Background Paper

Standards, Procedures and Public Appointments Committee

Presiding Officer Elections – background paper

1. The Scotland Act 2012 makes some changes to the provisions for PO/DPO elections which need to be reflected in Standing Orders.

2. The SPPA Committee agreed that it would be appropriate at the same time to review all the relevant Standing Orders as this has not been done since the Parliament was established.

Background to Scotland Act

3. The relevant extracts from the Calman Commission report, the Scotland Act 1998 and the Scotland Act 2012 are attached at Annexe A.

4. The Scotland Act 1998 provides for the PO and two deputies to be elected at the first meeting of the Parliament after a general election and to hold office until the next general election unless they resign, cease to be MSPs or are voted out of office by the Parliament. The PO and deputies must not all represent the same political party.

5. A DPO can exercise the PO’s functions if the PO delegates functions, if the PO is unable to act or if the office of PO is vacant.

6. The Scotland Act 2012 has amended the 1998 Act to provide that:

- the Parliament must elect the presiding officers within 14 days of the election (rather than at the first meeting) and may not conduct any business other than the oath taking until it has done so.

This allows the Parliament, if necessary, to hold the oath taking and the PO elections on different days.

7. The 2012 Act also provides for the election of additional deputies at any time, and for these to be appointed for a specified time limit (ie not necessarily the rest of the session). The Act does not specify the circumstances in which an additional deputy may be appointed. The Schedule is amended to ensure that the officers among the PO and deputies who are able to act at any given time are not all from the same political party.

Presiding Officer Elections – experience since 1999

8. The relevant Standing Orders are set out at Annexe B. As well as implementing the Scotland Act 1998 requirements, the Standing Orders include the following provisions for elections:

- nominations for PO, which must be seconded, can be made no earlier than 2 hours before the election time and no later than 15 minutes before;

- nominations for DPO, which must be seconded, can be made no earlier than 30 minutes before and no later than 15 minutes before the election time;

- election is to be by secret ballot;

- a vote is only valid if the number of members voting (including abstentions) is more than one quarter of the total number of seats (ie 33 members or more);

- a single candidate, or one of two candidates, is elected if they secure a simple majority of votes cast;

- where there are more than two candidates, a candidate is elected if they get more votes than the total number of votes cast for all the other candidates; if no candidate achieves this, the candidate with the fewest votes is eliminated before the next round of voting.

9. The Parliament has held five elections for POs/DPOs since 1999 – four at the start of sessions and one DPO election mid-session. A summary of what happened on each occasion is at Annexe C.

10. Following the most recent PO election, Christine Grahame wrote to the Committee in summer 2011,saying:

“This was the first session when we had a substantive election process with three candidates. I think the process had deficiencies which were plain to see this time. I am aware this might not be read as disinterested but it is not a comment on the current incumbent I can assure you. There were a substantial number of MSPs as new intake who would have little knowledge of the duties and role of P.O. and therefore of the skills and qualities required of candidates for the position yet within days of being elected voting had to take place. There was not even an opportunity for candidates to make a pitch for votes to the Chamber. This was most unsatisfactory and a look at the final vote demonstrates it split virtually on party lines. I don’t think this is a good start for a new session.”

Arrangements in Other Parliaments

11. The House of Commons changed the arrangements for the election of the Speaker relatively recently. Annexe D sets out their new arrangements which include:

- Candidates are each allowed to make a speech before voting begins (in an order determined by drawing lots);

- To win the election, a candidate must get more than half of the votes cast; and

- after each round, the candidate with the fewest votes is eliminated, as is any other candidate who got less than 5% of the votes cast.

When the House of Commons Procedures Committee recommended these changes, it also included comparative information about speaker elections elsewhere which can be read at http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200001/cmselect/cmproced/40/4008.htm

Although this report is from 2001, it is unlikely in most cases that the procedures have changed much. Notable variations of approach in different places include

- a quorum of more than half of members eligible to vote;

- freedom to name on the ballot paper any member who is not a Minister or party leader and has not said that they refuse to stand;

- a tradition that the role goes to a nominee of the largest party, with each political grouping nominating a deputy;

- roll call voting rather than a secret ballot;

- no elimination of the lowest polling candidates until after the second or third round of voting and

- the option of nominating new candidates between rounds of voting.

