The Scottish Conservatives will launch their manifesto with just over four weeks to go until the Scottish Parliament election
Party leader Russell Findlay is due to speak from about 14:30 and you can Watch live by clicking on the icon at the top of this page from just before then
Voters will go to the polls on 7 May to elect 129 MSPs
The six biggest parties north or the border – the SNP, Scottish Conservatives, Scottish Labour, Scottish Greens, Scottish Lib Dems and Reform UK – are all hitting the campaign trail
Edited by Paul McLaren
According to a poll carried out for BBC Scotland, three topics dominate voters' concerns: the economy, (including the cost of living), health and social care, and immigration.
You can read more about what issues voters said mattered to them here.
There are three ways to vote:
You can register to vote online, external.
The deadline to register to vote is 20 April.
The deadline to register for a postal vote, external is 21 April and for a proxy vote, external is 28 April.
Anyone who lives in Scotland and is registered to vote is eligible, as long as they are 16 or over on the day of the poll and have not been legally excluded from voting (for example, because they are serving a prison sentence of longer than 12 months).
They must also be a British or Irish citizen, or a citizen of another country living in Scotland who has permission to enter or stay in the UK, or who does not need permission.
Would you like to be in the audience for BBC Scotland's leaders debate?
The special episode of Debate Night, hosted by Stephen Jardine, will take place between 19:00 and 20:30 on Sunday 12 April in Paisley Town Hall.
The leaders of the Scottish Conservatives, Scottish Greens, Scottish Labour, Scottish Liberal Democrats, Scottish National Party, and Reform UK Scotland have been invited to take part.
You can apply to be part of the audience at bbc.co.uk/debatenight or by clicking this link.
The Scottish Greens co-leader Gillian Mackay says there needs to be fundamental reform of Scotland’s penal system.
Her comments come after one of the party's Scottish election candidates, Kate Nevens, repeated her call for a Scotland without prisons.
Mackay, during a visit to Inverness, said the Scottish Greens are focused on reform of justice policy, adding her party's focus will be on supporting victims and survivors of crime, and preventing crimes in the first place.
She said there is a need to see a reduction in the number of people sent to prison, but in the said short term the most violent offenders should be sent to prison.
The Scottish Parliament election will take place on Thursday 7 May.
Polling stations will open at 07:00 and close at 22:00.
A total of 129 MSPs will be elected to the parliament, often referred to as Holyrood after the area of Edinburgh where the parliament building stands.
Scottish Conservatives leader Russell Findlay will take centre stage at about 14:30 to launch his party's election manifesto.
Before then, it's a good time to look at our simple guide to how the Scottish Parliament election will work and what's at stake.
For starters, about four million voters will head to the polls next month to elect the seventh Scottish Parliament.
The last election was in 2021 during the coronavirus pandemic.
So there will be a very different backdrop, but the principles remain the same.
You can read our full guide here.
Phil Sim
Scotland political correspondent
There has been quite a political pile-on over the Green candidate who suggested getting rid of prisons, but existing policy is geared towards sending fewer and fewer people to jail.
There have long been efforts to cut Scotland's incarceration rate, which is among the highest in Western Europe.
The government introduced a presumption against short sentences, urging judges not to hand out terms of under 12 months, in 2019.
But it hasn't worked – 73% of the sentences handed down in 2023-24 were for less than a year.
And an independent review set up by the government has suggested actually barring judges from handing out such short terms.
They also recommended having a presumption against sentences of under two years, as part of a "decarceration" programme which could "substantially reduce the prison population".
The idea would be to rebalance the judicial system from locking people up to dealing with more of them in the community, with prisons retained chiefly for serious offenders who pose a danger to the public.
In February the government said it would consider this report carefully – so significant changes to the prison system may actually come to pass.
Scotland's political leaders have already been on the campaign trail for nearly two weeks since the Scottish Parliament session ended on 25 March.
John Swinney has pledged to improve NHS performance, help first-time home buyers with a £10,000 grant and expand free childcare. The SNP leader has also said his party would secure a second independence referendum if it won a Holyrood majority.
Russell Findlay has urged unionist voters to rally behind his party to prevent an SNP majority and a second referendum. He says the next parliament should be using all their energy to tackle the cost-of-living crisis, bring down people's bills and grow Scotland's economy.
Anas Sarwar has unveiled plans to recruit 2,000 specialist teachers to help children who have fallen behind in literacy and numeracy catch up, as well as an additional 1,500 classroom assistants. The Scottish Labour leader aims to position himself as the leading candidate to replace Swinney as first minister.
Ross Greer and Gillian Mackay have pledged to to expand free childcare and to provide free bus travel for all. The Scottish Greens co-leaders say they want a fairer, greener Scotland and will propose "additional taxes for the super rich" to help fund better services.
Alex Cole-Hamilton has said The Scottish Lib Dems could deprive the SNP of a majority by winning 10 constituency seats and returning more MSPs on the regional ballot. The party's leader vowed to delier first-rate health care, help with the cost of living and get Scottish education back to its best.
Malcolm Offord says Reform UK has a vision to cut taxes, unlock economic growth and deliver practical solutions on the issues that matter most to communities across the country. The party's leader north of the border has also declared his intention to become first minister.
The first minister says the focus of the criminal justice system is to ensure we have the right people serving custodial sentences for the right length of time.
