Presiding Officer of the Scottish Parliament

Presiding Officer
of the Scottish Parliament
Scottish Gaelic: Oifigear Riaghlaidh Pàrlamaid na h-Alba
Scots: Preses o the Scots Pairlament
Logo used to represent the
Scottish Parliament
since 13 May 2021
Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body
Scottish Parliament
Style
Member ofScottish Parliamentary Corporate Body
Scottish Parliament
Privy Council
SeatQueensberry House, Edinburgh
NominatorScottish Parliament
(through secret exhaustive ballot voting)
AppointerScottish Parliament
(elected by)
Term lengthElected by the Scottish Parliament at the start of each session, and upon a vacancy
Inaugural holderDavid Steel
Formation1999
DeputyAnnabelle Ewing and
Liam McArthur[1]
Salary£118,511 per annum (2023)[2]
(including £67,662 MSP salary)
WebsitePresiding Officer of the Scottish Parliament

The presiding officer of the Scottish Parliament (Scottish Gaelic: Oifigear-Riaghlaidh, Scots: Preses[3]) is the presiding officer and speaker of the Scottish Parliament. The office of presiding officer was established by the Scotland Act 1998, and the elected presiding officer is a member of the Scottish Parliament who is elected by the Scottish Parliament by means of an exhaustive ballot, and is ex officio the head of the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body. The presiding officer is considered a figurehead of the Scottish Parliament and has an office in Queensberry House.

Appointments to the Privy Council are made by the monarch, although in practice they are made only on the advice of the UK government. To date all presiding officers have been appointed members of the Privy Council, and therefore entitled to use the style 'Right Honourable'.

The current presiding officer is Alison Johnstone, who was elected on 13 May 2021, following the 2021 Scottish Parliament election. A member of the Scottish Greens, she was sworn in as presiding officer at the opening of the 6th session of the Scottish Parliament and is the second woman to hold the office and the first former member of the Scottish Greens to do so.

  1. ^ Davidson, Jenni (14 May 2021). "Scottish Parliament's deputy presiding officers elected after five-hour voting session". Holyrood. Edinburgh. Archived from the original on 17 May 2021. Retrieved 17 May 2021.
  2. ^ "MSP salaries". parliament.scot. The Scottish Parliament. 5 April 2023.
  3. ^ "Your Scots Pairlament" (PDF). www.parliament.scot (in Scots). Scottish Parliament. p. 9. Archived from the original (PDF) on 12 November 2020.

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