Core members event: Panel discussion on what the election results might mean for culture
Following the 07 May Scottish Parliamentary elections, Culture Counts hosted an online event titled: Post-election: What next for culture in Scotland? on Tuesday 02 June 2026.
This page captures key themes from the panel which featured John Cumming (Charlotte Street Partners), Fergus Mutch (True Noth), and Jennifer Huygen (Community Leisure UK), and the subsequent discussion.
Our framing themes for the event are:
Understanding the election results - what might we expect from this government?
Navigating the new Parliament - key dates and next steps
Engaging with newly elected representatives - opportunities and challenges
Manifesto commitments, sector priorities, and next steps
1) Understanding the election results - what might we expect from this government?
As many of you know, following the election the SNP are back in power seven seats short of a majority. They will be able to work towards policy priorities through cooperation with other parties, likely the Scottish Greens. The Conservatives and Labour both experienced significant seat losses, while Reform gained seats for the first time – with Labour and Reform jointly holding the second-most number of seats at 17 each. Both the Scottish Greens and Liberal Democrats saw an increase in seats.
When considering impact on the culture sector more specifically, the most notable change comes as former Culture Secretary Angus Robertson was not returned to Parliament. Furthermore, there were some concerns that the culture portfolio might shift to a junior ministerial role (Culture Counts wrote to the First Minister on this issue shortly after the election). We are pleased to see that it has remained a cabinet secretary position, as part of the Education, Culture and Gaelic Portfolio, which is now held by Màiri McAllan MSP. The balance here will be interesting, with new potential and opportunities to advance issues at the intersection of these topics, but it will also mean culture is part of a much larger set of competing priorities.
2) Navigating the new Parliament - key dates and next steps
There are a number of key considerations moving forward. With 64 of 129 MSPs joining parliament for the first time, there will be many new faces and opportunities for engagement. On Culture Counts part, we will be picking up conversations with returning members, while also reaching out to new MSPs to provide background on the key issues, and begin building relationships.
Pre-election, Culture Counts was focused on campaigning for a Culture Act for Scotland – rooted in the desire to work towards a long-term and more sustainable way of making decisions about cultural policy. During the campaigning and manifesto stage, we saw the SNP, Greens and Conservatives pledge to explore cultural legislation, so we are eager to continue those conversations moving forward.
3) Engaging with newly elected representatives - opportunities and challenges
As mentioned above, 64 MSPs are new to parliament this year. This means that one of the first priorities is getting them up to speed. We discussed a few key considerations that come with this:
While funding remains a crucial issue for the sector, there are perhaps ways of reframing the discussion to achieve more actionable results. More than focusing on the request for increased funding itself, decision makers often respond better to conversations about the true why behind the need for funding, and the benefit this funding will have on local communities.
One key recommendation here was to do some preliminary research and preparation before meeting with new MSPs and stakeholders. This should involve solidifying your voice and goals - either as individuals or organisations - to help you best present the case for culture.
Finally, when communicating with new politicians, especially those who won by a small margin, one of our speakers suggested speaking to how your proposals will help in terms of future elections. This can be aided by aligning language and thinking with wider priorities or constituency-level issues.
4) Manifesto commitments, sector priorities, and next steps
With the SNP returning to Government, we are all pleased to note that there are quite a number of culture-related commitments in the SNP manifesto, including pledging to consult on developing a Culture and Arts Bill, and to introduce a Youth Culture Pass. A full breakdown of manifesto pledges for culture can be found here.
One of the main risks that we identified during the conversation was the need for sustainability, and to shift the narrative around the cultural sector from something that needs to be subsidised, to something that holds immense value - both economically and socially. Furthermore, many artists are not subsidised and are paying for their own ability to participate in the sector. For a truly sustainable future for culture, the conversation cannot simply be about the best way to spend money. We need to ask bigger questions, and to be bold, audacious, and constructive in our approach moving forward. We firmly believe that cultural legislation is an important step in this approach and will continue to raise the topic in conversations with MSPs and other stakeholders.
The call for cultural legislation is not unique to Scotland. The Future Generations Commissioner in Wales has recognised that the cultural sector is facing crisis. In Plaid Cymru’s plan for their first 100 days, they plan to launch a consultation on a new culture strategy, along with reviewing investment in arts, culture, and sports spending. Sharing learning across nations will lend stronger ideas about how to protect culture, and on how to engage with local government.
Over the past six months, we have been working on a resource to track culture spend, which looks at a number of key measures of Scottish public spending on culture over time. It brings national government and local authority spending into one place and measures the real-terms trajectory of both over the past thirteen years. We have developed a detailed methodology for a couple of other measures as well, including spending per head, and spending on culture as a proportion of total public expenditure.
Key findings and analysis from the tracker can be found here.
Finally, Culture Counts has been secretariat for the CPG for culture throughout the last two parliaments. We are looking to get that re-established, with the view to engage new MSPs and potential partnerships, so please stay tuned for that.
Links shared:
https://www.creative-lives.org/
https://seriouslysocial.org.uk/
https://www.culturalvalue.org.uk/event/national-cultural-data-observatory/
https://committees.parliament.uk/work/9161/fanled-review-of-live-and-electronic-music/publications/
https://tracscotland.org/intangible-cultural-heritage/
https://livingheritage.unesco.org.uk/
https://culturepolicy.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/Spain-Cultural-Rights-Plan-2025-2027.pdf
https://www.charlottestreetpartners.com/about-us-pr-and-public-affairs-agency/