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 positions 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Members—you will be 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.
Oh no! The story of my life. [Laughter.]
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.
In 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.
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.
In 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.
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.
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.
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.Previous
Presiding Officer