Scottish Parliament, 12 May 2016
140 contributions from 130 members. The official report.
Oaths and Affirmations
The Presiding Officer (Tricia Marwick)
Good morning. I declare this fifth session of the Scottish Parliament 2016 to 2021 duly constituted. The only item of business this morning is members’ oaths and affirmations.
I will call each member in turn. When a member is called, they should proceed to the well of the chamber, where they will either take the oath or make an affirmation.
Nicola Sturgeon (Scottish National Party, Glasgow Southside)
The Scottish National Party pledges loyalty to the people of Scotland, in line with the Scottish constitutional tradition of the sovereignty of the people.
The member then made a solemn affirmation.
Ruth Davidson (Conservative, Edinburgh Central)
took the oath.
Kezia Dugdale (Labour, Lothian)
made a solemn affirmation.
Patrick Harvie (Green, Glasgow)
On behalf of the Scottish Green Party and our MSPs, I would like to reaffirm that our priority will always be to serve the people of Scotland, who are sovereign, and that we support the principle of an elected head of state.
The member then made a solemn affirmation.
Willie Rennie (Liberal Democrat, North East Fife)
took the oath.
George Adam (Scottish National Party, Paisley)
took the oath.
Clare Adamson (Scottish National Party, Motherwell and Wishaw)
took the oath.
Alasdair Allan (Scottish National Party, Na h-Eileanan an Iar)
took the oath and repeated it in Gaelic.
Tom Arthur (Scottish National Party, Renfrewshire South)
made a solemn affirmation.
Jackie Baillie (Labour, Dumbarton)
took the oath.
Claire Baker (Labour, Mid Scotland and Fife)
made a solemn affirmation.
Jeremy Balfour (Conservative, Lothian)
took the oath.
Claudia Beamish (Labour, South Scotland)
made a solemn affirmation.
Colin Beattie (Scottish National Party, Midlothian North and Musselburgh)
took the oath.
Neil Bibby (Labour, West Scotland)
made a solemn affirmation.
Miles Briggs (Conservative, Lothian)
took the oath.
Keith Brown (Scottish National Party, Clackmannanshire and Dunblane)
made a solemn affirmation.
Alexander Burnett (Conservative, Aberdeenshire West)
took the oath.
Donald Cameron (Conservative, Highlands and Islands)
took the oath.
Aileen Campbell (Scottish National Party, Clydesdale)
took the oath.
Jackson Carlaw (Conservative, Eastwood)
took the oath.
Finlay Carson (Conservative, Galloway and West Dumfries)
took the oath.
Peter Chapman (Conservative, North East Scotland)
took the oath and repeated it in Doric.
Willie Coffey (Scottish National Party, Kilmarnock and Irvine Valley)
took the oath.
Alex Cole-Hamilton (Liberal Democrat, Edinburgh Western)
made a solemn affirmation.
Angela Constance (Scottish National Party, Almond Valley)
took the oath.
Maurice Corry (Conservative, West Scotland)
took the oath.
Bruce Crawford (Scottish National Party, Stirling)
made a solemn affirmation.
Roseanna Cunningham (Scottish National Party, Perthshire South and Kinross-shire)
made a solemn affirmation.
Ash Denham (Scottish National Party, Edinburgh Eastern)
took the oath.
Graeme Dey (Scottish National Party, Angus South)
made a solemn affirmation.
Bob Doris (Scottish National Party, Glasgow Maryhill and Springburn)
made a solemn affirmation.
James Dornan (Scottish National Party, Glasgow Cathcart)
made a solemn affirmation.
Mairi Evans (Scottish National Party, Angus North and Mearns)
made a solemn affirmation.
Annabelle Ewing (Scottish National Party, Cowdenbeath)
took the oath.
Fergus Ewing (Scottish National Party, Inverness and Nairn)
took the oath.
Linda Fabiani (Scottish National Party, East Kilbride)
made a solemn affirmation.
Mary Fee (Labour, West Scotland)
made a solemn affirmation.