- nominator and a seconder from different parties (for example, in the House of Commons a candidate for Speaker requires 15 proposers, at least three of them not from their own party)

Standards, Procedures and Public Appointments Committee November 2012

ANNEXE A: CALMAN REPORT & SCOTLAND ACTS

Extract from Calman Commission final report

Presiding Officers

6.105 The point about which we have received perhaps the clearest evidence has been the requirement in section 19(1) for there to be exactly two Deputy Presiding Officers (DPOs). Former Presiding Officer, Sir David Steel, referred to the practical difficulties this caused during Session 1 when he was temporarily ill, and suggested that the Parliament should have the ability to appoint an additional DPO as required. The current incumbent, Alex Fergusson MSP, backed this idea, suggesting that circumstances in which one or more of the three current office-holders were ill or otherwise unavailable at the same time could have a detrimental impact on parliamentary business.6.34

6.106 We can see no good reason for having such a rigid limit on numbers imposed at the level of the Scotland Act. We therefore recommend introducing additional flexibility into the Act by allowing for the appointment of temporary additional DPOs when required.

6.107 We are also aware that another aspect of section 19(1) – namely the requirement to elect a Presiding Officer and deputies at the Parliament’s first meeting following a general election – presented practical difficulties at the beginning of the present session, when the close electoral result initially made the main parties reluctant to relinquish one of their members for the non-voting role of Presiding Officer. The statutory obstacle was, in the event, circumvented by deeming the first meeting to be adjourned and then continued on a later day – but this can hardly be regarded as a satisfactory long-term solution. We therefore recommend a further amendment to this section of the Act to introduce an appropriate degree of flexibility. It could, for example, require that the first substantive item of business for the newly- elected MSPs (once they have taken the oath) is to elect a Presiding Officer, and that this must be completed within (say) 14 days of the election.

RECOMMENDATION 6.7: Section 19(1) of the Scotland Act should be amended so as to loosen the requirement on the Parliament to appoint a Presiding Officer and deputies at the first meeting of a new session, and to enable additional deputies to be appointed if and when that becomes appropriate.

Scotland Act 1998

Section 19: Presiding Officer

(1) The Parliament shall, at its first meeting following a general election, elect from among its members a Presiding Officer and two deputies.

(2) A person elected Presiding Officer or deputy shall hold office until the conclusion of the next election for Presiding Officer under subsection (1) unless he previously resigns, ceases to be a member of the Parliament otherwise than by virtue of a dissolution or is removed from office by resolution of the Parliament.

(3) If the Presiding Officer or a deputy ceases to hold office before the Parliament is dissolved, the Parliament shall elect another from among its members to fill his place.

(4) The Presiding Officer’s functions may be exercised by a deputy if the office of Presiding Officer is vacant or the Presiding Officer is for any reason unable to act.

(5) The Presiding Officer may (subject to standing orders) authorise any deputy to exercise functions on his behalf.

(6) Standing orders may include provision as to the participation (including voting) of the Presiding Officer and deputies in the proceedings of the Parliament.

(7) The validity of any act of the Presiding Officer or a deputy is not affected by any defect in his election.

Schedule 3: Standing Orders

5 The standing orders shall include provision for ensuring that the Presiding Officer and deputies do not all represent the same political party.

Scotland Act 2012

Section 4: Presiding Officer and deputies.

(1) Section 19 of the 1998 Act (Presiding Officer) is amended as follows.

(2) In subsection (1) omit “at its first meeting”.

(3) After subsection (1) insert—

“(1A) The Parliament must do so—

(a) before it conducts any other proceedings, except the taking by its members of the oath of allegiance (see section 84), and

(b) in any event, within the period of 14 days beginning immediately after the day of the poll at the election.

(1B) The Parliament may, at any time, elect from among its members one or more additional deputies.”

