A BY-ELECTION is set to be held before Holyrood summer recess after the death of SNP MSP Christina McKelvie.
The Scottish Government minister died aged 57 at Glasgow Royal Infirmary last week.
McKelvie represented the Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse constituency.
The Times reports that a by-election is expected to be held in the seat before the Scottish Parliament's summer recess.
The summer recess begins on June 28 and runs until August 31, 2025.
With the Holyrood elections due in spring 2026, the new MSP will likely be in place for less than a year.
McKelvie won the seat in the 2021 Holyrood elections with 16,761 votes, beating Scottish Labour's Monica Lennon (12,129) and Scottish Tories' Meghan Gallacher (6332).
She had been an MSP since 2007, initially as a regional representative for Central Scotland, then winning the constituency seat in 2011 for Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse.
McKelvie held the seat in 2016 and 2021.
While Holyrood is still in mourning over the loss of McKelvie, with MSPs visibly emotional in the chamber when her death was announced on Thursday, pundits are already speculating on the outcome of the election and what it will suggest ahead of 2026.
In October 2023, the Rutherglen and Hamilton West Westminster by-election saw Michael Shanks elected for Scottish Labour, ahead of the General Election which saw scores of SNP MPs ousted from their seats.
The performance of Nigel Farage's Reform in the ballot, if they choose to put forward a candidate, will also be keenly watched.
Recent polling suggested that Scotland could return a pro-independence majority to Holyrood, with a second poll suggesting it could be Labour's worst return since devolution.
McKelvie's death was announced by her partner SNP MSP Keith Brown in a statement.
The SNP depute leader said: “Christina’s sons Lewis and Jack and I are heartbroken to announce the death of Christina at Glasgow Royal Infirmary this morning.
"To us, she was our beloved mum, partner and gran to Maeve and Leo. She was always hard working and enthusiastic and lit up every room she was in with her positivity and bright smile.
“She was always proud of her working class roots in Easterhouse and often said she could not have dreamt of becoming a government minister for the Scottish Government.
“We are immensely proud of all Christina achieved.”
McKelvie served in several government roles, including equalities minister, international development minister and drugs and alcohol policy minister.