Neil Findlay (Labour, Lothian)
Before making a solemn affirmation, I state that I believe that the people of Scotland should be citizens, not subjects, and that I hold firmly that my allegiance should first and foremost be to them.
However, I recognise that to serve my constituents in Parliament I must meet the legal requirement of making a solemn affirmation and will therefore now do so.
The member then made a solemn affirmation.
John Finnie (Green, Highlands and Islands)
Tha muinntir na h-Alba uachdarail. The Scottish people are sovereign.
The member then made a solemn affirmation and repeated it in Gaelic.
Joe FitzPatrick (Scottish National Party, Dundee City West)
made a solemn affirmation.
Kate Forbes (Scottish National Party, Skye, Lochaber and Badenoch)
took the oath and repeated it in Gaelic.
Murdo Fraser (Conservative, Mid Scotland and Fife)
took the oath.
Jeane Freeman (Scottish National Party, Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley)
took the oath.
Kenneth Gibson (Scottish National Party, Cunninghame North)
made a solemn affirmation.
Jenny Gilruth (Scottish National Party, Mid Fife and Glenrothes)
made a solemn affirmation.
The Presiding Officer
Thank you. There will now be a break in proceedings. Members’ oaths and affirmations will resume at 10:30.
10:14 Meeting suspended.
10:30 On resuming—
We will now resume the oaths and affirmations.
Maurice Golden (Conservative, West Scotland)
took the oath.
Christine Grahame (Scottish National Party, Midlothian South, Tweeddale and Lauderdale)
made a solemn affirmation.
Rhoda Grant (Labour, Highlands and Islands)
took the oath.
Iain Gray (Labour, East Lothian)
took the oath.
Jamie Greene (Conservative, West Scotland)
took the oath.
Ross Greer (Green, West Scotland)
took the oath.
Mark Griffin (Labour, Central Scotland)
took the oath.
Rachael Hamilton (Conservative, South Scotland)
took the oath.
Emma Harper (Scottish National Party, South Scotland)
made a solemn affirmation.
Alison Harris (Conservative, Central Scotland)
took the oath.
Clare Haughey (Scottish National Party, Rutherglen)
took the oath.
Jamie Hepburn (Scottish National Party, Cumbernauld and Kilsyth)
made a solemn affirmation.
Fiona Hyslop (Scottish National Party, Linlithgow)
made a solemn affirmation.
Daniel Johnson (Labour, Edinburgh Southern)
made a solemn affirmation.
Alex Johnstone (Conservative, North East Scotland)
took the oath.
Alison Johnstone (Green, Lothian)
made a solemn affirmation.
James Kelly (Labour, Glasgow)
took the oath.
Liam Kerr (Conservative, North East Scotland)
made a solemn affirmation.
Bill Kidd (Scottish National Party, Glasgow Anniesland)
made a solemn affirmation.
Johann Lamont (Labour, Glasgow)
made a solemn affirmation.
John Lamont (Conservative, Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire)
took the oath.
Monica Lennon (Labour, Central Scotland)
took the oath.
Richard Leonard (Labour, Central Scotland)
made a solemn affirmation.
Gordon Lindhurst (Conservative, Lothian)
made a solemn affirmation.
Richard Lochhead (Scottish National Party, Moray)
made a solemn affirmation.
Dean Lockhart (Conservative, Mid Scotland and Fife)
took the oath.
Richard Lyle (Scottish National Party, Uddingston and Bellshill)
took the oath.
Angus MacDonald (Scottish National Party, Falkirk East)
took the oath.
Gordon MacDonald (Scottish National Party, Edinburgh Pentlands)
made a solemn affirmation.
Lewis Macdonald (Labour, North East Scotland)
took the oath.
Fulton MacGregor (Scottish National Party, Coatbridge and Chryston)
took the oath.
Kenneth Macintosh (Labour, West Scotland)
took the oath.
Derek Mackay (Scottish National Party, Renfrewshire North and West)
made a solemn affirmation.
Rona Mackay (Scottish National Party, Strathkelvin and Bearsden)
made a solemn affirmation.
Ben Macpherson (Scottish National Party, Edinburgh Northern and Leith)
made a solemn affirmation.
