Falkirk Scottish Youth Parliament Election results finally announced after technical fault

Thousands of young people aged 12 and 25 were asked to vote in the Scottish Youth Parliament election. Every two years, an election is held in every parliamentary constituency to elect two MSYPs. Over 300 candidates were looking to fill seats in constituencies and voluntary organisations.

The vote was to be held between November 6 and 19 last year, with the results announced on the 20th. However, a technical fault resulted in a massive chunk of votes being lost, meaning the election was suspended and had to be rescheduled.

Falkirk – which has four MSYPs in total – held a new election from December 6 to 13, and anyone who had previously voted in November was asked to resubmit their votes.

Falkirk district was split into East and West. In the Falkirk East constituency, Louisa Richardson, Declan McGavin, Jack Hill, Catriona Daw and Kirsty Gallagher sought election. In Falkirk West, Charis Muirhead, Jabin Roish and Tamsin Gold – the incumbent MSYP for the West – looked to fill the seat.

After months of campaigning, the results were released via Falkirk Children’s Rights Services’ X account (formerly known as Twitter). Their post said: “A massive well done to all our candidates this year for the SYP Elections - you all done fantastic.”

The results were: Falkirk East – Declan McGavin and Catriona Daw; and Falkirk West – Tamsin Gold and Jabin Roish.

The four will now be known as ‘MSYP-Elects’ until their term officially begins at the start of February, and will then be MSYPs until the next election in 2025. They will now work in the community and nationally to represent young people and ensure that their voices are heard.