Born in the Netherlands, Ms Dijkstra-Downie came to Edinburgh nearly 25 years ago as a student. She works as a fundraiser for charities that provide educational opportunities, and helped to establish an ocean protection initiative. She topped the poll when was elected a councillor for Forth ward in 2022 and was selected as candidate for the new seat of Edinburgh Northern last summer. The party made the seat its top target in the election.placeholder image
Born in the Netherlands, Ms Dijkstra-Downie came to Edinburgh nearly 25 years ago as a student. She works as a fundraiser for charities that provide educational opportunities, and helped to establish an ocean protection initiative. She topped the poll when was elected a councillor for Forth ward in 2022 and was selected as candidate for the new seat of Edinburgh Northern last summer. The party made the seat its top target in the election. | supplied

Meet your new MSPs - all the Edinburgh and Lothians MSPs elected to the Scottish Parliament for the first time

By Ian Swanson
Published 11th May 2026, 04:45 GMT

Holyrood elections 2026: Fresh faces elected on May 7

Almost half of the MSPs turning up this week to be sworn in for the seventh session of the Scottish Parliament are new to the role.

A total of 64 out of the 129 members have not been MSPs before.

Several have already served as councillors, but others are taking up elected positions for the first time.

Here’s a rundown on the “newbies” elected either for constituencies or via the lists in in Edinburgh and the Lothians.

Q Manivannan is Scotland's first transgender MSP and after being elected told the audience at the count: "I am a transgender Tamil immigrant, my pronouns are they/them. I am, for some in this country, everything they hate and despise." Q was born in India and has lived in Scotland since 2021. Q has worked in the United Nations, in trade unions, voluntary organisations, and as an award-winning scholar in universities and won the Kavya Prize for Scottish writers of colour in 2023

9. Q Manivannan - Green, Edinburgh and Lothians East regional list

Q Manivannan is Scotland's first transgender MSP and after being elected told the audience at the count: "I am a transgender Tamil immigrant, my pronouns are they/them. I am, for some in this country, everything they hate and despise." Q was born in India and has lived in Scotland since 2021. Q has worked in the United Nations, in trade unions, voluntary organisations, and as an award-winning scholar in universities and won the Kavya Prize for Scottish writers of colour in 2023 | supplied

Photo Sales
Mr Ahmed is an Edinburgh-based father-of-three and a local businessman. He started his first business - a convenience store - more than 30 years ago and has been heavily involved in community activism. He was previously a member of the SNP and then Alex Salmond's Alba party. He stood for the SNP on the Lothian list in the 2016 Holyrood elections and for Alba on the Lothian list at the 2021 elections.

10. Irshad Ahmed - Labour, Edinburgh and Lothians East regional list

Mr Ahmed is an Edinburgh-based father-of-three and a local businessman. He started his first business - a convenience store - more than 30 years ago and has been heavily involved in community activism. He was previously a member of the SNP and then Alex Salmond's Alba party. He stood for the SNP on the Lothian list in the 2016 Holyrood elections and for Alba on the Lothian list at the 2021 elections. | supplied

Photo Sales
Ms Sangster is national director of the Fabians think tank in Scotland and has been heading up Edinburgh East & Musselburgh MP Chris Murray’s office in Portobello. She is chair of Labour's Scottish Executive Committee and a member of the Scottish Policy Forum . She lives in Musselburgh and previously lived in Portobello. And she stood for Midlothian South, Tweeddale and Lauderdale at the 2021 Holyrood elections.

11. Katherine Sangster - Labour, Edinburgh and Lothians East regional list

Ms Sangster is national director of the Fabians think tank in Scotland and has been heading up Edinburgh East & Musselburgh MP Chris Murray’s office in Portobello. She is chair of Labour's Scottish Executive Committee and a member of the Scottish Policy Forum . She lives in Musselburgh and previously lived in Portobello. And she stood for Midlothian South, Tweeddale and Lauderdale at the 2021 Holyrood elections. | supplied

Photo Sales
Ms Ross, a former primary school teacher who now runs a digital learning business supporting organisations with compliance policies, is the first and only Reform MSP to be elected in this region. She grew up in North Berwick, raised by a single‑parent mum who became a social worker, and says her family have lived in the area for more than 100 years.

12. Angela Ross - Reform, Edinburgh and Lothians East regional list

Ms Ross, a former primary school teacher who now runs a digital learning business supporting organisations with compliance policies, is the first and only Reform MSP to be elected in this region. She grew up in North Berwick, raised by a single‑parent mum who became a social worker, and says her family have lived in the area for more than 100 years. | supplied

Photo Sales
Previous
3 / 4
Next Page
Related topics:MSPsElection
News you can trust since 1873
Follow us
© 2026 Iconic Media Group Ltd. All rights reserved.Cookie SettingsTerms and ConditionsPrivacy notice