Ruth Maguire (Scottish National Party, Cunninghame South)
took the oath and repeated it in Gaelic.
Jenny Marra (Labour, North East Scotland)
took the oath.
Gillian Martin (Scottish National Party, Aberdeenshire East)
made a solemn affirmation.
John Mason (Scottish National Party, Glasgow Shettleston)
made a solemn affirmation.
Michael Matheson (Scottish National Party, Falkirk West)
took the oath.
Joan McAlpine (Scottish National Party, South Scotland)
took the oath.
Liam McArthur (Liberal Democrat, Orkney Islands)
took the oath.
Mark McDonald (Scottish National Party, Aberdeen Donside)
made a solemn affirmation and repeated it in Doric.
Ivan McKee (Scottish National Party, Glasgow Provan)
made a solemn affirmation.
11:08 Meeting suspended.
On resuming—
The Presiding Officer
We now resume members’ oaths and affirmations.
Christina McKelvie (Scottish National Party, Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse)
made a solemn affirmation.
Stuart McMillan (Scottish National Party, Greenock and Inverclyde)
made a solemn affirmation.
Pauline McNeill (Labour, Glasgow)
took the oath.
Margaret Mitchell (Conservative, Central Scotland)
took the oath.
Edward Mountain (Conservative, Highlands and Islands)
took the oath.
Oliver Mundell (Conservative, Dumfriesshire)
took the oath.
Alex Neil (Scottish National Party, Airdrie and Shotts)
took the oath.
Gil Paterson (Scottish National Party, Clydebank and Milngavie)
made a solemn affirmation.
Shona Robison (Scottish National Party, Dundee City East)
made a solemn affirmation.
Douglas Ross (Conservative, Highlands and Islands)
took the oath.
Gail Ross (Scottish National Party, Caithness, Sutherland and Ross)
made a solemn affirmation.
Alex Rowley (Labour, Mid Scotland and Fife)
took the oath.
Mike Rumbles (Liberal Democrat, North East Scotland)
took the oath.
Mark Ruskell (Green, Mid Scotland and Fife)
In my heart, my allegiance is to the people of Scotland.
The member then made a solemn affirmation.
Michael Russell (Scottish National Party, Argyll and Bute)
took the oath and repeated it in Scots and Gaelic.
Anas Sarwar (Labour, Glasgow)
Bismillah-hir-Rahman-nir-Raheem.
The member then took the oath.
John Scott (Conservative, Ayr)
took the oath.
Tavish Scott (Liberal Democrat, Shetland Islands)
took the oath.
Graham Simpson (Conservative, Central Scotland)
made a solemn affirmation.
Elaine Smith (Labour, Central Scotland)
Before I take the oath, I state that I believe that the people of Scotland should be citizens and not subjects and that I hold firmly that my allegiance should be first and foremost to them. However, I recognise that to serve my constituents in the Parliament I must meet the legal requirement of taking the oath, and I will therefore do so.
The member then took the oath.
Elizabeth Smith (Conservative, Mid Scotland and Fife)
took the oath.
Colin Smyth (Labour, South Scotland)
took the oath.
Shirley-Anne Somerville (Scottish National Party, Dunfermline)
made a solemn affirmation.
Stewart Stevenson (Scottish National Party, Banffshire and Buchan Coast)
took the oath.
Alexander Stewart (Conservative, Mid Scotland and Fife)
took the oath.
David Stewart (Labour, Highlands and Islands)
took the oath.
Kevin Stewart (Scottish National Party, Aberdeen Central)
took the oath and repeated it in Doric.
John Swinney (Scottish National Party, Perthshire North)
took the oath.
Ross Thomson (Conservative, North East Scotland)
made a solemn affirmation.
Maree Todd (Scottish National Party, Highlands and Islands)
took the oath and repeated it in Gaelic.
Adam Tomkins (Conservative, Glasgow)
took the oath.
David Torrance (Scottish National Party, Kirkcaldy)
took the oath.
Maureen Watt (Scottish National Party, Aberdeen South and North Kincardine)
took the oath and repeated it in Doric.
