Presiding Officer Alison Johnstone to step down as MSP at election next year

Scottish Parliament Presiding Officer Alison Johnstone has confirmed she will not run to be an MSP again at next year’s election.

Ms Johnstone, who was elected as a Scottish Green before taking on the non-partisan role in 2021, says she will be leaving politics.

Following the last Scottish Parliament election, the Lothians MSP emerged as the only candidate for Presiding Officer and was elected with 97 votes in favour, 28 against, two abstentions and one spoiled ballot.

The role of the Presiding Officer is equivalent to the Speaker of the House of Commons and is responsible for overseeing business at Holyrood, chairing meetings in the debating chamber.

Speaking to The Times, Ms Johnstone said: “I was elected in 2011 and it was always my intention that this would be my last term in Holyrood.”

She said she did not come from a political background, adding: “I was not in a political party but campaigned for the creation of a Scottish Parliament and I then worked as an assistant for Robin Harper, the first-ever Green parliamentarian in the UK elected to the first-ever Scottish Parliament.”

Recent weeks have seen the Scottish Conservatives accuse Ms Johnstone of bias in her role, an allegation she has always denied.

At the end of May, the Presiding Officer took the rare decision to kick former Tory leader Douglas Ross out of the chamber due to his interjections at First Minister’s Questions.

During her time as Presiding Officer, she steered the parliament through the Covid pandemic restrictions which saw social distancing and remote working practices implemented.

She was also heavily involved in the ceremony following the death of Queen Elizabeth II in 2022, when the King visited the Scottish Parliament to hear a special motion of condolence session.

Before entering politics, Ms Johnstone was a qualified athletics coach and previously held the east of Scotland titles for the 800m and 1500m.

Some of her earlier campaigns as a parliamentarian included Fans First, a push for fan ownership of football clubs.

She also proposed a ban on fracking and campaigned against benefits sanctions in devolved employment schemes.

The 59-year-old is a former co-leader of the Scottish Greens and one of her most prominent campaigns was against the killing of mountain hares.