We’ve launched new manifestoes and policy documents across the devolved nations

Following the success of our 'Psychology Matters' manifesto for last year's UK general election, we've launched manifestoes for the elections in Scotland and Wales next year, and a policy pillars document highlighting key areas of focus in Northern Ireland.

Our manifesto called on all political parties to develop and deliver their policies using a psychological approach, which places people first. At the heart of the approach we want is the idea that understanding people, and how they work, is vital to delivering effective policy that can transform people's lives.

These principles underpin our manifestoes for the devolved nations, which have been delivered by our policy and public affairs team in collaboration with our members who live and work in the communities that government policy affects.

Our manifesto for the 2026 Scottish Parliament election outlines three key priority areas that we believe the next Scottish government should focus on across education, health, and justice.

These are a focus on prevention and early intervention, achieving genuine parity of esteem for mental and physical health, and supporting and expanding the psychology workforce to meet demand.

The document itself covers these areas in more detail, and introduces specific, evidence-based recommendations that can help to achieve them. As Yana Yaneva, chair of our Scottish Branch, says, it is all about 'giving the public greater access to evidence-based psychology services at the right time, in the right place, with the right person'.

Our manifesto for the 2026 Senedd election in Wales has a particular focus on tackling and preventing ill health, with four specific areas of focus – tackling poverty, focusing on prevention and early intervention, improving links between mental and physical health services, and building a sustainable psychology workforce.

With the Senedd growing from 60 to 93 members at this election, it provides us with a greater chance than ever to engage with more candidates from different political parties, and make the case for evidence-based psychology's key place in good policymaking. 

This is work that we'll be doing in the run-up to both elections next year – these manifestoes represent just the start of our work to engage candidates in the power of psychology to transform people's lives and communities. We've already started setting up meetings with key influences after sending the manifestoes out.

While there is no election imminent in Northern Ireland, we have launched a new document which is calling on all political parties to adopt policies which harness the power of psychology to help transform lives.

We want to see psychological evidence and expertise embedded within policy-making, with a particular focus on five areas that need urgent action from the Northern Ireland Executive – access to services, workforce, mental health, prevention and early intervention, and equality.

I want to thank everyone who was involved in the development of these documents, and would encourage you to give them a read and find out more about what we believe psychology can achieve. We'll keep you updated on our work in the run-up to the elections.