John Swinney acknowledges that in some cases alternative approaches could deliver better outcomes for society, but he says the suggestion that you could abolish prisons is ridiculous, and he describes the Conservatives' idea of sending some prisoners abroad as posturing.
Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar says Green candidate Kate Nevens' proposal to abolish jails proves the Scottish Greens “don’t live in the real world".
He says: “Of course we wish there was no crime, but we don’t live in that ideal world.”
Scottish Conservative candidate Sue Webber says the idea of abolishing prisons, as proposed by Scottish Greens candidate Kate Nevens, is "insane and irresponsible".
"It beggars belief that someone who fervently believes that murderers and rapists shouldn't be locked up is high up the Greens' Lothian list and likely to become an MSP."
Reform's Thomas Kerr says that "an end to prisons is not liberal or progressive but instead dangerous extremist ideology".
The Scottish Liberal Democrats have been asked to comment and we'll bring you their veiw as soon as they give it to us.
Read the whole story from our senior political reporter Angus Cochrane here.
Angus Cochrane
BBC Scotland senior political reporter
Kate Nevens is standing on the Edinburgh and Lothians East regional list
Elsewhere on the campaign trail, a Scottish Greens election candidate is facing criticism after revealing she wants to abolish prisons.
Kate Nevens – who is standing on the Edinburgh and Lothians East regional list – says she is "keen to live in a Scotland" with no jails.
Political rivals have accused her of promoting "absolutely bonkers" and "monumentally stupid" views on justice reform.
A Greens spokesperson said jails should be used as a last resort – but stopped short of calling for their abolition.
They added that the party wants to end "mass incarceration and punishment", instead focusing on crime prevention and supporting victims.
Andrew Kerr
BBC Scotland political correspondent
Anas Sarwar highlights the vexing issue of potholes to reporters in Glasgow
Back to Glasgow where the Scottish Labour leader is pledging to use £350m from the transport budget to fix five million potholes in Scotland.
Anas Sarwar says the first priority is to fix potholes for safety reasons and secondly because they make communities look neglected.
He says a Labour government would “get the basics right” to build a better future for Scotland. On the day the Scottish Conservatives launch their manifesto, Sarwar says the Tories can “promise what they like.”He adds: “They aren’t going to form the government in this country, it’s a straight two-horse race in this campaign.”
Kirsten Campbell
BBC Scotland political correspondent
The sun was causing the first minister and the press photographers some difficulties as they tried to get pictures of the new campaign ad van.
“Well, we are in Leith” joked John Swinney, referring to The Proclaimers’ famous anthem, Sunshine on Leith. Kirsten Campbell
BBC Scotland political correspondent
First minister and SNP leader John Swinney is calling for an immediate cut in petrol and diesel prices.
Unveiling a new ad van in Leith, he says the prime minister should stop dithering and cut fuel prices immediately, adding that Scotland is an energy powerhouse but Scots are paying sky-high prices for fuel and energy.
He is urging the UK government to cancel the proposed increase in fuel duty and remove VAT on energy costs to bring consumers much-needed relief.
Swinney says the Westminster government shouldn’t be profiteering from the Iran crisis but should get out of the way and allow the Scottish government to act. Andrew Kerr
BBC Scotland political correspondent
As the party leaders hit the streets campaigning, Anas Sarwar is highlighting when the streets hit back.
The Scottish Labour leader is visiting a large van garage in Glasgow.
He’s promising £350m of funding to tackle potholes.
While helping a mechanic to change a wheel on a delivery van, Sarwar joked: “what could possibly go wrong?"
One of his staffers cheered as he managed to wrangle the wheel off the truck.
Glenn Campbell
BBC Scotland Political Editor
The Scottish Conservatives are expected to go heavy on reducing tax when they launch their manifesto this afternoon.
It is thought the party will want to change the income tax system to merge the basic rate and starter rate so the point at which workers start paying is higher.
We will be looking for more details on this, in particular how the Tories plan to pay for these cuts – perhaps a cut to the devolved benefits bill and what is paid out in benefits.
But that will affect different members of the community and people will likely not be happy about it.
Other expected polices include increasing health funding to a level above inflation and bringing back numeracy and literacy surveys to improve schools.
David Wallace Lockhart
Political correspondent
It’s a big day for the Scottish Conservatives, who are launching their manifesto. Expect policies ranging from tax cuts to sending prisoners overseas to ease crowded jails.
The SNP leader John Swinney will be calling on the UK government to take action to lower petrol prices.
Sticking with the motorist theme, Labour will be pledging to sort out Scotland’s potholes.
The Scottish Lib Dem leader Alex Cole-Hamilton will be heading to the Highlands to campaign on social care.
Reform UK will be taking their election campaign to Perthshire.
And while election campaigning is a 24/7 job, the Scottish Greens will be outlining proposals to give more Scots a four-day working week.
Scottish Conservative leader Russell Findlay at the earlier launch of his party's election campaign
The Scottish Conservatives will launch their election manifesto this afternoon, with party leader Russell Findlay making his pitch to form the next Scottish government and become first minister.
We'll bring you full coverage and reaction, as well as catching up with the other main political parties as they take to the streets.
Good morning and welcome to the first day of our live coverage of the countdown to the Scottish Parliament election on 7 May.
The six biggest parties north or the border will be hitting the campaign trail every day between now and polling day.
We'll bring you full coverage and analysis from our political team every step of the way.
So stick with us – regardless of the eventual result, history will be made.
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