Fifers go to the polls on Thursday to elect their next MSPs.

Five constituency seats are up for grabs, along with the regional list as candidates bid to secure their place at Holyrood.

Polling stations open at 7:00am and the doors don’t close until 10:00pm, but the candidates won’t know their fate until late on Friday afternoon.

The traditional count through the night has been stopped, and will now be held on Friday.

Fifers are set to cast their votes on Thursday, with the count taking place the next day (Pic: Fife Photo Agency)

placeholder image — Fifers are set to cast their votes on Thursday, with the count taking place the next day (Pic: Fife Photo Agency)

A team of 300 counting staff will be on duty at Michael Woods Sports Centre in Glenrothes to handle all the ballot boxes from the five constituencies - Kirkcaldy, Cowdenbeath, Mid Fife and Glenrothes, Dunfermline and Fife North East.

The ballot boxes will be kept under lock and key overnight at an undisclosed location, which will be monitored by police, before being transferred to the sports centre where the process of counting and verifying will get underway.

On Thursday, voters will be issued with two ballot papers. On the lilac ballot paper, residents will vote for their constituency MSP. On the peach paper they will vote for a party or independent candidate competing for one of the seven regional seats in the Mid Scotland and Fife region.

Constituency results are not expected until late afternoon with North East Fife, Cowdenbeath and Kirkcaldy possibly declaring around 3:00pm, followed by Glenrothes at 4:00pm and North-East Fife at 4:30pm - but all timings are purely estimates.

The regional seat is likely to be announced closer to 5:00pm, making it a long day for canvassers, election teams, and the media.

Kirkcaldy, which covers Burntisland, Kinghorn, Buckhaven, Methil and the Wemyss villages, is a five-way contest. David Torrance (SNP) has held the seat since 2011, and is up against Claire Baker (Labour); Fraser Graham (Lib Dems), Heather Greig (Conservatives) and Julie MacDougall (ReformUK).

In the Mid Fife and Glenrothes constituency – which includes Glenrothes, Leslie, Thornton, Markinch, Kennoway, Leven and Upper and Lower Largo – five candidates are standing.

Jenny Gilruth is bidding to maintain her seat for the SNP. She increased her majority in 2021 from 8276 to 10,234. Afifa Khanam is standing for Scottish Labour and Ed Scotcher for the Liberal Democrats. The Conservatives’ Niamh Heald and Reform UK’s Sacha Haworth are also candidates.

There are also five candidates in North East Fife which takes in areas including Cupar, Freuchie, Tayport, St Andrews and the East Neuk.

The Lib Dems’ Willie Rennie is defending the seat he has held since 2016. He faces a challenge from Glenrothes councillor John Beare (SNP); Elizabeth Carr-Ellis (Labour), Edward Sheasby (Conservatives) and William Docherty (Reform UK).

In Cowdenbeath, voters have six candidates to choose from - David Barratt (SNP), Fiona Sword (Labour), James Calder (Lib Dems), Mark Davies (ReformUK), Darren Watt (Conservative) and Laurie Moffat (Sovereignty Party).

> There will be full, live coverage from the Fife count at our website at fifetoday.co.uk. You can also follow @fifefreepressed on Twitter for the very latest updates.