The Scottish Liberal Democrats were soundly defeated; their popular vote share was cut in half and their seat total reduced from 16 to 5.

[2] For Scottish Conservatives, the election proved disappointing as their popular vote dropped slightly and their number of seats fell by 2, with party leader Annabel Goldie also announcing her resignation.

[3] During the campaign, the four main party leaders engaged in a series of televised debates, as they had in every previous general election.

[5] British, Irish, Commonwealth and European Union citizens living in Scotland who were aged 18 or over on election day were entitled to vote.

The First Periodical Review of the Scottish Parliament constituencies and electoral regions by the Boundary Commission for Scotland was announced on 3 July 2007.

The Scottish Parliament uses an Additional Members System, designed to produce approximate proportional representation for each region.

A modified D'Hondt method, using the constituency results, is used to calculate which additional member MSPs the regions elect.

Whilst campaigning in Glasgow Central station, the Scottish Labour leader Iain Gray was ambushed by a group of anti-cuts protestors who chased him into a nearby fast-food outlet.

[27] Iain Gray conceded defeat to Alex Salmond and announced his intention to resign as leader of the Labour group of MSPs that autumn.

[27] The election saw a rout of the Liberal Democrats, with no victories in mainland constituencies[29] and 25 lost deposits (candidates gaining less than five per cent of the vote).

[29] Leader Tavish Scott said their performance was due to the Liberal Democrats' involvement in the Westminster Government, which had been unpopular with many former LibDem supporters.

[30] For the Conservatives, the main disappointment was the loss of Edinburgh Pentlands, the seat of former party leader David McLetchie, to the SNP.

McLetchie was elected on the Lothian regional list and the Conservatives only made a net loss of five seats, with leader Annabel Goldie claiming that their support had held firm.

[27] Prime Minister David Cameron congratulated the SNP on the result, but vowed to campaign for the Union in any independence referendum.

[27] George Galloway, under a Unionist anti-cuts banner, failed to receive enough votes to be elected to the Glasgow regional list.