Process, procedure and the politics of presiding over Parliament
Five politicians have had the privileged role of chairing the Parliament since it convened in 1999
While the focus of much of Scottish politics is on the work of government - and that of the First Minister and the Cabinet - the person pulling the strings in the Parliament is just as vital.
The Presiding Officer may not have the same public image as that of the Speaker in the House of Commons, but the job is integral to ensuring the smooth running of debates, First Minister’s Questions, and the other business of the Scottish Parliament. There have been five POS since the Parliament convened 20 years ago, drawn from four political parties, although the job is non-partisan.
The first PO was Sir David Steel and his election was in some ways managed by Donald Dewar and Jim Wallace who wanted someone with experience to see the new parliament through its first session - especially as so many of the MSPS had never held elected officer before.
Steel had impeccable credentials in political experience. A Liberal MP from 1965 when he was the “Baby of the House” he was no stranger to political coalitions. As his party’s leader he led them into the Lib-lab pact of 1977, supporting the Labour government of Jim Callaghan, and then into a merger with the newlyformed SDP.
He has said his highlights were the state opening by the Queen, and the visit of President Mbeki of South Africa, with whom he had campaigned when he was in exile in the UK. Then there was the visit of the President of the Russian Duma who, when shown the switches on the PO’S desk “including the one I could use to cut off a speaker, he said, ‘we have nothing so Stalinist in the Duma’.”
Steel was replaced as PO in the second session of the Parliament by one of his deputies, the SNP’S George Reid, who immediately had to contend with the controversies around the building of the new
Parliament – “the negative headlines, day after day, about the runaway costs and delays at the Holyrood campus were eroding confidence in the Parliament. I wanted to get a grip so that MSPS could move in, and then move on.”
Get a grip he did. He introduced the concept of Yellow Card, Red Card for unruly MSPS, and it was four Scottish Socialist MSPS who felt the full force of his powers having their passes, salaries and allowances withdrawn for a month after creating a disruption in the Chamber.
Alex Fergusson, who sadly passed away last year, was a Tory PO during the Parliament’s first minority SNP administration. An
“I had to vote down a budget of some £33 billion!”
MSP since 1999, he sat in the hot seat when Alex Salmond became First Minister and said that with just one MSP of a difference between the SNP and Labour things “could get heated” but that “on the whole, reasonable order was maintained”.
It also meant that he had to use the PO casting vote on a number of occasions. “My guiding rule was that I would not use that vote to endorse change. The only time it was a problem was when Parliament divided evenly on the budget – meaning I had to vote down a budget of some £33 billion! Fortunately, a plan B was instigated and the budget bill was passed the following week.”
The first female PO was the SNP’S Tricia Marwick. And she was also the first working class, state educated, non-university graduate in the role. Her election to the role after the SNP landslide victory in 2011 was seen as potentially problematic but her use of humour and love of procedure while in the chair, eased concerns. She faced difficult decisions while PO, including how to deal with MSPS who receive jail sentences, deciding that MSP wages should rise in line with those of public sector workers rather than Westminster MPS and spending more money on security in the building -– and she was responsible for introducing Topical Questions put to ministers.
Current PO is Ken Macintosh, who lost out twice on becoming leader of Scottish Labour to Johann Lamont and then Kezia Dugdale. He’s been in the hot seat since 2016 and perhaps because both his parents were headteachers is known for his exasperated teacher-like patience with MSPS, particularly during FMQS. He has had to deal with sexual harassment issues which engulfed the Parliament, ensuring MSPS and staff are trained support is available for victims.