Holyrood elections 2026: Departing after defeat - five Edinburgh and Lothians MSPs saying a reluctant goodbye to Holyrood
Voters’ verdict means some MSPs won’t be returning to Scottish Parliament
Politics can be a cruel business. And while elections may bring elation for some, that often means devastating defeat for others.
Politicians who have had prominent or powerful positions and even apparent popularity can find their careers abruptly halted.
Some 40 MSPs from the last parliament decided to stand down at the election, but another 22 who wanted to return found the voters had other ideas.
Five former MSPs from Edinburgh and the Lothians are making an unwelcome exit.
Culture Secretary Angus Robertson was the most high-profile casualty, losing his Edinburgh Central seat to former Green minister Lorna Slater and being beaten into third place behind Labour.
Mr Robertson had only been in the Scottish Parliament for one term, getting elected to Holyrood in 2021 after losing his Westminster seat to the Tories' Douglas Ross in 2017.
A member of the SNP from the age of 15, he was first elected MP for Moray in 2001. Six years later he became leader of the SNP's Westminster group, succeeding Alex Salmond who had become First Minister.
He remained leader until he lost his seat, and in 2016 he was also elected depute leader of the party, working closely with Nicola Sturgeon.
A selection contest for Edinburgh Central between Mr Robertson and the then Edinburgh South West MP Joanna Cherry was in prospect ahead of the 2021 Holyrood election, but a rule change excluded Ms Cherry from standing.
Mr Robertson won the seat from the Tories and was appointed Cabinet Secretary for the Constitution, External Affairs and Culture, a post he retained throughout the parliament.
Former Edinburgh Eastern MSP Ash Regan stood as an independent on the regional list in last week's election, winning 1,904 votes but failing to be elected.
She first entered Holyrood in 2016 as an SNP MSP and was appointed Minister for Community Safety by Nicola Sturgeon in 2018, but resigned in 2022 over the Gender Recognition Reform Bill.
When Ms Sturgeon announced her resignation in 2023, Ms Regan stood against Humza Yousaf and Kate Forbes for the leadership, finishing third.
Later that year she defected to Alex Salmond's Alba party, becoming its only MSP. After Mr Salmond's death in 2024, she stood unsuccessfully against Kenny MacAskill for the leadership and in 2025 resigned from the party to sit as an independent.
She brought forward a member's Bill to tackle prostitution by criminalising the purchase of sex and ran a strong campaign in support of the move, but it failed to pass in the parliament.
Former Lothian list MSP Jeremy Balfour, who resigned from the Tories in 2025, stood as an independent at the election. He won 2,261 votes but did not get elected.
He was a Conservative councillor in Edinburgh, representing Corstorphine/ Murrayfield ward, from 2007 until 2017 and was elected a Conservative MSP for Lothian in 2016.
His resignation from the party in August 2025 came nearly a year after Russell Findlay became Scottish Tory leader. Mr Balfour claimed the party had "fallen into the trap of reactionary politics" and was "chasing cheap headlines".
Having lived with disabilities since birth, Mr Balfour has been a keen champion of disabled people's rights. Last year he accused parliament of turning its back on the disabled community after his proposal to create a Disability Commissioner post was rejected.
Lothian Tory MSP Sue Webber was number two on the Conservative list for the new Edinburgh and Lothians East region at the election, but the party's poor vote share meant she was not elected.
She served as an Edinburgh councillor, for Pentland Hills ward, from 2017 until 2022, and became an MSP at the 2021 Holyrood elections, one of three Conservative list MSPs for Lothian.
She has served as a party spokesperson on areas including public health, drugs policy and transport and was convener of the Scottish Parliament’s education, children and young people committee from 2022 until 2024.
Among issues on which Ms Webber has campaigned are the "scourge" of souped-up e-bikes and withdrawing free bus passes from under-22s who intimidate or abuse drivers.
Labour's Martin Whitfield, a list MSP since 2021, stood in East Lothian Coast and Lammermuirs constituency but lost by just 418 votes.
A former lawyer and primary school teacher, he was elected MP for East Lothian at the 2017 general election, winning the seat from the SNP. But the Nationalists took it back at the 2019 election.
He then turned his sights on the Scottish Parliament and although he failed to win East Lothian in 2021, he was elected as a South of Scotland list MSP.
He was given the key role of business manager for the Labour group of MSPs and also served as spokesperson on children and young people, lifelong learning and youth unemployment. He was also convener of the parliament’s standards, procedures and public appointments committee.