Holyrood has drawn a clear line on double‑jobbing. From the next Scottish Parliament election, anyone who sits in the House of Lords will be barred from holding a seat at Holyrood. Ministers have made the regulations and they take legal effect today, Friday 31 October 2025, with the ban kicking in at the next general election for MSPs. The move is about ensuring one job, one mandate - a message that will resonate across the North, where clean lines between tiers of government matter to business and communities alike.

The Scottish Parliament (Disqualification of Members of the House of Lords) Regulations 2025 change the Scotland Act 1998 so that membership of the Lords is a specific ground for disqualification from being an MSP. They also sweep away the old clause that said peers were not disqualified, and set two short grace windows: 14 days for a peer who is returned as an MSP to decide, and 14 days for any MSP who later becomes a peer to make their choice. The Scottish Government’s own equality impact work describes the cohort affected as small but the principle as important.

Timing matters. Ministers trailed an autumn laying so the rule would be in place for the 2026 election, and that is what this instrument delivers. Parties and would‑be candidates now have months, not years, to plan for clear single‑mandate campaigns.

For readers in the North, there’s a wider constitutional thread. Wales already treats Lords membership as a disqualification from the Senedd, with only an eight‑day grace period and an allowance for formal leave of absence from the Lords. Northern Ireland still permits peers to sit in the Assembly. Scotland’s shift brings it closer to the Welsh model and further from the Northern Irish position.

Practically, if a Scottish peer stands in 2026 and wins, they have two weeks to give up one role. If an MSP is offered a peerage mid‑term, they have 14 days from taking the Lords oath to choose. Unlike Wales, the Scottish regulations as made set fixed windows rather than a standing leave‑of‑absence carve‑out. That clarity should help voters and parties avoid post‑election wrangling.

This all flows from the Scottish Elections (Representation and Reform) Act 2025, which obliged ministers to end dual mandates with Westminster and to bring forward regulations subject to the affirmative procedure. Parliament signed off the draft before the instrument was made, as required.

The government argues the change strengthens accountability by ensuring MSPs can focus fully on Holyrood. Its equality assessment says the impact on protected groups is neutral and the overall effect should be better access to busy representatives. That’s the same case often heard from Northern leaders when they argue for clearer, cleaner devolution.

There’s a companion measure on MPs too: the separate regulations on Commons dual mandates give a 49‑day window to resolve any clash where someone holds both roles. Taken together, the package ends the era of high‑profile double‑hatting and sets a standard other parts of the UK may feel pressure to match.

As Jamie Hepburn, Scotland’s Minister for Parliamentary Business, put it earlier in the year: "MSPs will be barred from also being an MP or Peer through regulations to be brought forward in autumn 2025." Today’s instrument follows through on that promise - and it will echo well beyond the Border.