Presiding Officer of the Scottish Parliament

The presiding officer of the Scottish Parliament (Oifigear-Riaghlaidh, Preses ) 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.

Parliamentary responsibilities
The presiding officer presides over the Parliament's debates, determining which members may speak, and maintains order during debate. The presiding officer is expected to be strictly non-partisan, with some similarities in this respect to the tradition of the Speaker of the House of Commons. For this reason, they renounce all affiliation with their former political party for the duration of their term. They do not take part in debate, or vote except to break ties. Even then, the convention is that when the presiding officer uses their tie-breaking vote, they do so in favour of advancing debate, but on final ballots, retaining the status quo. The presiding officer is also assisted in their duties by 2 deputies. They have the same powers as the presiding officer; they keep their party affiliation but remain impartial when presiding.

In 2006 the St Andrews Fund for Scots Heraldry commemorated the hosting of the Heraldic & Genealogical Congress in Scotland by commissioning a ceremonial robe for the presiding officer to wear, however as of May 2017, it appears no presiding officer has worn the robe.

Governmental responsibilities
As well as being the presiding officer and speaker of the Scottish Parliament, the Presiding Officer represents Scotland and the Scottish Government and parliament within Scotland and during international visits. The Presiding Officer welcomes dignitaries from other national parliaments to study policy issues of the Scottish Government, share information on ways of working as well as exchanging ideas and knowledge. The Presiding Officer, along with other members of the Scottish Parliament, may visit other national parliaments in order to improve understanding on shared interests and developing and strengthening good working relationships.

Legal responsibilities
The overall responsibilities and functions of the office of the Presiding Officer of the Scottish Parliament were detailed in the passing of the Scotland Act 1998. The act set out the responsibilities of the office in four areas; Purpose and Effect, General, Parliamentary Consideration and Details of Provisions.

Purpose and effect
The purpose and effect section under Section 19 of the Scotland Act 1998 provides for the election of a Presiding Officer to the Scottish Parliament and requires two deputies to preside over the parliament. It outlines the details for the term of office of the Presiding Officer and deputies; the exercise of the Presiding Officer's functions by a deputy if the Presiding Officer is unable to act or the office of Presiding Officer is vacant, the delegation of the Presiding Officer’s functions to a deputy and participation of the Presiding Officer and deputies in proceedings of the Parliament.

General
The General section of Section 19 of the Scotland Act 1998 highlight the general functions and responsibilities of the office of Presiding Officer. The Scotland Act 1998 highlights the general responsibilities of the Presiding Officer as being:




 * Sections 2, 3 and 9 - recommending to the monarch the date for holding general elections and fixing the dates of by-elections;
 * Sections 10 and 14 - receiving notification of a member’s resignation and of the filling of a vacancy in a regional seat;
 * Section 21 - membership of the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body;
 * Section 26 - administering oaths to witnesses before the Parliament;
 * Sections 31 to 35 - scrutiny of Bills and submission of Bills for Royal Assent; and
 * Sections 45 and 46 - recommending to the monarch the Parliament's choice of First Minister and the appointment of another member to exercise the First Minister's functions in certain circumstances.
 * The Standing Orders of the Parliament also provide that the Presiding Officer shall have such other functions as may be conferred upon him or her by the Parliament or by the Standing Orders.

Details of provision
Subsection (1) of Section 19 of the Scotland Act 1998 requires the Parliament following its first meeting after a general election to the Scottish Parliament has taken place, to elect from amongst its membership a Presiding Officer and two deputies. The elections have to take place after members take their oath of allegiance due to the fact that the members cannot take part in any proceedings until they have done so under section 84(2) of the Scotland Act 1998.

Subsection (2) of the Section 19 of the Scotland Act 1998 provides for the office holder of either the Presiding Officer or Deputy Presiding Officer to hold office until:


 * a new Presiding Officer is elected;
 * the Presiding Officer resigns;
 * the Presiding Officer ceases to be a member otherwise than by virtue of a dissolution; or
 * the incumbent Presiding Officer is removed from office by resolution of the Parliament.

In Law, the Presiding Officer and the deputies will not cease to hold the office of Presiding Officer merely because of the dissolution of the Parliament before a general election. The incumbent office holders will continue to serve office until such time as the new Parliament elects a Presiding Officer (and the deputies) under subsection (1).



Subsection (3) requires members of the Scottish Parliament to elect a replacement for the Presiding Officer or a deputy who ceases to hold office for any reason before dissolution of the Parliament that may result in the Presiding Officer or a deputy leaving or being removed from the office. Subsection (4) highlights that the Presiding Officer’s functions may be exercised by a deputy if the office is vacant for whatever reason, or alternatively if the Presiding Officer is for any reason unable to act and fulfil the duties of office. Subsection (5) empowers the Presiding Officer, subject to standing orders, to authorise any deputy to exercise functions on their behalf.

Subsection (6) gives the presiding officer the power through standing orders to regulate the participation of the Presiding Officer and deputies in proceedings of the Parliament. They may cover any constraints on the way in which the Presiding Officer and deputies may vote in proceedings which they chair. Subsection (7) provides that the validity of any act of the Presiding Officer or a deputy is not affected by any defect in the election.

Future of the role
The Scottish National Party proposes that in the event of independence, the presiding officer's post be replaced with that of chancellor of Scotland. In addition to presiding over the Scottish Parliament, the chancellor would possess additional constitutional powers during the absence of the monarch from Scotland; chiefly, the chancellor should act in a role similar to a governor-general in the other Commonwealth realms.