The Scottish Parliament has formally concluded its current five-year session, with MSPs marking the occasion ahead of a series of campaign launches on Thursday.
Holyrood closed proceedings with a motion of thanks to Presiding Officer Alison Johnstone and a third of MSPs who will be standing down at the election in May.
It proved to be an emotional day for some after a total of 42 MSPs walked out the Chamber as elected members for the final time, including former First Minister Nicola Sturgeon.
The end of the parliamentary session comes as five of Scotland’s main political parties prepare to launch their election campaigns on Thursday.
First Minister John Swinney will formally start the SNP’s election campaign at an event in Glasgow – with Labour and Conservative leaders also marking the occasion.
There is no event planned by Reform UK despite polls suggesting Nigel Farage’s party could come second overall in the election.
The campaign gets under way with the Reform UK Scotland leader having been forced to apologise for a homophobic joke he made in 2018.
Swinney insisted that Reform could be “locked out of power” if the SNP “win big” with a majority in the Scottish Parliament.