Presiding Officer of the Scottish Parliament

Scotland

This article is part of the series: Politics and government of Scotland

Government Cabinet First Minister Alex Salmond MSP Deputy First Minister Nicola Sturgeon MSP Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service Civil Service Directorates Executive agencies Public bodies Parliament Acts Statutory Instruments Presiding Officer Tricia Marwick MSP Shadow Cabinet Leader of the Opposition Iain Gray MSP Members (MSPs) Elections in Scotland Constituencies and electoral regions Political Parties Last election Next election Legislative Consent Motion Scots law Supreme Court of the United Kingdom Supreme Courts Sheriff Courts Land Courts Justice of the Peace Courts Lord Lyon Court Scotland in the UK Her Majesty's Government Secretary of State Michael Moore Under Secretary of State for Scotland David Mundell Parliament of the United Kingdom Scotland Office Grand Committee Select Committee Reserved matters Elections Constituencies List of Scottish MPs Scotland in the EU European Parliament Elections European Parliament constituency Local government Subdivisions of Scotland Convention of Scottish Local Authorities

Other countries · Atlas Politics portal view · talk · edit

The Presiding Officer of the Scottish Parliament (Scottish Gaelic: Oifigear-Riaghlaidh, Scots: Preses o the Scots Pairlament) is the speaker of the Scottish Parliament, elected by the Members of the Scottish Parliament, by means of an exhaustive ballot. He or she also heads the Corporate Body of the Scottish Parliament and as such is viewed as a figurehead for the entire organisation. Two Deputy Presiding Officers are elected to help fulfil the role. The office of the Presiding Officer is in Queensberry House.

The first person to hold the position was Sir David Steel, appointed in 1999.

List of presiding officers

		Name	Entered office	Left office	Former party
	1.	David Steel	12 May 1999	7 May 2003	Liberal Democrats
	2.	George Reid	7 May 2003	14 May 2007	Scottish National Party
	3.	Alex Fergusson	14 May 2007	11 May 2011	Conservative
	4.	Tricia Marwick	11 May 2011	incumbent	Scottish National Party

List of Deputy Presiding Officers

• Patricia Ferguson (1999–2001)
• George Reid (1999–2003)
• Murray Tosh (2001–2007)
• Trish Godman (2003–2011)
• Alasdair Morgan (2007–2011)
• Elaine Smith (2011-present)
• John Scott (2011-present)

See also

• Presidency of the old Scots Parliament (pre-1707):
  • Monarch of Scotland
  • Lord Chancellor of Scotland
  • Lord High Commissioner to the Parliament of Scotland
• Presiding Officer (disambiguation page)
• Speaker (politics)
• Chairman
• Convener
• Moderator
• Preses

External links

• Official website