Annie Wells (Conservative, Glasgow)
took the oath.
Paul Wheelhouse (Scottish National Party, South Scotland)
took the oath.
Sandra White (Scottish National Party, Glasgow Kelvin)
made a solemn affirmation.
Brian Whittle (Conservative, South Scotland)
took the oath.
Andy Wightman (Green, Lothian)
made a solemn affirmation.
Humza Yousaf (Scottish National Party, Glasgow Pollok)
took the oath and repeated it in Urdu.
The Presiding Officer
That ends the oaths and affirmations ceremony.
I inform members that nominations for the position of Presiding Officer will open at 12.30 pm. Nomination forms can be collected from the parliamentary business team, whose office is situated in T1.03. Completed nomination forms should be returned to the parliamentary business team no later than 1.30 pm this afternoon. Nomination forms will be valid only if they detail the name of the candidate, the member nominating the candidate and the member seconding that nomination.
When submitting nomination papers, candidates or their representatives may wish to provide the name of any member who is acting as a scrutineer on behalf of the candidate.
Parliament will reconvene at 1.30, when I will announce the nominations received for the position of Presiding Officer. I will then suspend the Parliament for a further period of one hour and reconvene at 2.30 for the election. Nominations for Deputy Presiding Officers may be submitted only following the election of the Presiding Officer. The period during which nominations may be submitted will be announced by the new Presiding Officer, and the sitting will be adjourned for that purpose.
12:07 Meeting suspended.
As directed by rule 1.2.5 of the standing orders of the Scottish Parliament, the text of the oath of allegiance, in accordance with section 2 of the Promissory Oaths Act 1868, is as follows:
I, [name of Member], do swear that I will be faithful and bear true Allegiance to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth, Her heirs and successors, according to Law, so help me God.
The text of the solemn affirmation, in accordance with section 6(1) of the Oaths Act 1978, is as follows:
I, [name of Member], do solemnly, sincerely and truly declare and affirm, that I will be faithful and bear true allegiance to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth, Her heirs and successors, according to Law.
13:30 On resuming—
Presiding Officer
The Presiding Officer (Tricia Marwick)
The first meeting of the fifth session of the Parliament is now resumed. I have received five valid nominations for the position of Presiding Officer. I shall now announce the nominations and ask all candidates, as their names are announced, to make themselves known to the chamber.
In alphabetical order, the nominations are: Murdo Fraser;
Johann Lamont; Ken Macintosh; John Scott; and Elaine Smith.
13:31 Meeting suspended.
14:30 On resuming—
The Presiding Officer
The first meeting of the
fifth session of the Parliament is resumed for the election of the Presiding Officer. As previously announced, I have received five valid nominations. In alphabetical order, the nominations are Murdo Fraser, Johann Lamont, Ken Macintosh, John Scott and Elaine Smith.
The election will proceed in accordance with rule 11.9 of standing orders. If no member receives an overall majority in the first round of voting, there will be subsequent rounds. Members should remain in their seats until I invite them to collect their ballot papers from the clerks at the back of the chamber. Members with surnames from Adam to Gilruth should collect their ballot papers from the desk to my left, members with surnames from Golden to McDonald should use the desk at the back, which is right in front of me, and members with surnames from McKee to Yousaf should use the desk to my right—they told me to do this.
Members should confirm their name with the clerks before being issued with a ballot paper. For members’ privacy in marking ballot papers, voting booths are available at the back of the chamber. Ballot papers should be marked with an X, before being folded and placed in one of the ballot boxes provided at the rear of the chamber.
At the end of each voting period, I will invite any scrutineers who have been nominated by each candidate to monitor the counting of votes at the back of the chamber. There, clerks will empty the ballot boxes and begin counting the votes. Candidates may also observe the count. I will announce the results of each round of voting when all the votes have been counted and verified.
I declare the election of the Presiding Officer open. Members should proceed to the appropriate desk to collect their ballot papers and then vote.
Members voted by secret ballot.
