Scottish Labour has launched its hunt for candidates for the 2026 Scottish Parliament election.

The party is seeking “dedicated, diverse, and talented” Holyrood hopefuls who are “committed to championing their communities and delivering the positive change that Scotland needs.”

Scottish Labour Leader Anas Sarwar said:“If you believe in making a difference and that Scotland’s best days lie ahead, we want to hear from you.

"This is about building a team with the breadth of skills, expertise, and experience needed to deliver a better future for Scotland. We want to add the best new talent to our already talented group of MSPs who are working every day in the Scottish Parliament to deliver the best for Scotland.”

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The call out for candidates comes after Mr Sarwar admitted the party had “lost a generation of talent” in the wilderness years after the independence referendum.

Speaking at a fringe event at the party’s conference in Liverpool, he said he and his colleagues needed to “inspire” people to come forward.

He told delegates that when the party started selections for seats for July's Westminster election, they struggled to get more than one or two candidates coming forward for each vacancy, but the closer they got to vote, they had 12 or 13 hopefuls vying for each seat.

Mr Sarwar said a significant part of his job was “developing the pipeline of talent for the future as well.”

“And if we're honest with ourselves, from a Scottish Labour perspective, given our years in the wilderness, I think we lost a generation of talent who decided to go and do something else with their lives.

“But I think if you can see from the quality of our MPs and the quality of people that are coming forward, people realise that actually politics is no longer something to shy away from.”

Labour's position as the dominant force in Scottish politics was upended by the 2014 referendum, with support for the party collapsing at the general election less than a year later.

They went from 41 MPs to just one.

However, in July's election, they returned 37 MPs and recent polls suggest they could be the biggest party in Holyrood after the vote in 2026.

The party currently has 22 MSPs.

The next Holyrood election is not due to take place until May 7 2026, however, there is a possibility of a vote if the minority SNP administration fails to get its budget through early next year.

John Swinney’s party has also started the process of finding candidates for the next vote. Those keen on a run have just under a month – until November 11 – to submit an application to the ruling National Executive Committee (NEC).

A selection process will then follow, with candidates in place by April 2025.