Scottish Parliament Elections 2026 - Party Manifesto Pledges for Culture

With less than a month to go before the 2026 Scottish elections, we’re closely watching as the political parties publish their manifestos. Many of these manifestos will include a section on culture or some reference to it. This page will draw together the main references to culture, heritage and creative industries, and key pledges that could impact the sector if each party was elected.

Political parties publish their manifestos at different times, and we’ll continue to add to this page when new pledges are available.

You can also watch all of Scotland’s main political parties make their case for culture at this recording of Scotland’s Cultural Hustings (February 2026), delivered by Culture Counts and our partners the Federation of Scottish Theatre, Scottish Contemporary Arts Network, Festivals Edinburgh, Equal Media and Culture Centre and Campaign for the Arts.

• Scottish Conservatives

  Manifesto published 07 April 2026. Pledges to:

  Guarantee multi-year funding for cultural organisations through a new Culture Act.

  Take the legislative steps necessary to merge some of Scotland’s culture quangos “in order to reduce the costs of running them and allow more money to be delivered to the frontline service offered”.

  Retain but reform Creative Scotland, encouraging “grants for arts and cultural endeavours that have broad popular appeal”. Tie grants to “guarantees that free speech is upheld in the institutions that receive them”.

  Retain but give “a complete organisational reset” to bodies like Historic Environment Scotland.

  Support the tourism industry by “conducting a review into the regulatory barriers that have threatened jobs within the industry”.

• Reform UK

  Manifesto published 26 March 2026. There are no specific pledges with regards to the culture sector. Pledges on employment, education and training, the reform of Holyrood, housing and communities, energy, transport, and health, social care and welfare will have likely implications for the cultural sector, but these are not specifically explored.