University to Host 2026 Holyrood Election Hustings for Fife North East Constituents

The University of St Andrews is set to host the 2026 Holyrood Election Hustings for the North East Fife candidates in conjunction with the St Andrews Students’ Association and Women in Politics Society on Thursday 30 April, 2026.

The event — which will be the main hustings for the Fife North East constituency — comes ahead of the Scottish Parliament elections due to be held on Thursday 7 May, which will see the election of 129 members of the Scottish Parliament in the biggest set of elections since the 2024 UK general election.

The local Fife community will have the opportunity to have a question-and-answer session with the respective Fife North East candidates from each party, who will be individually featured, debate policies, and advocate for the public’s vote in front of a live audience.

The hustings — free to attend with booking encouraged — will take place at the Byre Theatre at 6pm, with doors opening at 5:30pm. The event will also be livestreamed.

University Principal Dame Sally Mapstone and Student Association President of Union Affairs Alice Hodges will open the event, with political commentator and former Leader of the Scottish Labour Party from 2015-17 Professor Kezia Dugdale as the keynote speaker.

It is confirmed that the University has commitment from six parties that their candidates or representatives will attend, including the sitting Fife North East MSP Willie Rennie from the Liberal Democrats, who is campaigning to defend the seat that he has held since 2016. The other five candidates in attendance will be John Beare for the Scottish National Party, Elizabeth Carr-Ellis for Labour, William Docherty for Reform UK, Conservative Party candidate Edward Sheasby, and Fife and mid-Scotland Green Party candidate Mags Hall.

According to the mygov.scot website, voting is open to anyone who matches the following criteria: 

• Is aged sixteen or over on the day of the election

• Lives in Scotland and is registered to vote at a Scottish address

• Is a British or Irish citizen, or a foreign national who is permitted to enter or stay in the UK

The event organisers and the University welcome and encourage members of the community to exercise their right to vote, as well as to prepare and submit questions ahead of the event to publicaffairs@st-andrews.ac.uk. 

Photo by Wikimedia Commons