Fergusson Elected Presiding Officer

Congratulations to Alex Fergusson who was today elected Presiding Officer of the Scottish Parliament. Fergie defeated Independent MSP Margo MacDonald by 108 votes to 20. What possessed Margo MacDonald to stand against Fergusson is beyond me.

Last week Ms MacDonald claimed that she had no interest in the job but that she would do it for a year to allow the Parliament to proceed with electing a First Minister and Executive. After Fergusson decided to put his name forward for the post, and in so doing received widespread support, Ms MacDonald decided to stand declaring that she did not want an establishment ‘stitch-up’, whilst claiming that she believed Mr Fergusson was a man of integrity. Whereas Margo had the opportunity to establish herself as a Parliamentary elder statesman, this strange behaviour merely serves to undermine her standing and make her look fickle.

Fergusson to run for Presiding Officer

It is good news that Tory MSP Alex Fergusson has decided to run for the post of Presiding Officer of the Scottish Parliament. Mr Fergusson, who has been a member of the Parliament since it opened in 1999, is well respected across all the parties and combines an amiable personality with the ability to get things done. Elected as a list MSP for the South of Scotland at the first elections to the Parliament in 1999, Mr Fergusson captured the Galloway and Upper Nithsdale constituency from the SNP at the 2003 elections, with a majority of just 99 votes. Last week he managed to buck the SNP trend and increased his majority to a very respectable 3,333 votes.

Given the tight Parliamentary arithmetic there has, of course, been a great reluctance amongst the SNP and Labour parties to put one of their number forward for the post. It could be argued that it is the Tories turn anyway – as the Parliament’s first PO was the Lib Dem Lord Steel, the outgoing George Reid was a Nationalist, and with Labour just one seat behind the SNP it is hardly surprising that they would be happy to see a Tory fill the vacancy. That said, had the circumstances been different, Mr Fergusson would have commanded cross-party support anyway.

There is one question that arises, however. Lord Steel and Mr Reid each served just one term as Presiding Officer before retiring from the Parliament at the subsequent election. Has this now become a Parliamentary convention – one that Mr Fergusson is happy with?