This afternoon, MSP’s have selected and voted for Alison Johnstone, a Scottish Green MSP for the Lothians to become the next presiding officer of the Scottish Parliament.
The MSP was elected to the role with 97 votes in favour of her candidacy, 28 against , 2 abstentions and a single spoilt ballot paper.
Johnstone, who has been an MSP since 2011 will succeed Ken Macintosh and relinquish any party affiliation whilst in the role.
The election of a presiding officer is one of the few occasions where paper ballots are used rather than an electronic voting system.
The role of presiding officer is similar to that of the Speaker of the House of Commons, because the presiding officer is responsible for chairing any debates in the Holyrood chamber, deciding which questions can be asked during First Ministers Questions and has the deciding vote in the event that the parliament cannot come to a majority consensus.
Feature image credit: Edinburgh Greens
