Orkney SNP members have confirmed Robert Leslie as the party’s candidate for Orkney in the 2026 Scottish Parliament election.

Mr Leslie, who has stood in two General Elections for the SNP in Orkney and Shetland – in 2019 and 2024 – and in the 2021 Scottish Parliament election in Orkney, gathered with other SNP candidates in Edinburgh last week to hear party leader and First Minister John Swinney look ahead to the 2026 campaign and set out the case for Scotland to be a successful independent country.

Mr Leslie is married to Kara, and they have three daughters, Ria, Isla, and Ruby. Mr Leslie is Energy Officer with Orkney Housing Association.

He said:

“I am delighted to be standing again for the SNP in Orkney, at a time when – more than ever – Scotland needs leadership that will reject the dangerous lurch to the right that we see elsewhere in the UK. We need a government that will always put the people of Scotland first.

“While Labour at Westminster is failing Scotland – treating us as an afterthought – we cannot allow Reform UK’s divisive message to gain traction in Scotland. The level of their vote in Orkney and Shetland in 2024 was a worrying one. I will stand up against any party that comes with an undercurrent of racism, misogyny and homophobia.

“I will always champion the values of tolerance and inclusion, bringing people together, and being welcoming and outward-looking. These are the values that Orcadians as part of Scotland should be aspiring to.”

Mr Leslie said he was pleased to be able to gather with so many other candidates in Edinburgh to hear last week’s rallying speech from John Swinney.

“This is clearly an election that the SNP needs to win well to ensure the case for independence remains to the fore. I passionately believe that Orkney can thrive with more powers to decide its own future in an independent Scotland that can create a new relationship with the EU,” he said.

Mr Leslie said he was keen to get round the islands over the next year to learn what issues are concerning folk the most – and what the Scottish Government can do with its devolved powers to help improve lives across Orkney.

“However, we must also recognise the powers that are retained at Westminster, not least around energy and immigration, and which hold us back. New tighter immigration plans just announced by Labour, for example, will be damaging to our islands. The Scottish Government has asked for powers over migration to address our specific needs around labour shortages, but Westminster has refused to listen.

“I have been an SNP member for over 10 years now and worked part-time for three MSPs – currently Emma Roddick, Highlands and Islands MSP, who will stand in the Inverness and Nairn constituency. I want to use my experience of working and campaigning for the SNP to help bring down barriers to progress in Orkney.

“It was great to meet Minister for Social Care, Mental Wellbeing and Sport, Maree Todd, for whom I worked between 2016 and 2021, and also Deputy First Minister Kate Forbes, who was a first-time SNP conference speaker along with on Orkney SNP’s fuel poverty resolution in 2015, when she was a candidate for the 2016 election. I spoke to Kate last week about Orkney’s housing situation and was also able to discuss energy policy with Acting Cabinet Secretary for Net Zero and Energy, Gillian Martin.

“A fairer energy future for all will be central to my campaign. At a time when Labour at Westminster has broken its promise of lower energy bills, we need to realise that the UK’s broken privatised energy system is doing nothing but damage to Orkney households that are in fuel poverty despite being surrounded by renewable electricity. An independent Scotland would make Scotland’s energy work for Scotland’s people – lowering bills to help achieve affordable warmth for all.”

“It was also good to catch up with fellow Orcadian Neil Gray, Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care, who will stand in Airdrie. It would be an honour for me to join him in Holyrood as another Orcadian MSP, and the first SNP representative for Orkney.”