The University of Stirling’s Debating Society hosted a local hustings for the 2026 Holyrood elections today, with representatives from six political parties. The panel included the Scottish Greens’ Mark Ruskell, the SNP’s Keith Brown, the Scottish Conservatives’ Thomas Heald, Scottish Labour’s Dr Kainde Manji, the Scottish Liberal Democrats’ Fraser Graham, and the Scottish Socialist Party’s Hugh Cullen. Reform UK’s Rachael Wright was contacted but withdrew from the event days before.
The event was made up of three questions set by the society, focusing on student prospects, equality, and the state of Scottish democracy.
All six parties agreed that the rise of the far right is worsening the state of democracy, as the Greens’ Ruskell said that “there is definitely a problem with the far right”, and, speaking of Reform UK, said: “I think its telling that they’ve not even bothered to turn up today”. The Lib Dems’ Graham said that apathy was the greatest threat to democracy and urged all politicians to “be more honest with voters”. The Scottish Conservatives’ Heald, who has been an MSP’s assistant for a decade, advocated for Holyrood to be a place where MSPs honestly vote on issues and decisions are not dependent on the party whip. He cited the vote on the Assisted Dying Bill, a free vote which ultimately chose not to legalise assisted dying in Scotland, as an example of this, saying that this “showed the chamber at its best”. He added that social media and the presence of the manosphere are additional threats to democracy, which he said: “a lot of really divisive and harmful rhetoric is filtered through”.
The panel were questioned about hate crimes and inequality, as they discussed racism, transphobia, and anti-migrant sentiments on the rise. Dr Manji took a police-centred approach to this, pointing out: “I don’t remember the last time I saw a police officer walking down the street”. She added that she was proud to be from the party that brought in the Equality Act, although Graham disputed that, given recent rises in transphobia, this is “no longer fit for purpose”. The SSP’s Cullen assured voters that his party “firmly stands with migrants and transgender people”. The SNP’s Brown called sectarianism “one of the worst forms of hate crimes”, and the panel, half of which were either born in England or had English ancestry, discussed anti-English sentiment. Other than Dr Kanji, the only woman on the panel, recounting incidents where she had faced misogyny online, women’s safety and misogyny were not discussed.
The funding of Scottish universities and graduate prospects was the final topic of discussion. Fraser Graham added that, “the big issue now is that the funding model isn’t working”, as the panel agreed that the current higher education system in Scotland is relying on the fees of international students to operate, which is unsustainable. Dr Manji expressed concern over cuts to local colleges such as Forth Valley College’s Alloa campus, the possible closure of which she called “a disaster for this local area”. She added that Scottish Labour hopes to introduce 9000 new apprenticeships, including a graduate apprenticeship scheme. She said her party “remains committed” to free tuition in Scotland. Mark Ruskell said that Artificial Intelligence is becoming a threat to graduate jobs and called on the Scottish Government to have an officer dedicated to AI. No candidate entertained the idea of cutting free tuition fees in Scotland.
The event closed with closing remarks, when the SSP’s Hugh Cullen posed the idea to voters that, unlike the Scottish Socialist Party, “These guys [the parties of the five other candidates] have all had the chance to be in power”. He added that the SSP wants a National Living Wage extended as a minimum wage to all over 16s, and that this would sit at “roughly” £16 per hour. Heald expressed disappointment at Reform UK’s cancellation of their attendance as he was “quite looking forward to being the second most jated person on this panel”.
The society’s president, Ismael Ahidar, said: “Make sure you vote on May the 7th, it’s been a brilliant event, it’s been a lot of work, and the candidates did brilliantly”. He also thanked his society and all attendees.
You can register to vote in the Scottish elections here, and the deadline is the 20th of April. International students are eligible to vote as well as home students.
Featured Image Credit: @stirunidebating on Instagram
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