(4) After subsection (2) insert—

“(2A) But standing orders may make provision for additional deputies to hold office for a shorter time than provided by subsection (2).”

(5) In subsection (3), after “deputy” insert “elected under subsection (1)”.

(6 )In Schedule 3 to that Act (standing orders), for paragraph 5 substitute—

“5(1) The standing orders shall include provision for ensuring that the available officers do not all represent the same political party.

(2) The available officers are—

(a) the Presiding Officer and the deputies appointed under section 19(1), except in the case where one or more of them is unable to act and there is at least one additional deputy;

(b) in that case, such of the Presiding Officer and deputies as are for the time being able to act.”

ANNEXE B: STANDING ORDERS

Rule 3.1 The Presiding Officer and deputy Presiding Officers

1. The Presiding Officer shall—

(a) preside over any meeting of the Parliament except as provided in Rule 2.4 and 2.5 and, except where Rule 11.9 or 11.10 applies, exercise a casting vote in the event of a tie;

(b) convene and chair any meeting of the Parliamentary Bureau and exercise a casting vote in the event of a tie;

(bb) convene and chair any meeting of the Conveners Group;

(c) determine any question as to the interpretation or application of these Rules and give a ruling on any such question; and

(d) represent the Parliament in discussions and exchanges with any parliamentary, governmental, administrative or other body, whether within or outwith the United Kingdom.

2. The Presiding Officer shall have such other functions as may be conferred upon the Presiding Officer by the Act, by the Parliament or by these Rules.

3. In exercising any functions, the Presiding Officer and deputy Presiding Officers shall act impartially, taking account of the interests of all members equally.

4. The Presiding Officer’s functions may be exercised by a deputy Presiding Officer if the office of Presiding Officer is vacant or if the Presiding Officer is for any reason unable to act.

5. The Presiding Officer may authorise a deputy Presiding Officer to exercise any of the Presiding Officer’s functions on the Presiding Officer’s behalf but shall not authorise a deputy Presiding Officer to sit in place of the Presiding Officer as a member of the Parliamentary corporation under section 21(2)(a).

Rule 3.2 Election of the Presiding Officer

1. The Parliament shall, at its first meeting following a general election, elect from among its members a Presiding Officer.

2. If the Presiding Officer ceases to hold office before the Parliament is dissolved, the Parliament shall elect another from among its members.

3. In the case of the election of the Presiding Officer under paragraph 1, the voting period at the election (“the voting period”) shall take place at such time during the first meeting as may be notified in the Business Bulletin or as may be appointed by the person chairing the meeting.

4. In the case of the election of a Presiding Officer under paragraph 2, the voting period shall take place on the day and at the time appointed by the Parliament on a motion of the Parliamentary Bureau. That date shall not be later than 14 days after the date on which the Presiding Officer ceased to hold office. If this is not possible because the Parliament is in recess at that time, the voting period shall take place on the day and at the time notified in the Business Bulletin.

5. For the purposes of paragraph 4, the date on which the Presiding Officer ceased to hold office shall be—

(a) in the case where the Presiding Officer resigns, the date on which the resignation takes effect;

(b) in the case where the Presiding Officer is removed from office by resolution of the Parliament, the date on which the Presiding Officer is so removed; or

(c) in the case where the Presiding Officer ceases to be a member of the Parliament, the date on which a vacancy is to be treated as occurring for the purposes of section 9 (constituency vacancies) or 10 (regional vacancies) in accordance with Rule 1.5.

6. A member may, at any time during the period which is not earlier than 2 hours and not later than 15 minutes before the time appointed for the beginning of the voting period, nominate a candidate for appointment as the Presiding Officer by submitting a written nomination to the Clerk. A nomination shall be valid only if it is seconded by another member.

7. Where there are 2 elected deputy Presiding Officers who represent the same political party, a member representing that party is not eligible for nomination as a candidate for appointment as Presiding Officer. The person chairing the meeting shall reject any such nomination as being invalid.

