6th Scottish Parliament
| 6th Scottish Parliament | |||||
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| Overview | |||||
| Legislative body | Scottish Parliament | ||||
| Jurisdiction | Scotland | ||||
| Meeting place | Scottish Parliament Building | ||||
| Term | 13 May 2021 – | ||||
| Election | 2021 | ||||
| Government | Third Sturgeon government First Yousaf government Second Yousaf government Swinney government | ||||
| Members | 129 | ||||
| Presiding Officer | Alison Johnstone | ||||
| First Minister | Nicola Sturgeon (2021–2023) Humza Yousaf (2023–2024) John Swinney (2024–present) | ||||
| Deputy First Minister | John Swinney (2021–2023) Shona Robison (2023–2024) Kate Forbes (2024–present) | ||||
| Leader of the Opposition | Douglas Ross (2021–2024) Russell Findlay (2024–present) | ||||
| Sessions | |||||
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| This article is part of a series within the Politics of the United Kingdom on the |
| Politics of Scotland |
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The 6th Scottish Parliament was elected at the 2021 Scottish Parliament election.[1] It was opened with the Escort to the Crown of Scotland Parade and Speech from the Throne on 2 October 2021.
Composition
[edit]| Party | May 2021 election |
Currently | |
|---|---|---|---|
| • | Scottish National Party | 64 | 62 |
| Scottish Conservatives | 31 | 31 | |
| Scottish Labour | 22 | 22 | |
| Scottish Greens | 8 | 7 | |
| Scottish Liberal Democrats | 4 | 4 | |
| Alba Party | 0 | 1 | |
| Independent | 0 | 1 | |
| Presiding Officer | 0 | 1 | |
| Total | 129 | ||
| Government majority | 0 | – 4 | |
Government parties denoted with bullets (•)
Leadership
[edit]- Presiding Officer: Alison Johnstone (Independent)[a]
- Deputy Presiding Officers: Annabelle Ewing (SNP), Liam McArthur (Lib Dems)
Government
[edit]- First Minister: Nicola Sturgeon (SNP) (until 28 March 2023) Humza Yousaf (SNP) (29 March 2023-7 May 2024) John Swinney (SNP) (starting 8 May 2024)
- Deputy First Minister: John Swinney (SNP) (until 28 March 2023) Shona Robison (SNP) (29 March 2023-8 May 2024) Kate Forbes (SNP) (starting 8 May 2024)
- Minister for Parliamentary Business: George Adam (SNP) May 2021-May 2024 Jamie Hepburn May 2024 - Present
Opposition
[edit]- Leader of the Opposition: Russell Findlay[2] (Conservatives)[b]
- Secondary Opposition Leader: Anas Sarwar (Labour)
- Tertiary Opposition Co-Leaders: Patrick Harvie & Lorna Slater (Greens)
- Leader of the Liberal Democrats: Alex Cole-Hamilton (Liberal Democrats)
List of MSPs
[edit]This is a list of MSPs so far elected.[3] The changes table below records all changes in party affiliation during the session, since the May 2021 election.
There are eight MSPs who have been constant members since the inauguration of the Parliament in 1999 (ten other founding members retired prior to the 2021 election): Jackie Baillie, Fergus Ewing and John Swinney have been elected six times under the same constituency (Swinney's was renamed with different boundaries in 2011); Christine Grahame, Fiona Hyslop, Michael Matheson, Shona Robison and Nicola Sturgeon were returned as a list member then a constituency member. A ninth MSP Richard Lochhead has served almost the same term, resigning his list seat in 2006 to successfully contest a by-election a few weeks later for a constituency seat, which he has defended since then.[4]
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Former MSPs
[edit]| Name | Image | Member for | Type | Party | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dean Lockhart | 
|
Mid Scotland and Fife | Regional | Scottish Conservatives | Resigned 5 September 2022[5] | |
| Donald Cameron | 
|
Highlands and Islands | Regional | Scottish Conservatives | Resigned 9 February 2024[6] | |
Changes
[edit]| Date | Constituency/region | Gain | Loss | Note | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 13 May 2021 | Lothian | Presiding Officer | Scottish Green | Alison Johnstone was elected Presiding Officer and consequently had to renounce her party affiliation.[7] | ||
| 5 September 2022 | Mid Scotland and Fife | Conservative | Conservative | Dean Lockhart resigned his seat in the Scottish Parliament.[5] He was succeeded by Roz McCall, who was sworn in on 20 September.[8] | ||
| 28 October 2023 | Edinburgh Eastern | Alba | SNP | Ash Regan defected from the SNP to Alba, becoming the party's first MSP.[9] | ||
| 9 February 2024 | Highlands and Islands | Conservative | Conservative | Donald Cameron was appointed to the House of Lords in the 2024 Special Honours and was replaced by Tim Eagle.[6] | ||
| 17 August 2024 | Glasgow Shettleston | Independent | SNP | John Mason had whip suspended over Gaza comments | ||
References
[edit]- ^ "Scottish Elections (Dates) Act 2016". legislation.gov.uk. Retrieved 7 May 2016.
- ^ https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c20jxvrq57ro
- ^ "Current and previous Members of the Scottish Parliament (MSPs)". Retrieved 7 May 2021.
- ^ In numbers: Scottish Parliament celebrates 20th anniversary, Shropshire Star, 29 April 2019
- ^ a b "Scottish Tories get new MSP at Holyrood". BBC News. 5 September 2022. Retrieved 6 September 2022.
- ^ a b "Tory MSP Donald Cameron to take up House of Lords seat". BBC News. 9 February 2024. Retrieved 10 February 2024.
- ^ "Scottish Greens MSP elected as new Presiding Officer". STV News. 13 May 2021. Retrieved 13 May 2021.
- ^ "New Scottish Tory MSP first to take oath to King Charles III". STV News. 20 September 2022. Retrieved 20 September 2022.
- ^ Fitzpatrick, Tara (28 October 2023). "Former first minister candidate Ash Regan quits SNP to join Alba party". STV News. Retrieved 28 October 2023.
External links
[edit]- Scottish Parliament website
- Current and previous Members of the Scottish Parliament (MSPs), on the Scottish Parliament website
| 1st Parliament (1999–2003) |
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| 2nd Parliament (2003–2007) |
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| 3rd Parliament (2007–2011) |
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| 4th Parliament (2011–2016) |
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| 5th Parliament (2016–2021) |
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| 6th Parliament (2021–2026) |
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