Since Sep 2022, I've been building a website where you can find out who owns rural Scotland. Today I am publishing the latest update (July 2026) which contains ownership information on 5050 landholdings covering 5.9 million hectares (14.7 million acres) or over 77% of rural Scotland 1/2

I will be giving a talk in Helensburgh on 30 July 2026 about the history and relevance of burgh commons or common good land in light of proposals to build a supermarket on part of Helensburgh's common good lands. destinationhelensburgh.org/events/publi...

Public Meeting about the Waterfront - Destination Helensburgh

Public meeting about the sale of common good land on Helensburgh's waterfront with guest speaker Andy Wightman

destinationhelensburgh.org

As a postscript to yesterday's blog, I have added a link to a paper Jim Hunter wrote in 1984 together with reflections from 2026. Last para at andywightman.scot/2026/07/in-c...

In Conversation with Jim Hunter - Land Matters

The first CLAN (Community Land Academic Network) conference took place at UHI in Perth on 16-17 June 2026. The lead organiser was Dr Bobby Macaulay from UHI Centre for Mountain Studies and co-ordinato...

andywightman.scot

I very much enjoyed attending the recent CLAN (Community Land Academic Network)conference in Perth. The highlight for me was an in-conversation event with Jim Hunter. I have published a short blog which contains a video of the whole conversation with Jim. Enjoy. andywightman.scot/2026/07/in-c...

In Conversation with Jim Hunter - Land Matters

The first CLAN (Community Land Academic Network) conference took place at UHI in Perth on 16-17 June 2026. The lead organiser was Dr Bobby Macaulay from UHI Centre for Mountain Studies and co-ordinato...

andywightman.scot

✨ COMPETITION ✨ Happy 8-month birthday to my album! 🥳 Here’s a competition to celebrate - how many plants on the album cover can you name? They’re all Scottish native plants. The first person to name at least 10 plants will get a free CD 💿 Thank you to Elly Lucas for this artwork!

Good to see this new analysis of LVT. It is modelled for England but much of analysis applies to Scotland too. This is good example of tackling structural inequality at source. The landed & propertied classes have always opposed it though and will do so again. 1/2 taxpolicy.org.uk/2026/07/12/w...

What would a land value tax actually do?

How would a land value tax work in practice? Who would pay? A detailed report and a model showing the impact

taxpolicy.org.uk

"There's really been nothing to disturb the sleep of the Duke of Argyll in 25 years of devolution." I spoke to @andywightman.scot

Who owns Scotland? Meet the campaigner uncovering who profits from land

Scotland has one of the most concentrated patterns of land ownership anywhere in the world. It's long been a subject of political debate. But who owns what? Andy Wightman has spent years finding out.

dailyrecord.co.uk

Who Owns Scotland? Since September 2022, I have been building an online platform that enables you to find out who owns rural land in Scotland. The June which ownership information on 5025 landholdings covering 5.9 million hectares (14.7 million acres) or over 77% of rural Scotland 1/3

'We could have saved them £75k if they’d bothered to meet with us, but the only way they’d meet was in court' 👉 www.heraldscotland.com/news...

Common good land belongs 2 the community. They should have the legal right to take back title which they lost in May 1975. Councillors in Lochgilphead shouldn’t be making decisions about land in Helensburgh. Credit to @GabyMcKay for covering this important story. heraldscotland.com/news/26230779.…

Council which spent £75k to avoid public consultation will hold public consultation

A Scottish council spent close to £75,000 fighting a court battle to avoid holding a public consultation over the sale of a piece of land - only to…

heraldscotland.com

Two weeks ago I wrote to members of the Scottish Parliamentary Bureau to ask them why they had proposed a motion on Committee Convenors that gave both Convenor and Deputy Convenor places to SNP members on 3 important committees. 1/2

The decision to corral the media in Scot Parliament appears from reports to have been made by the Parliament Bureau but it has no jurisdiction in the matter. But if this is true then how can Scottish Greens claim not to have been involved when @lornaslater.bsky.social is a member of the Bureau?

The Holyrood 'press pen' isn't likely to hold. It has infuriated ScotPol journalists today. The lack of Parliament bosses being willing to confidently come out and defend the press pen decision doesn't augur well for it staying or lobby journos staying in it. www.heraldscotland.com/news/2620781...