8. A person nominated as a candidate must take the oath of allegiance or make a solemn affirmation before the beginning of the voting period. If that nominated person has not done so, the person chairing the meeting shall reject that nominated person’s nomination.

9. At the beginning of the voting period, the person chairing the meeting shall announce the name or names of the candidate or candidates validly nominated and an election shall be held in accordance with Rule 11.9.

10. After the person chairing the meeting has declared the result of the election of the Presiding Officer, the elected Presiding Officer shall take the chair.

Rule 3.3 Election of deputy Presiding Officers

1. The Parliament shall, at its first meeting following a general election, elect from among its members 2 deputy Presiding Officers.

2. If a deputy Presiding Officer ceases to hold office before the Parliament is dissolved, the Parliament shall elect another deputy Presiding Officer from among its members.

3. Where there is a vacancy in the office of Presiding Officer and in the office of a deputy Presiding Officer, the election of the Presiding Officer shall precede the election of the deputy Presiding Officer.

4. Where there are vacancies in the offices of both deputy Presiding Officers, consecutive elections shall be held for the offices.

5. In the case of the election of deputy Presiding Officers under paragraph 1, the voting period for the election of the first deputy Presiding Officer (“the first voting period”) shall take place at such time during the first meeting as may be appointed by the Presiding Officer, which shall be not earlier than 30 minutes after the Presiding Officer informed the Parliament as to when the first voting period is to take place. The voting period for the election of the second deputy Presiding Officer shall take place immediately after the completion of the first voting period.

6. Paragraph 5 shall also apply in any other case where there are vacancies in the offices of both deputy Presiding Officers except that, where the Parliament is not dissolved and is not in recess, the date and time for the first voting period shall be appointed by the Parliament on a motion of the Parliamentary Bureau. That date shall not be later than 14 days after the date on which both those offices became vacant. If this is not possible because the Parliament is in recess at that time, the date and time for the first voting period shall be appointed by the Presiding Officer.

7. In the case of an election under paragraph 5 or 6, the candidates in the election for the second deputy Presiding Officer shall be the candidates not elected in the election for the first deputy Presiding Officer, except that, where the Presiding Officer and the first deputy Presiding Officer represent the same political party, any candidate representing that party shall not be a candidate for election as the second deputy Presiding Officer.

8. In the case where there is a vacancy in only one of the offices of deputy Presiding Officer, the voting period for the election of the deputy Presiding Officer shall take place on the date and at the time appointed by the Parliament on a motion of the Parliamentary Bureau. That date shall not be later than 14 days after the date on which the office became vacant. If this is not possible because the Parliament is in recess at that time, the date and time for the voting period shall be appointed by the Presiding Officer.

9. In the case of an election under paragraph 8, where the elected Presiding Officer and a deputy Presiding Officer represent the same political party and there is a vacancy in the office of the other deputy Presiding Officer, a member representing that party is not eligible for nomination as a candidate for election as that other deputy Presiding Officer.

10. For the purposes of paragraphs 6 and 8, the date on which the deputy Presiding Officer ceased to hold office shall be—

(a) in the case where the deputy Presiding Officer resigns, the date on which the resignation takes effect;

(b) in the case where the deputy Presiding Officer is removed from office by resolution of the Parliament, the date on which he or she is so removed; or

(c) in the case where the deputy Presiding Officer ceases to be a member of the Parliament, the date on which a vacancy is to be treated as occurring for the purposes of section 9 (constituency vacancies) or 10 (regional vacancies) in accordance with Rule 1.5.

11. The following paragraphs apply to an election in any of the cases mentioned in paragraphs 5, 6 and 8.

12. A member may at any time during the period which is not earlier than 30 minutes before and not later than 15 minutes before the beginning of the first voting period in the cases mentioned in paragraphs 5 and 6 and the voting period in the case mentioned in paragraph 8, nominate a candidate for appointment as deputy Presiding Officer by submitting a written nomination to the Clerk. A nomination shall be valid only if it is seconded by another member.