In the first round of voting in the election of the Presiding Officer, the total number of votes cast was 128 and the number of votes cast for each candidate was as follows: Murdo Fraser 23, Johann Lamont 23, Ken Macintosh 58, John Scott 17, Elaine Smith 7. As no member has received an overall majority of the votes cast, and as Elaine Smith received the fewest votes, she is eliminated from the election and a further round will take place with the following candidates: Murdo Fraser, Johann Lamont, Ken Macintosh and John Scott.
We will have a short break while new ballot papers are printed.
14:48 Meeting suspended.
14:54 On resuming—
The voting period is now open. Members should use the same voting procedure as before. I am not going to do my air hostess bit again and indicate “left”, “right” and “in the middle”. Ms Baillie—I am sure that you will remember where you are supposed to go without an explanation. [
Laughter
.]
Members voted by secret ballot.
The voting round is now closed. As before, candidates and scrutineers should, if they wish to see the votes being counted, join the clerks at the back of the chamber.
The result of the round of voting is as follows. The total number of votes cast was 128, and there was one spoiled ballot paper. The results are: Murdo Fraser 26, Johann Lamont 26, Ken Macintosh 60, John Scott 15.
Accordingly, as no candidate received an overall majority of the votes cast, and as John Scott received the fewest votes, he is eliminated from the election and a further round will take place with the following candidates: Murdo Fraser, Johann Lamont and Ken Macintosh. I suspend the meeting for five minutes to allow ballot papers to be printed.
15:08 Meeting suspended.
15:11 On resuming—
This round of voting is now open. Members should vote at the back of the chamber, and it would be helpful if they resumed their seats immediately after that.
Members voted by secret ballot.
This round of voting is now closed. Again, if the candidates and their agents want to go to the back of the chamber to witness the count, they are welcome to do so.
The result of the vote in the third round of voting is as follows. There were 128 votes cast: Murdo Fraser 31, Johann Lamont 26 and Ken Macintosh 71.
Accordingly, as Ken Macintosh has received more votes than the total number of votes received by the other candidates, and as more than 25 per cent of members have voted, Ken Macintosh is elected as Presiding Officer of the Scottish Parliament. [
Applause
.]
I thank the other candidates who put themselves forward: Murdo Fraser, Johann Lamont, John Scott and Elaine Smith. I am sure that members will wish to join me in thanking them. [
Applause
.]
I have known Ken Macintosh as a colleague and a friend since 1999, and I wish him well in what is the best job in Scotland.
I present the new Presiding Officer. Thank you very much. [
Applause
.]
Kenneth Macintosh (Labour, West Scotland)
I thank you all, my fellow MSPs. I am very grateful indeed for the honour and privilege that you have granted me of being the next Presiding Officer. I also thank my fellow candidates.
I pay particular tribute to my predecessor as Presiding Officer, Tricia Marwick, who will be going up to join her family in the gallery. I imagine that she will be full of many and mixed emotions today, but I suggest that she find room for at least a small feeling of pride. She should be proud that she has served her constituency, her region and her country with distinction over 17 years. She should be proud, too, that she had the courage as Presiding Officer to begin the process of parliamentary reform—a process in which I will be honoured to follow in her footsteps. She should also be proud that she has left the Parliament more mature, more established and more confident than ever before—ready for our new powers and for the new challenges that undoubtedly lie ahead.
As Tricia and many of our former colleagues step down, it gives me great pleasure to welcome and thank you all—the class of 2016. I see around me many familiar faces and friends. I welcome you back. I see, too, a huge—a record—number of new, freshly elected members. The energy, the infectious enthusiasm and the optimism with which you have already filled this building in the few days that you have been here have invigorated me, refreshed this place and reminded us of the opportunity that the Scottish Parliament offers us all to make a better Scotland.
As we look ahead over the next five years, I hope that we can work together. However, I wish to apologise now. With a record number of new faces, I am sure that I will make some mistakes in the next few days. I am bound to misidentify you; I will probably relocate your region or your constituency to another part of Scotland. In the past few days, I have warmly congratulated on their election to this Parliament two members of our catering staff, a BBC journalist and, last night, a special branch officer working for Prince Charles. [
Laughter
.]
