ALISON Johnstone has been elected Holyrood's new Presiding Officer after emerging as the only candidate.

MSPs voted to confirm the Scottish Greens parliamentarian this afternoon via a secret ballot, before they elect two deputies tomorrow morning. 

She is the first politician from the party to hold the position and the second woman.

The result of the ballot was 97 votes in favour of Johnstone, 28 against, with two abstentions and one spoiled ballot paper.

Commenting on the her election to the role, Scottish Greens co-leaders Patrick Harvie and Lorna Slater said:


“We congratulate Alison Johnstone on her election, and we are confident that she will be an even-handed moderator as Parliament addresses the pressing challenges that Scotland faces over the next five years.”

The arithmetic in Holyrood had led to a struggle to find a new Presiding Officer to replace Ken Macintosh with the SNP and Tories reluctant to nominate candidates.

If the SNP had lost an MSP, its total number would have fallen to 63, two short of a majority making it harder to get key legislation through parliament.

With Johnstone elected, the numbers will be tied 64-64.

This means SNP ministers would likely survive any future votes of no confidence in Holyrood as it is the protocol for the presiding officer to vote with the government if the vote is tied.

The position of presiding officer comes with an annual salary of £112,919 salary.

It is the equivalent of the speaker at Westminster, chairing debates, including the weekly sessions of First Minister's Questions and convening the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body (SPCB) which runs Holyrood on a day to day basis.

The SPCB makes sure that the Parliament has everything it needs to run and provides support to MSPs to enable them to carry out their parliamentary duties. This includes property, services and staff.

It makes decisions on budgets, staffing, accommodation and security.

As new Presiding Officer, Johnstone will face pressure to reform Holyrood amid  opposition concerns that MSPs currently lack the ability to hold the Scottish Government to account. 

She could also find herself giving a view on the competence of legislation to pave the way for a second independence referendum. 

However, she will not have a veto over this. 

Johnstone, who represents the Lothian region, will give up her party affiliation She was first elected to Holyrood in 2011.

Since 3 March 2019, she has been the Co-Leader of the Scottish Greens in the Scottish Parliament, serving with Patrick Harvie.

In 2020, she introduced a measure to grant protected species status to the mountain hare in Scotland, which was accepted on 17 June 2020 and has championed tightening up Scotland's fox hunting ban.

Tricia Marwick from the SNP became the first woman to be elected Holyrood's presiding officer in 2011, holding the role until 2016.