Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP; gd, Ball Pàrlamaid na h-Alba, BPA; sco, Memmer o the Scots Pairliament, MSP) is the title given to any one of the 129 individuals elected to serve in the
Scottish Parliament
The Scottish Parliament ( gd, Pàrlamaid na h-Alba ; sco, Scots Pairlament) is the devolution in the United Kingdom, devolved, unicameralism, unicameral legislature of Scotland. Located in the Holyrood, Edinburgh, Holyrood area of the capital ...
.
Electoral system
The
additional member system produces a form of
proportional representation, where each constituency has its own representative, and each region has seats given to political parties to reflect as closely as possible its level of support among voters.
Each registered voter is asked to cast 2 votes, resulting in MSPs being elected in one of two ways:
* 73 are elected as
First past the post constituency
An electoral district, also known as an election district, legislative district, voting district, constituency, riding, ward, division, or (election) precinct is a subdivision of a larger state (a country, administrative region, or other poli ...
MSPs and;
* 56 are elected as
Regional
In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as zones, lands or territories, are areas that are broadly divided by physical characteristics (physical geography), human impact characteristics (human geography), and the interaction of humanity and t ...
additional member MSPs. Seven are elected from each of eight regional groups of
constituencies
An electoral district, also known as an election district, legislative district, voting district, constituency, riding, ward, division, or (election) precinct is a subdivision of a larger state (a country, administrative region, or other poli ...
.
Types of candidates
With the additional members system, there are 3 ways in which a person can stand to be a MSP:
* a constituency candidate
* a candidate named on a party list at the regional election
* an individual candidate at the regional election
A candidate may stand both in a constituency and on a regional list. Constituency seats are decided first. Candidates who succeed in being elected to a constituency seat will then have their name removed from the regional list process.
Elections
All MSP positions become simultaneously vacant for
elections
An election is a formal group decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold public office.
Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative democracy has operated ...
held on a five-year cycle. The
Scotland Act 1998 as amended by the
Fixed-term Parliaments Act 2011 sets out that ordinary general elections for the Scottish Parliament are held on the first Thursday in May, every five years.
If a
vacancy arises at another time, due to death or resignation, then it may be filled in one of two ways, depending on whether the
vacancy is for a
first-past-the-post constituency
An electoral district, also known as an election district, legislative district, voting district, constituency, riding, ward, division, or (election) precinct is a subdivision of a larger state (a country, administrative region, or other poli ...
MSP or for an additional-member MSP.
A constituency vacancy may be filled by a by-election. An additional-member vacancy may be filled by the next available candidate on the relevant party list. In case there is no next available person, then the vacancy will remain. This situation occurred in April 2014 following the death of
Margo MacDonald
Margo Symington MacDonald (''née'' Aitken; 19 April 1943 – 4 April 2014) was a Scottish politician, teacher and broadcaster. She was the Scottish National Party (SNP) Member of Parliament (MP) for Glasgow Govan from 1973 to 1974 and was D ...
, independent MSP for the Lothian region.
Title
An MSP is known as ''Name'' MSP (''Name'' BPA in Gaelic). For instance,
Mike Russell can be entitled either Mike Russell MSP or Mìcheal Ruiseal BPA.
See also
*
Commissioner (Scottish Parliament)
A commissioner was a legislator appointed or elected to represent a royal burgh or shire in the pre-Union Scottish Parliament and the associated Convention of the Estates. Member of Parliament (MP) and Deputy are equivalent terms in other c ...
for the historic representatives of the pre-1707 Estates of Parliament
*
1st Scottish Parliament
This is a list of members (MSPs) returned to the first Scottish Parliament at the 1999 Scottish Parliament election. Of the 129 members, 73 were elected from first past the post constituencies with a further 56 members being returned from eight ...
*
2nd Scottish Parliament
This is a list of members (MSPs) returned to the second Scottish Parliament at the 2003 Scottish Parliament election. Of the 129 members, 73 were elected from first past the post constituencies with a further 56 members being returned from eig ...
*
3rd Scottish Parliament
*
4th Scottish Parliament
This is a list of members (MSPs) returned to the fourth Scottish Parliament at the 2011 general election. Of the 129 MSPs, 73 were elected from first past the post constituencies with a further 56 members being returned from eight regions, e ...
*
5th Scottish Parliament
*
6th Scottish Parliament
*
Scottish Parliament constituencies and regions
The Scottish Parliament ( Holyrood), created by the Scotland Act 1998, has used a system of constituencies and electoral regions since the first general election in 1999.
The parliament has 73 constituencies, each electing one Member of t ...
*
MSPs' Salaries, Expenses and Allowances
*
Member of Parliament
*
Member of the Legislative Assembly (Northern Ireland)
*
Member of the Senedd
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Member Of The Scottish Parliament
Scottish Parliament