The first meeting of the seventh session of the Parliament is resumed. I have received four valid nominations for the position of Presiding Officer. I shall now announce the nominations and ask all candidates, as their names are announced, to make themselves known to the chamber. In alphabetical order, the nominees are Kenneth Gibson, Clare Haughey, Liam McArthur and Stuart McMillan.
13:32
Meeting suspended.
14:31
On resuming—
As previously announced, I have received four valid nominations. In alphabetical order, the nominees are: Kenneth Gibson, Clare Haughey, Liam McArthur and Stuart McMillan.
The election shall proceed in accordance with rule 11.9 of standing orders. If no member receives an overall majority in the first round of voting, there will be subsequent rounds. Members should remain in their seats until I invite them to collect their ballot paper from clerks at the back of the chamber. Members with surnames beginning with the letters A to F should collect their ballot papers from the desk on my left at the back of the chamber—the clerks there have their hands up. Members with surnames beginning with the letters G to M should use the desk at the back of the chamber—the clerks there have their hands up. Members with surnames beginning with McA to Z should use the desk to the right at the back of the chamber, as indicated. Members should confirm their name with the clerks before they are issued with their ballot paper. To give members’ privacy when marking ballot papers, voting booths are available at the back of the chamber. Ballot papers should be marked with an X before being folded and then placed in one of the ballot boxes provided at the rear of the chamber. At the end of each voting period, I shall invite any scrutineers that have been nominated by each candidate to monitor the counting of votes at the back of the chamber, which is where clerks will empty the ballot boxes and begin counting votes. Candidates may also observe the count. I will announce the results of each round of voting when all votes have been counted and verified.
I declare the election of the Presiding Officer open. Members should now proceed to the appropriate desk to collect their ballot papers.
Members voted by secret ballot.
Voting in the first round of the election of the Presiding Officer is closed. I now invite any scrutineers appointed by the candidates to go 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 Presiding Officer, the number of votes cast for each candidate was as follows: Kenneth Gibson 46, Clare Haughey 42, Liam McArthur 34, Stuart McMillan 6.
As no member has received an overall majority of the votes cast, and as Stuart McMillan received the fewest votes, he will be eliminated from the election and a further round will take place with the following candidates: Kenneth Gibson, Clare Haughey and Liam McArthur.
There will be a short break while ballot papers are printed.
14:56
Meeting suspended.
15:02
On resuming—
The Presiding Officer:This voting period is now open. We will use the same voting procedure as before.
Members voted by secret ballot.
Voting in this round of the Presiding Officer election is closed. I invite the scrutineers to proceed to the back of the chamber for the counting of votes. Again, candidates may also observe the count.
In the second round of voting in the election of the Presiding Officer, the number of votes cast for each candidate was as follows: Kenneth Gibson 48, Clare Haughey 44, Liam McArthur 36.
Accordingly, as no candidate received an overall majority of the votes cast, and as Liam McArthur received the fewest votes, he is eliminated from the election, and a further round will take place with the following candidates: Kenneth Gibson and Clare Haughey.
There will be a short break while ballot papers are printed.
15:22
Meeting suspended.
15:29
On resuming—
This voting period is now open, using the same voting procedure as before.
Members voted by secret ballot.
Voting in the third round of the election of the Presiding Officer is closed. I invite any scrutineers appointed by the candidates to go to the back of the chamber to observe the counting of ballot papers. Candidates may also observe the count.
In this round of voting in the election of the Presiding Officer, the number of votes cast for each candidate was as follows: Kenneth Gibson 74 and Clare Haughey 54. There was one abstention. There were no spoiled papers.
Accordingly, as Kenneth Gibson has received more votes than the total number of votes received by the other candidates, and as more than 25 per cent of members have voted, Kenneth Gibson is elected as Presiding Officer of the Scottish Parliament. [Applause.]
I thank the other candidates. [Applause.]
I call Kenneth Gibson, the newly elected Presiding Officer, to take the chair for the remainder of this meeting of the Parliament. [Applause.]
Okay, folks. I have just been given some instructions about what will happen next. However, before that, I want to thank every member who has participated in this voting process. My belated congratulations to them if I have not already spoken to them about winning their own elections. I thank all those who have voted for me through thick and thin. It has been quite a stressful afternoon, as members can imagine.
I am looking forward to working with every member in the chamber to take the Parliament forward. There is so much more that we can be as a Parliament than we have been in the past, and I will certainly do my utmost to work with you to take us forward.
Now that we have just elected a Presiding Officer, the next step is to take nominations for the positions of Deputy Presiding Officer, which are now open. Members may collect nomination forms from the business team in room T1.03, which is located in the chamber office. Completed nomination forms should be returned to the business team no later than quarter to five. When submitting nomination papers, candidates or their representatives may wish to provide the name of any member who will act as a scrutineer on their behalf.
The Parliament will reconvene at half past four—in fact, it will not be at half past four, because that is 15 minutes before the close of nominations. It has been a long day. At quarter to five 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 we will reconvene at 5.45 for the election.
I suspend the meeting until 4.45.
15:50
Meeting suspended.
16:50
On resuming—
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