13. A person nominated as a candidate must take the oath of allegiance or make a solemn affirmation before the time appointed for a voting period. If that nominated person has not done so, the Presiding Officer shall reject that nominated person’s nomination.

14. At the beginning of a voting period, the Presiding Officer shall announce the name or names of the candidate or candidates validly nominated and an election shall be held in accordance with Rule 11.9.

Rule 3.4 Resignation of the Presiding Officer and deputy Presiding Officers

1. The Presiding Officer or a deputy Presiding Officer may resign office by giving notice in writing to the Clerk.

2. The Clerk shall notify the Parliament of any such resignation.

Rule 3.5 Removal of the Presiding Officer and deputy Presiding Officers

1. A member may by motion propose that the Presiding Officer or a deputy Presiding Officer be removed from office. The motion is valid only if it is seconded by another member.

2. The Presiding Officer or deputy Presiding Officer is removed from office if the Parliament so decides. Such a decision shall, if taken by division, require an absolute majority.

Rule 11.9 Election of the Presiding Officer and deputy Presiding Officers

1. This Rule applies to any election of the Presiding Officer or any deputy Presiding Officer to be held by virtue of Rule 3.2 or 3.3.

2. The vote at an election shall be by secret ballot and shall be held during the voting period appointed under Rule 3.2 or 3.3. Where there is more than one candidate, there may be more than one round of voting in accordance with paragraphs 7 to 12.

3. The result of any vote under this Rule is valid only if the number of members who voted is more than one quarter of the total number of seats for members. For this purpose, in calculating the number of members who voted—

(a) account shall be taken not only of those voting for or against a candidate, but also of those voting to abstain; and

(b) where there is more than one round of voting the result of each round of voting shall be treated as a separate result and the number of members who voted shall be taken to be the total number who voted in that round.

If the result of any vote at an election is invalid under this Rule, no candidate shall be elected at that election.

4. Each candidate may appoint a member to act as a scrutineer on that candidate’s behalf. Each scrutineer may monitor the counting of votes by the Clerk and may request the Clerk to perform a count again. The Clerk may refuse such a request only if the Clerk considers it unreasonable.

5. Any member may, at the beginning of a round of voting, obtain a ballot paper from the Clerk. Any member who obtains a ballot paper shall immediately mark that member’s vote on that ballot paper and then put the ballot paper in the ballot box provided for that purpose by the Clerk. That member may not thereafter obtain another ballot paper or vote during that round of voting.

6. Where there is only one candidate in a round of voting, a member may vote for or against that candidate or to abstain. At the completion of that round of voting the Clerk shall count the votes and inform the person chairing the meeting of the number of votes for the candidate, the number of votes against the candidate and the number of votes to abstain. The candidate shall be elected if a simple majority of votes in the candidate’s favour is obtained.

7. Where there is more than one candidate in a round of voting, a member may vote for one of those candidates or to abstain. At the completion of each round of voting in which there is more than one candidate, the Clerk shall count the votes and inform the person chairing the meeting of the number of votes for each candidate and the number of votes to abstain.

8. Where there are 2 candidates in a round of voting, a candidate shall be elected if a simple majority of votes in that candidate’s favour is obtained.

9. Where there are more than 2 candidates in a round of voting and the number of votes for one candidate exceeds the total number of votes for all the other candidates, that candidate shall be elected.

10. Where there are more than 2 candidates in a round of voting but no candidate is elected under paragraph 9, the candidate or candidates with the smallest number of votes shall be eliminated and there shall then be a further round or rounds of voting until—

(a) a candidate is elected in accordance with paragraph 6, 8 or 9;

(b) paragraph 11 applies; or

11. Where in any round of voting the candidates all receive the same number of votes no candidate shall be elected at that election.

12. A candidate may withdraw that candidate’s candidature at any stage between the rounds of voting mentioned in paragraphs 7 to 10.

13. In counting the votes, the Clerk may disregard any ballot paper if, in the Clerk’s opinion, it does not clearly indicate the voter’s choice.

