Plenary,

Meeting date: Monday, May 14, 2007

Official Report 114KB pdf

---

Deputy Presiding Officers

The next item of business is the election of two Deputy Presiding Officers. I have received four valid nominations for the position of Deputy Presiding Officer. I will now announce the nominations and ask the candidates, as their names are announced, to make themselves known to the chamber. In alphabetical order, the nominations are Trish Godman, Alasdair Morgan, Margaret Smith and Jamie Stone.

The election will again proceed in accordance with rule 11.9 of standing orders, with the same voting procedures as those used in the election of the Presiding Officer. If no member receives an absolute majority in the first round of voting, there will be subsequent rounds. That 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 election of the second Deputy Presiding Officer, involving all candidates who were unsuccessful in the election of the first Deputy Presiding Officer.

I declare the election of the first Deputy Presiding Officer open.

The next item of business is the election of two Deputy Presiding Officers. I have received four valid nominations for the position of Deputy Presiding Officer. I will now announce the nominations and ask the candidates, as their names are announced, to make themselves known to the chamber. In alphabetical order, the nominations are Trish Godman, Alasdair Morgan, Margaret Smith and Jamie Stone.

The election will again proceed in accordance with rule 11.9 of standing orders, with the same voting procedures as those used in the election of the Presiding Officer. If no member receives an absolute majority in the first round of voting, there will be subsequent rounds. That 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 election of the second Deputy Presiding Officer, involving all candidates who were unsuccessful in the election of the first Deputy Presiding Officer.

I declare the election of the first Deputy Presiding Officer open.

Members voted by secret ballot.

In the first round of voting in the election of the first Deputy Presiding Officer, the number of votes cast for each candidate was: Trish Godman 47, Alasdair Morgan 55, Margaret Smith 12, Jamie Stone 8. As no candidate has achieved a clear majority, we will rerun the election with three candidates. Having received the lowest number of votes, Jamie Stone is eliminated.

There will be a short break while new ballot papers are printed—I am afraid that that is inevitable.

In the first round of voting in the election of the first Deputy Presiding Officer, the number of votes cast for each candidate was: Trish Godman 47, Alasdair Morgan 55, Margaret Smith 12, Jamie Stone 8. As no candidate has achieved a clear majority, we will rerun the election with three candidates. Having received the lowest number of votes, Jamie Stone is eliminated.

There will be a short break while new ballot papers are printed—I am afraid that that is inevitable.

Meeting suspended.

On resuming—

Just before I invite members to vote again, I should have said that we had four spoiled papers in the first round of voting. Believe it or not, they were caused by people voting more than once. I am quite aware that we have heard that before, but I suggest to members that they should vote for only one candidate on the paper. The next voting period is now open.

Just before I invite members to vote again, I should have said that we had four spoiled papers in the first round of voting. Believe it or not, they were caused by people voting more than once. I am quite aware that we have heard that before, but I suggest to members that they should vote for only one candidate on the paper. The next voting period is now open.

Members voted by secret ballot.

In the second round of voting in the election of the first Deputy Presiding Officer, the total number of votes cast was 127. The number of votes cast for each candidate was: Trish Godman 49, Alasdair Morgan 61, Margaret Smith 16. As no candidate has received an overall majority, Margaret Smith is now eliminated and we go forward to a further round of voting, with Trish Godman and Alasdair Morgan as the candidates. I suspend the meeting for five minutes while ballot papers are printed.

In the second round of voting in the election of the first Deputy Presiding Officer, the total number of votes cast was 127. The number of votes cast for each candidate was: Trish Godman 49, Alasdair Morgan 61, Margaret Smith 16. As no candidate has received an overall majority, Margaret Smith is now eliminated and we go forward to a further round of voting, with Trish Godman and Alasdair Morgan as the candidates. I suspend the meeting for five minutes while ballot papers are printed.

Meeting suspended.

On resuming—

The third voting period is now open.

The third voting period is now open.

Members voted by secret ballot.

In the third round of voting in the election of the first Deputy Presiding Officer, the total number of votes cast was 126. The number of votes cast for each candidate was: Trish Godman 49, Alasdair Morgan 77. There were no spoiled papers or abstentions. Accordingly, as Alasdair Morgan received more votes than the other candidate and as more than 25 per cent of members voted, Alasdair Morgan is elected as a Deputy Presiding Officer of the Scottish Parliament. [Applause.]

Voting rounds will now begin for the election of the second Deputy Presiding Officer, involving all three candidates who were unsuccessful in the election of the first Deputy Presiding Officer. As you may suspect, there will now be a short break while ballot papers are printed.

In the third round of voting in the election of the first Deputy Presiding Officer, the total number of votes cast was 126. The number of votes cast for each candidate was: Trish Godman 49, Alasdair Morgan 77. There were no spoiled papers or abstentions. Accordingly, as Alasdair Morgan received more votes than the other candidate and as more than 25 per cent of members voted, Alasdair Morgan is elected as a Deputy Presiding Officer of the Scottish Parliament. [Applause.]

Voting rounds will now begin for the election of the second Deputy Presiding Officer, involving all three candidates who were unsuccessful in the election of the first Deputy Presiding Officer. As you may suspect, there will now be a short break while ballot papers are printed.

Meeting suspended.

On resuming—

Voting will now begin. You know the procedure by now.

Voting will now begin. You know the procedure by now.

Members voted by secret ballot.

In the first round of voting in the election of the second Deputy Presiding Officer, the total number of votes cast was 126. The number of votes cast for each candidate was: Trish Godman 69, Margaret Smith 48, Jamie Stone 8.

Accordingly, as Trish Godman has received more votes than the total number of votes received by the other candidates and as more than 25 per cent of members voted, Trish Godman is elected as the second Deputy Presiding Officer. [Applause.]

Before I close the meeting, I congratulate the successful members, Alasdair Morgan and Trish Godman, on their election. I thank everybody who has taken part in the elections, in particular Margo MacDonald, whom I should have thanked earlier. I am grateful to her for making an election for the post of Presiding Officer and giving the Parliament the choice that it deserves. [Applause.]

I now close the first meeting of the third session of the Scottish Parliament.

In the first round of voting in the election of the second Deputy Presiding Officer, the total number of votes cast was 126. The number of votes cast for each candidate was: Trish Godman 69, Margaret Smith 48, Jamie Stone 8.

Accordingly, as Trish Godman has received more votes than the total number of votes received by the other candidates and as more than 25 per cent of members voted, Trish Godman is elected as the second Deputy Presiding Officer. [Applause.]

Before I close the meeting, I congratulate the successful members, Alasdair Morgan and Trish Godman, on their election. I thank everybody who has taken part in the elections, in particular Margo MacDonald, whom I should have thanked earlier. I am grateful to her for making an election for the post of Presiding Officer and giving the Parliament the choice that it deserves. [Applause.]

I now close the first meeting of the third session of the Scottish Parliament.

Meeting closed at 17:22.