The first meeting of the seventh session of the Parliament is now resumed. I have received five valid nominations for the position of Deputy Presiding Officer. I shall now announce the nominees and ask all candidates, as their names are announced, to make themselves known to the chamber. In alphabetical order, the nominees are Clare Adamson, Claire Baker, Miles Briggs, Katy Clark and Stuart McMillan.
I will suspend the meeting until 5.50. If anyone is wondering why there is a wait of an hour, it is so that the candidates can press the flesh.
16:50
Meeting suspended.
17:49
On resuming—
Good afternoon, everyone. I am glad that you are all with us once more. This will be the last voting session of the afternoon, you will be glad to know—before you can all depart the scene.
I have received five valid nominations for the position of Deputy Presiding Officer, and I shall now announce the nominations again in alphabetical order. They are: Clare Adamson, Claire Baker, Miles Briggs, Katy Clark and Stuart McMillan.
The election shall proceed in accordance with rules 11.9 and 3.3 of standing orders, with voting procedures being the same as those used in the election of the Presiding Officer. Members will be voting for only one person at this point. If no candidate 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.
Without further ado, we open the voting session. We now proceed to—[Interruption.] I can see you, Lloyd—don’t think I can’t. Steady. Members can now proceed to the appropriate desk to collect their ballot papers.
Members voted by secret ballot.
The Presiding Officer:Voting in this round of the Deputy Presiding Officer election is now 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.
As that will take a few minutes, I am delighted to advise members that there is catering in the coffee lounge next door, which includes bars of chocolate, crisps, sandwiches and so on. In the previous session, there were some very unscrupulous individuals who occasionally slipped the odd bar of chocolate or bag of crisps into their pocket—I hope that that will not be revisited in this session. Thank you, all.
In the first round of voting in the election of the Deputy Presiding Officers, the number of votes cast for each candidate was as follows: Clare Adamson 46, Claire Baker 16, Miles Briggs 38, Katy Clark 6, Stuart McMillan 17.
As no one has secured a majority, we will proceed to the next round of voting, with Katy Clark having been eliminated.
There will be a short break while new ballot papers are printed.
18:11
Meeting suspended.
18:16
On resuming—
The Presiding Officer:We have new ballot papers. The voting period is therefore reopened, using the same voting procedure as before.
Members voted by secret ballot.
The Presiding Officer:Voting for this round of the Deputy Presiding Officer election is now closed. I invite scrutineers to proceed to the back of the chamber for the count. Candidates may also observe the count.
Colleagues, in this round of voting in the Deputy Presiding Officer election, the number of votes cast for each candidate was as follows: Clare Adamson 58, Claire Baker 22, Miles Briggs 37 and Stuart McMillan 10. As no one has received the required number of votes, Stuart McMillan will drop out and we will move forward to another round of voting with Clare Adamson, Claire Baker and Miles Briggs as the three remaining candidates.
Once again, we will have a brief break while new ballot papers are printed.
18:35
Meeting suspended.
18:40
On resuming—
Okay, folks, you know the drill. Ballot papers are at the back of the chamber.
Members voted by secret ballot.
Voting for this round of the Deputy Presiding Officer election is now closed. I invite scrutineers to proceed to the back of the chamber for the count. Again, candidates may also observe the count.
Colleagues, you will be delighted to know that we have a result. In this round of voting for the election of the Deputy Presiding Officer, the number of votes cast for each candidate was as follows: Clare Adamson 68, Claire Baker 18, Miles Briggs 41.
Accordingly, as Clare Adamson received more votes than the total number of votes received by the other candidates, and as more than 25 per cent of members voted, Clare Adamson is elected as Deputy Presiding Officer of the Scottish Parliament. [Applause.]
Voting rounds will now begin for the election of the second Deputy Presiding Officer, involving all the candidates who were unsuccessful in the election of the first Deputy Presiding Officer. However, as the Presiding Officer and the first Deputy Presiding Officer come from the same political party, Stuart McMillan is not eligible to be a candidate in this election. For clarity, the candidates are: Claire Baker, Miles Briggs and Katy Clark.
There will now be a short break—that is right; you have guessed it—while ballot papers are printed. Therefore, I suspend the meeting until such time as they are printed.
18:58
Meeting suspended.
19:05
On resuming—
I declare that the election for the second Deputy Presiding Officer is now open. The voting procedures are the same as before.
Members voted by secret ballot.
The Presiding Officer:Voting in this round of the Deputy Presiding Officer election is closed. I invite the scrutineers, along with the candidates, to proceed to the back of the chamber for the counting of votes.
In this round of voting in the election of the second Deputy Presiding Officer, the number of votes cast for each candidate was as follows: Claire Baker 30, Miles Briggs 50, Katy Clark 44. There were three abstentions.
As no one has secured a majority, Claire Baker is eliminated and we will proceed to the final round of voting. That will happen as soon as the ballot papers are printed—obviously.
19:21
Meeting suspended.
19:27
On resuming—
Ballot papers up the back. Please vote now.
Members voted by secret ballot.
Everyone has now voted. Once again, I ask scrutineers and candidates to please go to the back of the chamber. The votes will be counted for the final time.
In the final round of voting to elect a second Deputy Presiding Officer, the number of votes that were cast for each candidate is as follows: Miles Briggs 55, Katy Clark 68. There were three abstentions and one spoiled paper.
Accordingly, as Katy Clark received more votes than the total number of votes that were received by the other candidate, and as more than 25 per cent of members voted, Katy Clark is elected as the second Deputy Presiding Officer of the Scottish Parliament. [Applause.]
I thank all the candidates for Presiding Officer and Deputy Presiding Officer who participated in proceedings this afternoon and this evening.
The next meeting of the Parliament will be at 2 pm on Tuesday 19 May to select a nominee for the appointment of First Minister. Following that, there will be a photograph of us all, so wear your Sunday best.
I now close this first meeting of the seventh session of the Scottish Parliament.
Meeting closed at 19:43.
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