- Latest available (Revised)
- Original (As enacted)
Scottish Elections (Representation and Reform) Act 2025
You are here:
What Version
Advanced Features
- Show Geographical Extent(e.g. England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland)
- Show Timeline of Changes
Opening Options
More Resources
Status:
This version of this provision is prospective.
Status
The term provision is used to describe a definable element in a piece of legislation that has legislative effect – such as a Part, Chapter or section. A version of a provision is prospective either:
- where the provision (Part, Chapter or section) has never come into force or;
- where the text of the provision is subject to change, but no date has yet been appointed by the appropriate person or body for those changes to come into force.
Commencement Orders listed in the ‘Changes to Legislation’ box as not yet applied may bring this prospective version into force.
Changes to legislation:
Scottish Elections (Representation and Reform) Act 2025, Section 51 is up to date with all changes known to be in force on or before 11 November 2025. There are changes that may be brought into force at a future date. Changes that have been made appear in the content and are referenced with annotations.
Changes to Legislation
Revised legislation carried on this site may not be fully up to date. Changes and effects are recorded by our editorial team in lists which can be found in the ‘Changes to Legislation’ area. Where those effects have yet to be applied to the text of the legislation by the editorial team they are also listed alongside the legislation in the affected provisions. Use the ‘more’ link to open the changes and effects relevant to the provision you are viewing.
Changes and effects yet to be applied to Section 51:
- s. 51 coming into force by S.S.I. 2025/260 reg. 3 sch. Pt. 1
Prospective
51Purpose of the electronic materialS
This section has no associated Explanatory Notes
(1)The first purpose is promoting or procuring electoral success at one or more relevant Scottish elections for—
(a)a registered party,
(b)registered parties who advocate (or do not advocate) particular policies or who otherwise fall within a particular category of such parties, or
(c)candidates or future candidates who hold (or do not hold) particular opinions or who advocate (or do not advocate) particular policies or who otherwise fall within a particular category of candidates or future candidates.
(2)For the purposes of subsection (1)—
(a)the reference to electoral success at a relevant Scottish election is a reference—
(i)in relation to a registered party, to the return at the election of any candidate or future candidate who is standing, or is to stand, in the name of the party or is included, or is to be included, in a list of candidates submitted by the party in connection with the election, and
(ii)in relation to any candidate or future candidate, to their return at the election, and
(b)the reference to doing any of the things mentioned in that subsection includes doing so by prejudicing the electoral prospects at the election of other parties, candidates or future candidates.
(3)For the purposes of determining whether electronic material can reasonably be regarded as intended to achieve the purpose mentioned in subsection (1), it is immaterial that it does not expressly mention the name of any party, candidate or future candidate.
(4)The second purpose is promoting or procuring the election of a particular candidate, or a particular future candidate, at one or more relevant Scottish elections.
(5)For the purposes of determining whether electronic material—
(a)can reasonably be regarded as intended to achieve the purpose mentioned in subsection (4), it is immaterial that it does not expressly mention the name of any candidate or future candidate, and
(b)is to be regarded as being published on behalf of a candidate or future candidate—
(i)is not to be so regarded merely because it can be regarded as promoting or procuring the election of a candidate or future candidate at an election, but
(ii)may be regarded as being published on behalf of the party mentioned in subsection (6).
(6)This subsection applies to electronic material which can reasonably be regarded as promoting or procuring the election of—
(a)two or more candidates or future candidates who are standing, or are to stand, in the name of a party, or
(b)two or more candidates or future candidates who are included, or are to be included, in a list of candidates submitted by the party in connection with an election.
Commencement Information
I1S. 51 not in force at Royal Assent, see s. 73(2)
Options/Help
Print Options
PrintThe Whole Act
PrintThe Whole Part
PrintThe Whole Cross Heading
PrintThis Section only
Legislation is available in different versions:
Latest Available (revised):The latest available updated version of the legislation incorporating changes made by subsequent legislation and applied by our editorial team. Changes we have not yet applied to the text, can be found in the ‘Changes to Legislation’ area.
Original (As Enacted or Made): The original version of the legislation as it stood when it was enacted or made. No changes have been applied to the text.
See additional information alongside the content
Geographical Extent: Indicates the geographical area that this provision applies to. For further information see ‘Frequently Asked Questions’.
Show Timeline of Changes: See how this legislation has or could change over time. Turning this feature on will show extra navigation options to go to these specific points in time. Return to the latest available version by using the controls above in the What Version box.
Opening Options
Different options to open legislation in order to view more content on screen at once
Explanatory Notes
Text created by the Scottish Government to explain what the Act sets out to achieve and to make the Act accessible to readers who are not legally qualified. Explanatory Notes were introduced in 1999 and accompany all Acts of the Scottish Parliament except those which result from Budget Bills.
More Resources
Access essential accompanying documents and information for this legislation item from this tab. Dependent on the legislation item being viewed this may include:
- the original print PDF of the as enacted version that was used for the print copy
- lists of changes made by and/or affecting this legislation item
- confers power and blanket amendment details
- all formats of all associated documents
- correction slips
- links to related legislation and further information resources
Timeline of Changes
This timeline shows the different points in time where a change occurred. The dates will coincide with the earliest date on which the change (e.g an insertion, a repeal or a substitution) that was applied came into force. The first date in the timeline will usually be the earliest date when the provision came into force. In some cases the first date is 01/02/1991 (or for Northern Ireland legislation 01/01/2006). This date is our basedate. No versions before this date are available. For further information see the Editorial Practice Guide and Glossary under Help.
More Resources
Use this menu to access essential accompanying documents and information for this legislation item. Dependent on the legislation item being viewed this may include:
- the original print PDF of the as enacted version that was used for the print copy
- correction slips
Click 'View More' or select 'More Resources' tab for additional information including:
- lists of changes made by and/or affecting this legislation item
- confers power and blanket amendment details
- all formats of all associated documents
- links to related legislation and further information resources
All content is available under the Open Government Licence v3.0 except where otherwise stated. This site additionally contains content derived from EUR-Lex, reused under the terms of the Commission Decision 2011/833/EU on the reuse of documents from the EU institutions. For more information see the EUR-Lex public statement on re-use.