14. When a candidate has been elected in accordance with this Rule the person chairing the meeting shall announce the name of the candidate who has been elected. The person chairing the meeting shall also announce—

(a) after the count in a case where the provisions of paragraph 6 apply, the number of votes for and against the candidate and the number of votes to abstain; and

(b) after the count in any other case, the number of votes for each candidate, the number of votes to abstain and the name of any candidate who has been eliminated at that round.

15. Where no candidate is elected at an election held in accordance with this Rule, the person chairing the meeting shall announce that fact and arrange for another election to be held as soon as possible. The Clerk shall notify members of the day and time appointed for the voting period at that election.

16. Following a declaration that a candidate has been elected or that no candidate has been elected, the Clerk shall destroy all the ballot papers.

ANNEXE C: PREVIOUS PO ELECTIONS

1999

The first PO elections were presided over by Winnie Ewing (as the oldest qualified member).

Dennis Canavan requested an open vote but was told standing orders did not allow it:

Dennis Canavan (Falkirk West): On a point of order, Dr Ewing. Will you give us guidance on whether we can have an open, recorded vote rather than a secret ballot? We have waited for our first Scottish Parliament for nearly 300 years— indeed, this is our first ever democratically elected Scottish Parliament—and the Parliament was supposed to herald a new era of open democracy, but our first vote is to be a secret one. That seems rather strange. Surely we should behave like an open democracy, rather than a secret society.

I realise that we are operating under draft standing orders, which were handed to us by a statutory instrument of the House of Commons. As I understand it, there was little, if any, debate on that statutory instrument in the House of Commons. I have been critical of the way in which things are done there, but even in the House of Commons there is an open, recorded vote on every occasion, including the election of the Speaker. Would you be prepared to accept, from me, a motion that we have an open recorded vote rather than a secret ballot on this important, historic, first vote of our first ever democratically elected Scottish Parliament?

Dr Ewing: My heart is with you, but the standing orders are against you. At the moment, I will obey the standing orders. If there is any other person who wants to say that we should not obey the standing orders, perhaps they should enter the discussion now.

Two candidates stood (Sir David Steel (LD) and George Reid (SNP)). Sir David secured a majority in the first round. After the result was announced, both George Reid and then Sir David made brief speeches.

There were then three candidates for the DPO elections. John Young (Con) was eliminated after the first round and Patricia Ferguson (Lab) was elected over George Reid in the second round. For the second DPO post, George Reid was elected over John Young. There were no speeches.

2001

When Patricia Ferguson was appointed a Minister, there was an election for DPO. Two candidates stood: Cathy Peattie (Lab) and Murray Tosh (Con). Murray Tosh was elected in the first round of voting. There were no speeches.

At the start of business, points of order were raised about a motion changing Labour party committee memberships which included provision to remove Cathy Peattie from the Education Committee.

Michael Russell (South of Scotland) (SNP): On a point of order, Presiding Officer. I draw your attention to page 8 of today's business bulletin and to the motion in the name of Patricia Ferguson on the membership of committees. It is almost unbelievable that the motion refers to a replacement for Cathy Peattie on the Education, Culture and Sport Committee. I admire Cathy Peattie—I like Cathy Peattie. However, the motion makes an assumption about something that the chamber may or may not agree to later today. That is an abuse of the chamber and should not be permitted.

The Presiding Officer (Sir David Steel): With respect, the motion makes no such assumption. It makes a straightforward proposal to replace one member with another. That is perfectly normal.

Further points of order were raised immediately before the election.

Fiona Hyslop (Lothians) (SNP): On a point of order, Presiding Officer. There is a motion lodged for debate today—S1M-2495—on behalf of the Parliamentary Bureau. I advise the Presiding Officer that the Parliamentary Bureau has not met to discuss, nor has it consulted on, the motion. Would it be in order for the motion to be re- presented at a later date in order to do two things? First, the motion could be dealt with after the vote for Deputy Presiding Officer to avoid any perceived presumption of the election as Deputy Presiding Officer of any member of the chamber and secondly, it could be approved by all four members of the Parliamentary Bureau.

