| Election Name: | 1986 Scottish regional elections |
| Country: | Scotland |
| Type: | parliamentary |
| Ongoing: | no |
| Previous Election: | 1984 Scottish local elections |
| Previous Year: | 1984 |
| Next Election: | 1988 Scottish local elections |
| Next Year: | 1988 |
| Leader1: | Neil Kinnock |
| Leader Since1: | 2 October 1983 |
| Party1: | Labour Party (UK) |
| Percentage1: | 43.9 |
| Seats1: | 223 |
| Seat Change1: | 37 |
| Swing1: | 6.3 |
| Party2: | Conservative Party (UK) |
| Seats2: | 65 |
| Seat Change2: | 54 |
| Swing2: | 8.2 |
| Percentage2: | 16.9 |
| Party4: | SDP-Liberal Alliance |
| Seats4: | 40 |
| Seat Change4: | 15 |
| Swing4: | 3.0 |
| Percentage4: | 15.1 |
| Party5: | Scottish National Party |
| Seats5: | 36 |
| Seat Change5: | 13 |
| Swing5: | 4.8 |
| Percentage5: | 18.2 |
| Map Size: | 350px |
| Map2 Image: | Scottish Regional Council election, 1986.svg |
| Map2 Size: | 350px |
| Map2 Caption: | Results by ward |
Regional elections were held in Scotland on Thursday 8 May 1986, under the terms of the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973. The previous elections had been held in 1982. The elections took place a year before the Conservative's third general election victory. Elections took place in England and Wales on the same day.
|-!colspan=2|Parties!Votes!Votes %!+/-!Wards!Net
Gain/Loss|-| ||43.9||223||-| ||18.2||36||-| ||16.9||65||-| ||15.1||40||-| ||4.8||79||-!colspan=2|Total!! !! 45.2!! ?? !!524 !!|}
Labour continued to make gains, increasing their number of councillors in most of the areas contested. The Conservatives suffered heavy losses, losing control of Lothian council to Labour and Grampian and Tayside councils to no overall control. They lost all their Councillors in Dumfries and Galloway. The SNP vote failed to recover from its decline since 1980.
| Lab | Con | All | SNP | Other | Total seats | Turnout | Control | Details | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Borders | 0 | 6 (-2) | 2 (-1) | 2 (+1) | 14 (+1) | 23 | 37.02% | hold | Details |
| Central | 23 (+1) | 4 | 1 | 5 | 1 (-1) | 34 | 47.49% | hold | Details |
| Dumfries and Galloway | 7 (+3) | 0 (-4) | 4 (+2) | 5 (+2) | 19 (-3) | 35 | 40.66% | hold | Details |
| Fife | 30 (+3) | 4 (-5) | 8 (+3) | 2 (+1) | 2 (-1) | 46 | 46.74% | hold | Details |
| Grampian | 18 (+2) | 15 (-11) | 12 (+7) | 9 (+5) | 3 | 57 | 35.61% | gain from Conservatives | Details |
| Highland | 6 (+1) | 2 (+1) | 2 (-1) | 2 (+1) | 40 (-2) | 52 | 41.85% | Hold | Details |
| Lothian | 30 (+7) | 13 (-8) | 3 | 2 (+1) | 1 | 49 | 49.21% | gain from NOC | Details |
| Orkney | 0 | - | - | - | 24 | 24 | ??% | Hold | Details |
| Shetland | 4 (+1) | - | - | - | 21 (-1) | 25 | ??% | Hold | Details |
| Strathclyde | 88 (+8) | 6 (-8) | 5 (+1) | 1 (-1) | 3 | 103 | 45.46% | hold | Details |
| Tayside | 20 (+8) | 14 (-13) | 1 (+1) | 9 (+4) | 2 | 46 | 47.64% | gain from Conservative | Details |
| Na h-Eileanan Siar (Western Isles) | 0 | - | - | - | 30 | 30 | ??% | Hold | Details |