The revitalising of this Parliament reminds me of the promise offered by devolution: to work together across the party divide for the common good. I imagine that all of you and your families are filled with pride that you serve as MSPs in the Scottish Parliament—I know that my family is. My late father, who was a headteacher, would have enjoyed this moment. He was never elected. He never stood for office, but he was asked to be a candidate three times—on three different occasions. The most revealing aspect about him was that he was asked to stand by three different political parties. Perhaps for the first time in my life, I hope that I have inherited that quality from him.
I am conscious that each one of us—each one of you—has a tremendous responsibility and a duty to the people of Scotland. I see it as my responsibility and my duty to help you in that task. Thank you very much. [
Applause
.]
Deputy Presiding Officers
Kenneth Macintosh (Labour, West Scotland)
Nominations for the Deputy Presiding Officer positions are now open. Members may collect nomination forms from the business team in room T1.03, which is located within the chamber desk’s office. Completed nomination forms should be returned to the business team no later than 4.30 pm. When submitting nomination papers, candidates or their representatives may wish to provide the name of any member who will act as scrutineer on behalf of the candidate.
The Parliament will reconvene at 4.30 pm, when I will announce the nominations received for the position of Deputy Presiding Officer. I will then suspend Parliament for a further period of one hour and reconvene at 5.30 pm for the election.
15:31 Meeting suspended.
16:30 On resuming—
The Presiding Officer
The first meeting of the fifth session of the Parliament is now resumed.
I have received four valid nominations for the positions of Deputy Presiding Officer. I shall now announce the nominations, and I ask all candidates, as their names are announced, to make themselves known to the chamber. In alphabetical order, the nominations are: Linda Fabiani; Kenneth Gibson; Christine Grahame—you are being unaccustomedly modest, Ms Grahame—and Margaret Mitchell.
I now suspend the meeting until 5.30 pm, when the elections for the Deputy Presiding Officers will take place.
16:31 Meeting suspended.
17:30 On resuming—
The next item of business is the election of two Deputy Presiding Officers. As previously announced, I have received four valid nominations. In alphabetical order, the nominations are Linda Fabiani, Kenneth Gibson, Christine Grahame and Margaret Mitchell.
The election shall again proceed in accordance with rule 11.9 of standing orders, with voting procedures the same as those used in the election of the Presiding Officer. If no member receives an overall majority in the first round of voting, there will be subsequent rounds. This procedure will also be followed for the election of the second Deputy Presiding Officer. When the first Deputy Presiding Officer is elected, voting rounds will begin for the second Deputy Presiding Officer, involving all candidates who were unsuccessful in the election of the first Deputy Presiding Officer. I hope you followed that.
I declare the election of the first Deputy Presiding Officer open. Members should proceed to the appropriate desk to collect their ballot papers.
Members voted by secret ballot.
Voting in this round of the election of the first Deputy Presiding Officer is now closed. I invite any scrutineers appointed by the candidates to the back of the chamber to observe the counting of ballot papers. Candidates may also observe the count.
In the first round of voting in the election of the Deputy Presiding Officer, the number of votes cast for each candidate was: Linda Fabiani 52, Kenneth Gibson 14, Christine Grahame 19 and Margaret Mitchell 36. Accordingly, as no candidate has received an overall majority of the votes cast and as Kenneth Gibson received the fewest votes, he is eliminated from the election and a further round will take place with Linda Fabiani, Christine Grahame and Margaret Mitchell.
There will be a short break while new ballot papers are printed. I suspend the meeting for five minutes.
17:44 Meeting suspended.
17:48 On resuming—
Members—you will pleased to hear that the voting period is now open, with the same voting procedure as before being used.
I remind members that you are voting for only one candidate, so place just one X, please. I should also say that a number of members are missing and that, last time, there were 121 votes cast, plus one spoiled paper.
Thank you. Please proceed to the back of the chamber.
Members voted by secret ballot.