I have a second, more substantive, point of order. Can the Presiding Officer confirm that the role of Presiding Officers is to be independent representatives of this Parliament, and that there is no place for any member of the Executive to instruct members of this Parliament how they should vote in the secret ballot?

The Presiding Officer (Sir David Steel): There are two quite separate issues. On the first point, I have received notification that motion S1M-2495, to which Fiona Hyslop referred, has been withdrawn. Therefore what happens later is a matter for the Parliamentary Bureau.

I wish to say a word about the second issue. The standing orders make it quite clear that the three Presiding Officers cannot all be from the same party. That is clearly part of our constitution. In the event that any one party had a majority in the chamber, it could not control the chair. That is a very important principle in our proceedings.

The ballot is secret, as I said yesterday, and every member has an equal vote in a secret ballot. Discussions that take place in private meetings of party groups are absolutely nothing to do with the chair. Anyone can indicate their preference for any particular candidate in those meetings if they wish to do so. It is absolutely nothing to do with the chamber.

I will say a word about the roles of Presiding Officer and Deputy Presiding Officer, because they are not always understood outside Parliament. The Presiding Officer is under an obligation to withdraw from party politics in Scotland. That has happened. The Deputy Presiding Officers have a much more difficult job, because when they are in the chair they share total independence, and they share the service of the Parliament when they represent it abroad, but otherwise, when they are in the chamber, they have the same freedom as every other member to continue to act as a member of a political party. I must say that both Patricia Ferguson and George Reid adopted a self-denying ordinance such that they have not participated in blatantly partisan issues in the chamber. That was widely appreciated, and I am sure that it will be followed by whoever is elected. [Applause.]

The second point is not really a point of order for me. What goes on inside party meetings is nothing to do with the chair.

Robert Brown (Glasgow) (LD): On a point of order, Presiding Officer. I seek clarification that the positions of Presiding Officer and Deputy Presiding Officer are parliamentary appointments, rather than party appointments, and that they are not subject to party nominations.

The Presiding Officer: Absolutely. That is why there is a secret ballot of members. Clearly, nobody can instruct any member how to vote. That is perfectly obvious by the unique nature of the election that we are about to have. May I proceed to it?

Mr Keith Raffan (Mid Scotland and Fife) (LD): Further to that point of order—I am sorry to labour the point, but it is a matter of great concern to the Parliament, Presiding Officer—if it came to your attention that any nominee had been put up by a party leader, and that members of that party had been instructed to vote for that nominee, would you be concerned?

The Presiding Officer: I am about to announce the nominations and I tell members that no party leader has nominated a candidate for the election. That is all that matters.

2003

The elections for Presiding Officer in the second session were presided over by the outgoing Presiding Officer, Sir David Steel.

Dennis Canavan requested speeches from the DPO candidates before their election but was told that this was not the practice.

Dennis Canavan: As you know, paragraph 3 of rule 3.1 of standing orders says:

"In exercising any functions, the Presiding Officer and deputy Presiding Officers shall act impartially, taking account of the interests of all members equally."

During your tenure in the past four years, I have complained to you repeatedly about a lack of equality of opportunity to speak in the chamber. For example, the leaders of 15 the Scottish National Party and the Tory party regularly took up more than half of First Minister's question time, which left little time for back benchers.

Before we vote in the secret ballot, can we have a short speech from the nominees to explain their interpretation of paragraph 3 of rule 3.1 of standing orders? Whenever I asked you about your interpretation, your only response was that some members are more equal than others. That might go down well in the House of Lords, but it does not go down well in this Parliament.

The Presiding Officer: I will take Mr Canavan's point seriously. We do not have speeches on the election of the Presiding Officer. It is assumed that members know the character of the individuals who are proposed. Standing orders do not allow for election speeches—

Dennis Canavan rose—:

The Presiding Officer: Let me finish.

On the wider issue, I hope that Mr Canavan accepts that it will be for the Procedures Committee and the chamber to decide what adjustments to make to the general running order of Parliament in the light of the election. However, that does not alter the fact that the leaders of the major political parties in any Parliament have always been given rather more latitude than the ordinary member. That does not take away from the principle, which you are right to proclaim, of equality of treatment for every individual. I am sure that, like me, and as was his practice as Deputy Presiding Officer, Mr Reid will be totally impartial and will lean over backwards to help independent members.

