The 2026 Scottish Parliament election was our fifth major campaign. Thanks to the generous support of our donors and crowdfunding supporters, we invested around £11,000 in reaching voters across Scotland and highlighting the record of the SNP Government.
Below explains what we did during the campaign, how many people we reached and the impact our work had.
Our Campaign
Scotland Matters campaigns throughout the year, but our activity increased significantly in the run-up to the 2026 Holyrood election.
Our main focus was digital campaigning through our SNP Exposed Facebook page, where we published regular short videos highlighting issues facing Scotland and examining the record of the SNP Government.
Alongside our online campaign, we also:
- Completed a five-day campaign tour across key areas of Scotland.
- Delivered 10,000 leaflets in Aberdeen City, Aberdeenshire and the Greenock area.
- Coordinated a volunteer letter writing campaign that resulted in 278 letters being published in Scottish newspapers during the election period.
Many of the best letters were also shared on social media and with our email subscribers, helping our message reach an even wider audience.
Our Message
Our campaign had two clear aims. The first was to hold the SNP Government to account for its record in office. The second was to encourage people who wanted change to support the candidate best placed to defeat the SNP in their constituency or region.
With several pro-UK parties standing in the election, many voters were understandably unsure how to vote tactically. Rather than produce our own guide, we directed people to Scotland in Union’s postcode tactical voting tool through selected videos, graphics and campaign materials.
Reaching People Across Scotland
Between 1 April and 9 May 2026, our campaign reached more than 1.1 million people across our digital platforms.
During that period, the SNP Exposed Facebook page reached 1,065,677 people, with around 1.02 million views coming from Facebook Reels alone.
Several videos attracted more than 100,000 views, generating thousands of reactions, comments and shares.
Our content also continued to grow organically on other platforms, receiving 27,493 views on TikTok and 19,655 views on YouTube without any paid promotion.
Our Growing Community
During the campaign our online audience continued to grow.
- SNP Exposed Facebook had 4,439 followers, up from around 2,700 at the start of 2026.
- Scotland Matters Newsletter had 3,338 subscribers.
- YouTube had 635 subscribers.
- TikTok had 1,177 followers.
Making Every Pound Count
We carefully targeted our advertising budget towards areas where tactical voting had the greatest potential to influence the election result. These included Perth, Edinburgh, Shetland, Stirling, Moffat and Bearsden, while other campaign content was promoted across Scotland.
During the campaign, we invested £3,110 in Facebook advertising, generating approximately 758,622 additional video views.
Since Scotland Matters was established, our campaigns have reached almost 6 million people, demonstrating what can be achieved by a small organisation supported by committed volunteers and generous donors.
Thank You
None of this would have been possible without the support of our donors, volunteers and everyone who shared our content, wrote letters, delivered leaflets and helped spread our message.
Together, we reached more than one million people during the 2026 campaign and continue to provide a strong pro-UK voice in Scotland’s political debate.