In the second round of voting in the election of the Deputy Presiding Officer, the number of votes cast for each candidate was as follows: Linda Fabiani 59, Christine Grahame 19 and Margaret Mitchell 46. In total, 124 votes were cast.
No candidate has received an overall majority. As Christine Grahame received the lowest number of votes, she is eliminated from the election.
Christine Grahame (Scottish National Party, Midlothian South, Tweeddale and Lauderdale)
Oh no! The story of my life. [
Laughter
.]
The Presiding Officer
I suspend Parliament for five minutes while we print off new ballot papers for the remaining two candidates.
18:01 Meeting suspended.
On resuming—
Voting in this round of the Deputy Presiding Officer election is now closed. I invite the scrutineers to proceed to the back of the chamber for the count. Candidates may also—
Members:
No.
Sack the Presiding Officer! I should threaten you with a new election; that would keep you here.
I declare the election for the second Deputy Presiding Officer open. Voting procedures are the same as—
Members:
No.
It is for the first Deputy Presiding Officer. Members should please proceed to the back of the chamber to vote.
Members voted by secret ballot.
Voting in this round of the Deputy Presiding Officer election is now closed. I invite the candidates and the scrutineers to make their way to the back of the chamber.
I
n this round of voting in the election of the Deputy Presiding Officer, the number of votes cast for each candidate was as follows: Linda Fabiani 72 and Margaret Mitchell 52. Accordingly, as Linda Fabiani received more votes than the total number of votes received by the other candidate, and as more than 25 per cent of members voted, Linda Fabiani is elected as Deputy Presiding Officer of the Scottish Parliament. [
Applause
.]
I, too, offer my congratulations to our new Deputy Presiding Officer, and I look forward to working together over the next five years.
Members will be delighted to hear that voting rounds will now begin for the second Deputy Presiding Officer, involving all the candidates who were unsuccessful in the election of the first Deputy Presiding Officer. There will be a short break while ballot papers are printed. I suspend the meeting for a few minutes.
18:17 Meeting suspended.
18:20 On resuming—
I now declare the election for the second Deputy Presiding Officer open. Voting procedures are the same as before. Members may now proceed to the back of the chamber to collect their papers.
Members voted by secret ballot.
Voting for this round of the Deputy Presiding Officer election is now closed. I invite the scrutineers and the candidates to proceed to the back of the chamber for the count.
In the first round of voting in the election of the second Deputy Presiding Officer, the number of votes cast for each candidate was as follows: Kenneth Gibson 24, Christine Grahame 43, Margaret Mitchell 57. Accordingly, as no candidate received an overall majority of the votes cast, and as Kenneth Gibson received the fewest votes, he is eliminated from the election. A further round of voting will take place with the following candidates: Christine Grahame and Margaret Mitchell.
There will now be a short break while ballot papers are printed for the next round. I suspend Parliament for a few minutes.
18:32 Meeting suspended.
18:35 On resuming—
The voting period is now open and members may proceed to the back of the chamber to collect their ballot papers.
Members voted by secret ballot.
Voting in this round of the Deputy Presiding Officer election is now closed. I invite the scrutineers and the candidates to proceed to the back of the chamber for the count.
In the second round of voting in the election of the second Deputy Presiding Officer, the number of votes cast for each candidate was as follows: Christine Grahame 65; Margaret Mitchell 58; and there was one abstention. Accordingly, as Christine Grahame received more votes than the total number of votes received by the other candidate, and as more than 25 per cent of members voted, Christine Grahame is elected as the second Deputy Presiding Officer of the Scottish Parliament. [
Applause
.]
I also offer my congratulations, and I look forward to working with both deputies as a team. I offer my thanks to all the candidates who have put their names forward today. In fact, I thank all members for their patience and fortitude. I reassure members that this is a unique voting system, which is used once every five years.
However, colleagues might wish to note that the next meeting of the Parliament will be at 2 o’clock on Tuesday 17 May to select a nominee for the appointment of First Minister, and voting will be by electronic ballot. The nomination period will begin at 9.30 am on Tuesday 17 May.
I now close this first meeting of the fifth session of the Scottish Parliament.
Meeting closed at 18:48.