The 6th Scottish Parliament was elected at the

2021 Scottish Parliament election The 2021 Scottish Parliament election took place on 6 May 2021, under the provisions of the Scotland Act 1998. All 129 Members of the Scottish Parliament were elected in the sixth election since the parliament was re-established in 1999. The ele ...

. It was opened with the Escort to the Crown of Scotland Parade and Speech from the Throne on 2 October 2021.

Composition

Government parties denoted with bullets (•) 6th Scottish Parliament election results

Leadership

* Presiding Officer:

Alison Johnstone Alison Johnstone (born 11 October 1965) is a Scottish politician who has served as the Presiding Officer of the Scottish Parliament since 2021. Elected as a member of the Scottish Greens, she relinquished her party affiliation on becoming Presi ...

(

Independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independ ...

) * Deputy Presiding Officers: Annabelle Ewing ( SNP), Liam McArthur ( Lib Dems)

Government

First Minister A first minister is any of a variety of leaders of government cabinets. The term literally has the same meaning as "prime minister" but is typically chosen to distinguish the office-holder from a superior prime minister. Currently the title of ' ...

Nicola Sturgeon Nicola Ferguson Sturgeon (born 19 July 1970) is a Scottish politician serving as First Minister of Scotland and Leader of the Scottish National Party (SNP) since 2014. She is the first woman to hold either position. She has been a member of ...

( SNP) * Deputy First Minister: John Swinney ( SNP) *

Minister for Parliamentary Business The Minister for Parliamentary Business is a junior ministerial post in the Scottish Government. As a result, the minister does not attend the Scottish Cabinet but supports the Cabinet Secretary for Covid Recovery, who is a member of the cabin ...

George Adam George James Adam (born 8 June 1969) is a Scottish politician who has served as the Minister for Parliamentary Business since 2021. A member of the Scottish National Party (SNP), he has been the Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for Pais ...

( SNP)

Opposition

Leader of the Opposition The Leader of the Opposition is a title traditionally held by the leader of the largest political party not in government, typical in countries utilizing the parliamentary system form of government. The leader of the opposition is typically se ...

: Douglas Ross (

Conservatives Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...

) * Secondary Opposition Leader:

Anas Sarwar Anas Sarwar (born 14 March 1983) is a Scottish politician who has served as Leader of the Scottish Labour Party since 2021. He has been a Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for the Glasgow region since 2016, having been Member of Parliame ...

(

Labour Labour or labor may refer to: * Childbirth, the delivery of a baby * Labour (human activity), or work ** Manual labour, physical work ** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer ** Organized labour and the labour ...

) * Tertiary Opposition Co-Leaders:

Patrick Harvie Patrick Harvie (born 18 March 1973) is a Scottish politician who has served as Minister for Zero Carbon Buildings, Active Travel and Tenants' Rights since 2021. He has served as one of two co-leaders of the Scottish Greens since 2008, and is on ...

Lorna Slater Lorna Slater (born 27 September 1975) is a Canadian-born Scottish politician who has served as Minister for Green Skills, Circular Economy and Biodiversity since 2021. She has served as co-leader of the Scottish Greens alongside Patrick Harvi ...

( Greens) *

Leader of the Liberal Democrats The Liberal Democrats are a political party in the United Kingdom. Party members elect the leader of the Liberal Democrats, the head and highest-ranking member of the party. Liberal Democrat members of Parliament also elect a deputy leader of ...

Alex Cole-Hamilton Alexander Geoffrey Cole-Hamilton (born 22 July 1977) is a Scottish politician who has served as Leader of the Scottish Liberal Democrats since 2021 and the Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for the Edinburgh Western constituency since 2 ...

( Liberal Democrats)

List of MSPs

This is a list of MSPs so far elected. The

changes Changes may refer to: Books * ''Changes'', the 12th novel in Jim Butcher's ''The Dresden Files'' Series * ''Changes'', a novel by Danielle Steel * ''Changes'', a trilogy of novels on which the BBC TV series was based, written by Peter Dickinson ...

table below records all changes in party affiliation during the session, since the May 2021 election. There are eight MSPs who have been constant members since the inauguration of the Parliament in 1999 (ten other founding members retired prior to the 2021 election):

Jackie Baillie Jacqueline Marie Baillie (' Barnes; born 15 January 1964) is a Scottish politician who has served as Deputy Leader of the Scottish Labour Party since 2020. She has been Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for the Dumbarton constituency sinc ...

Fergus Ewing Fergus Stewart Ewing (born 23 September 1957) is a Scottish National Party (SNP) politician who served as the Scottish Government's Cabinet Secretary for Rural Economy from 2016 to 2021, having previously held two junior ministerial posts. He ...

and John Swinney have been elected six times under the same constituency (Swinney's was renamed with different boundaries in 2011);

Christine Grahame Christine Grahame (formerly Creech; born 9 September 1944) is a Scottish politician who served as a Deputy Presiding Officer of the Scottish Parliament from 2016 to 2021. A member of the Scottish National Party (SNP), she has been a Member of ...

Fiona Hyslop Fiona Jane Hyslop (born 1 August 1964) is a Scottish politician who served as Cabinet Secretary for Economy, Fair Work and Culture from 2020 to 2021. A member of the Scottish National Party (SNP), she has been a Member of the Scottish Parliamen ...

, Michael Matheson,

Shona Robison Shona McRory Robison (born 26 May 1966) is a Scottish politician serving as the Cabinet Secretary for Social Justice, Housing and Local Government since 2021. A member of the Scottish National Party (SNP), she has been the Member of the Scottish ...

and

were returned as a list member then a constituency member. A ninth MSP

Richard Lochhead Richard Neilson Lochhead (born 24 May 1969) is a Scottish National Party (SNP) politician who is Minister for Just Transition, Employment and Fair Work and has been the Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for Moray since 2006. He was previou ...

has served almost the same term, resigning his list seat in 2006 to successfully contest a by-election a few weeks later for a constituency seat, which he has defended since then.In numbers: Scottish Parliament celebrates 20th anniversary
Shropshire Star, 29 April 2019

Former MSPs

Changes

References

External links

Scottish Parliament website

Current and previous Members of the Scottish Parliament (MSPs)
on the Scottish Parliament website {{Lists of Members of the Scottish Parliament Lists of Members of the Scottish Parliament by term