesting/noteworthy that, for the first time, pro-independence candidates received a majority of constituency votes in Shetland - 56.4% between them.

Shetland (Scottish Parliament constituency), final result: Hannah Mary Goodlad (SNP): 47.5% (+6.6) Emma Macdonald (Liberal Democrats): 34.3% (-14.3) Alex Armitage (Green): 8.3% (+8.3) Vic Currie (Reform UK): 6.3% (+6.3) John Erskine (Labour): 1.5% (-2.1) ... +/- vs. 2021 election

BREAKING: Hannah Mary Goodlad (Scottish National Party) has been elected the next MSP for Shetland with 47% of the vote. She is the first ever SNP constituency parliamentarian to be elected in Shetland, ending 76 years of continuous Liberal/Liberal Democrat victories at Holyrood and Westminster.

Looks like we're about to see a historic result in Shetland. Results expected soon!

Orkney (Scottish Parliament constituency), election result: Liam McArthur (Liberal Democrat): 70.2% (+7.8) Robert Leslie (SNP): 16.2% (-12.9) John Coupland (Reform UK): 8.2% (+8.2) Jamie Halcro Johnston (Conservative): 3.5% (-2.5) Mike MacLeod (Labour): 1.9% (-0.6) +/- vs. 2021 election

BREAKING: Liam McArthur (Liberal Democrat) has been re-elected the MSP for Orkney with 70% of the vote - the party's best ever result in the Scottish Parliament constituency.

Suspect that, whatever the result in Shetland, the fact that turnout seems to have held up considerably better than in much of the rest of Scotland will be part of the story.

In contrast to Shetland, the constituency count in Orkney is reportedly looking safer for the Liberal Democrats.

BBC now reporting the Liberal Democrats think the result might be "rough" but postal votes could tip them over. This is a rollercoaster.

There are now reports that the Liberal Democrats are "worried" about the result in Shetland.

The BBC is reporting that there is an early "strong showing" for the SNP in Shetland. Could we be on the cusp of a historical result?

Turnout in Shetland's Scottish Parliament constituency was 64.2%. That is a slight drop from 66% in 2021 and 66.5% in the 2019 by-election, but still above all the previous elections.

Shetland's returning officer, Jan Riise, collecting ballot boxes from the Bressay ferry. (Via Shetland Islands Council)

Polls have now closed! The vote count for Shetland will begin at 9am tomorrow, with a result expected sometime in the early afternoon.