Restricting media access in Holyrood damages Scottish Parliament's reputation

Holyrood’s so-called ‘media pen’ is not just a misstep, it is an embarrassment to a Parliament that has long claimed to value transparency and…

heraldscotland.com

Castles, sporting estates and prime city-centre property worth tens of millions of pounds are among the assets missing from Scotland’s land control register. Find out more: https://www.theferret.scot/offshore-landowners-scotland-land-control-register/

Following recent posts about my attempts to secure prosecutions for those failing to register the controlling interest in land, I am pleased to see that the Ferret has published an important analysis of the Register of Controlled Persons in Land. 1/7

A large Speyside estate has quietly changed hands. The 6300 hectare Knockando Estate sits to the north of the river Spey just upstream from Aberlour. Historical owned by the Clan Grant, the estate was acquired by a member of the Wills tobacco family, Major Sir David Wills in 1962. 1/5

A large Speyside estate has quietly changed hands. The 6300 hectare Knockando Estate sits to the north of the river Spey just upstream from Aberlour. Historical owned by the Clan Grant, the estate was acquired by a member of the Wills tobacco family, Major Sir David Wills in 1962. 1/5

Fresh concerns over governance in John Muir Trust as respected founding trustee is ousted after being elected by members to sort out previous problems. I was a Trustee of JMT 30 years ago & worked with Denis. I have huge respect for his passion and committment to JMT. 1/2

I remain concerned that Parliamentary procedures enable the election of Convenors & Deputy Convenors from the same party. I have written to all members of the Parliamentary Bureau seeking answers as to how they came to agree this proposal. I will publish responses here.

Tomorrow (Thursday 4 June 2026), Parliament is being invited to vote on a motion to establish committees with both the Convenor and Deputy Convenor of the *FINANCE* Committee to be from the SNP ........

BLOG - Scotland’s landownership transparency laws require disclosure of beneficial interests of offshore entities. They are however effectively voluntary since Police & Crown Office decline to take any action to enforce the criminal sanctions for non-compliance. andywightman.scot/2026/06/no-p...

No Police or COPFS action over transparency offences - Land Matters

Regular readers of this blog will be aware of the efforts that Alan Brown and myself have made to ensure that people who flout transparency rules are held accountable table before the law. You can rea...

andywightman.scot

John Swinney John Swinney claimed today after court narration that “The systems were robust but they were circumvented” But in court this morning it was agreed that they were not robust otherwise how could PM sign off his own expenses? It was that process that enabled the false expense claims.

I have never encountered a CEO working in public or third secotor who can draw up to £30,000 directly for their own expenses without any checks or authorisation. Maybe such a situation exists but threshold is usually much, much lower.

The MAY 2026 UPDATE of Who Owns Scotland is now published with a total of 5000 landholdings (76.95% rural Scotland). All records are updated plus 19 new ones including an interesting estate sale that I will highlight in a blog. New subscriptions welcome - they start at £6. whoownsscotland.org.uk

Neither Environemnt nor Land Reform feature in the titles of any of the new Scottish Government Ministers and Junior Ministers. One or more will be responsible for them of course but neither are important enough to merit inclusion in any of the titles. www.gov.scot/about/who-ru...

Cabinet and Ministers

List of Scottish Cabinet Secretaries, Ministers and Law Officers.

gov.scot

It's an honour and a privilege to be elected Presiding Officer at The Scottish Parliament Congratulations to my two new Deputy Presiding Officers Clare Adamson MSP and Katy Clark MSP. We will work together on behalf of all Members at Holyrood.

Pity to see Jackson Carlaw won’t be in Scottish Parliament. Party politics aside, he was a very good Parliamentarian. We need quality.

If you fancy an hour of stompingly good trad music based on a 300 yr old composition, there are still tickets left for this @islaratcliff.bsky.social gig Saturday 3pm at Traverse Edinburgh. www.traverse.co.uk/whats-on/eve...

Edinburgh Tradfest: Isla Ratcliff: The Scottish Four Seasons

Scotland's new writing theatre, the Traverse champions creative talent by placing powerful and contemporary theatre at the heart of cultural life.

traverse.co.uk

In a final video on the other place, John Swinney says 'tomorrow you will decide who will be your government and who will be your first minister" This is false. Tomorrow we will vote for our MSPs. It is they alone who decide the government and first minister. We have no say over the matter

APRIL 2026 UPDATE Who Owns Scotland now published with total of 4981 landholdings (76.9% rural Scotland). All records updated plus 21 new ones. New subscriptions welcome - they start at £6. www.whoownsscotland.org.uk