The Scottish Government has published legislation aimed at avoiding clashes between elections in 2020.
The Scottish Elections (Dates) Bill proposes a five-year term for the next Scottish Parliament to avoid a collision with the next general election in May 2020.
It also defers the 2021 Scottish local government elections until 2022 to avoid a further clash with the new Scottish Parliament election date.
The Scotland Bill devolves powers over Scottish elections to Holyrood, but with voters going to the polls in May next year to elect new MSPs that legislation will not be enacted in time to address the clash in 2020.
The Scottish and UK governments therefore agreed for this legislation to be brought forward. The proposals will now be considered by Holyrood.
Joe FitzPatrick, Parliamentary business minister, said: “To help eliminate potential voter confusion, this Bill avoids a clash with the next UK general election in 2020.
“The Scottish and UK governments agreed to keep the elections separate and I welcome the cross-party support in Scotland. This Bill represents a pragmatic and straightforward solution to the immediate problem.
“When the Scotland Bill transfers full powers over elections to the Scottish Parliament, we can then agree permanently the best term lengths and dates for Scottish elections.”