EDINBURGH Northern’s newly elected Liberal Democrat MSP says she intends to keep hold of her council seat—despite MSPs unanimously backed a ban on dual mandates in 2024.
Sanne Dijkstra-Downie caused one of the Friday’s upsets when she defeated the SNP’s Euan Hyslop in the newly created constituency of Edinburgh Northern.
Dutch-born Dijkstra-Downie will be one of two sitting Edinburgh Liberal Democrats in Holyrood, alongside party leader Alex Cole-Hamilton.
She has served as the councillor for the Forth ward since 2022 and has lived in Edinburgh for more than 20 years.
Dijkstra-Downie was joined by Scottish party leader Alex Cole-Hamilton and UK Lib Dem leader, Ed Davey, for a post-election celebration in Newhaven on Saturday.
When asked about having two jobs as both an MSP and councillor until the local elections in 2027, Dijkstra-Downie responded that she did not want to cause a by-election in her council seat.
She said: “They do cross over, we’ll have conversations in the coming days what that will look like.
“My intention would be not to cause a by election, but we just need to see how this will all work.
“But at least I’ll be representing the same people, and hopefully I’ll be able to do a good job for them.”
However, MSPs agreed to back rule changes to dual mandates in December 2024, with a Scottish Government consultation still ongoing.
In November 2025, the consultation stated that there was “strong support both for disqualifying MPs and Peers from being MSPs and for changing the law to prohibit an MSP from being a councillor at the same time.”
Stephen Flynn, who was the SNP’s leader in the House of Commons, dropped his “double jobbing” plans prior to his election as the MSP for Aberdeen Deeside and North Kincardine.
Flynn is now expected to resign his Aberdeen South seat in the House of Commons, sparking a by-election.
Dikstra-Downie was also asked which area of devolved matters she would like to concentrate on.
She said: “As a councillor, I’ve got a real interest in local government, making sure that local government is properly funded.
“I also have worked in climate raising money for climate research, scholarships and education, so those are some of the things that I care passionately about.”
“I just want to be a really good local representative for my area.”