Dennis Canavan: Further to that point of order, Presiding Officer. Some members in this chamber were not members of the Scottish Parliament over the past four years, and they are entitled to hear from the various nominees. I realise that there is only one nominee for the post of Presiding Officer, but those members are entitled to hear from the various nominees for the job of Deputy Presiding Officer what their interpretation is of that particular standing order. Do the nominees believe in equality of membership in this chamber or do they not?

The Presiding Officer: I am quite certain that the nominee for Presiding Officer and whatever nominees there are for Deputy Presiding Officer—presumably they will be members who served in the last Parliament—know perfectly well that it is part of our tradition that equality is bestowed on every member by the occupants of the chair. That has been our tradition, and it will remain the tradition.

There was only one nomination for PO – George Reid (SNP) – but an election was required anyway to ensure that he had the support of the majority of those voting and more than 25% of those eligible to vote. After his election, there were short speeches from Sir David, George Reid, the First Minister, the leaders of the SNP, Conservative, Liberal Democrat, Green and SSP parties, Margo Macdonald and Dennis Canavan.

There were three candidates for the DPO elections. Robin Harper was eliminated after the first round. Trish Godman (Lab) was elected in the second round over Murray Tosh. For the second DPO post Murray Tosh (Con) was elected over Robin Harper. There were no speeches.

2007

The PO elections in 2007 were presided over by the outgoing PO George Reid. The Parliament met on 9 May for the oath taking. Because of the closeness of the election result, it was proving difficult to secure candidates willing to stand for election. The Parliament agreed a motion without notice to suspend rule 8.16 of standing orders and adjourn the meeting until 14 May (so that it could still be deemed to be the first meeting of the Parliament).

On 14 May there were two nominations: Alex Fergusson (Con) and Margo MacDonald. Alex Fergusson was elected in the first round. There were short speeches from George Reid, Alex Fergusson, the First Minister and the party leaders of the SNP, Conservatives, Liberal Democrats and Greens.

There were four nominations for the DPO elections. Jamie Stone was eliminated after round 1, Margaret Smith after round 2, Alasdair Morgan (SNP) was elected in round three over Trish Godman. For the second DPO post, Trish Godman (Lab) was elected over Margaret Smith and Jamie Stone. There were no speeches.

2011

The PO elections were presided over by the outgoing Presiding Officer, Alex Fergusson (the first Presiding Officer to remain in the Parliament as an MSP after leaving office).

There were three nominations. Christine Grahame was eliminated after round 1 and Tricia Marwick (SNP) was elected over Hugh Henry after round 2. There were speeches from Alex Fergusson and Tricia Marwick.

For the DPO elections, there were four nominations. Duncan McNeil was eliminated after round 1, and Patricia Ferguson after round 2. Elaine Smith (Lab) was elected over John Scott in round 3. Duncan McNeil withdrew before the second DPO election in which John Scott (Con) was elected over Patricia Ferguson.

ANNEX D: ELECTION OF THE SPEAKER – HOUSE OF COMMONS

The current Speaker was elected on 22 June 2009.

What happened on that day?

Nominations were formally tabled between 9:30 and 10:30am.

In the absence of a Speaker the Father of the House (Rt Hon Alan Williams MP, Swansea West, elected 1964) took the chair and presided over proceedings of the House.

After the business began at 2:30pm, each candidate had a chance to address the House. The order of candidates speaking was chosen by the Father of the House by drawing lots earlier in the day.

All MPs were then able to vote for their preferred candidate by secret ballot. As no candidate achieved over half the vote there were further rounds of voting.

For following rounds, any candidates who achieved less than 5% of the votes, the candidate with the fewest votes and any candidates who chose to withdraw from the election were removed from the ballot paper. This continued until one candidate achieved over half of the votes cast or only one candidate remained.

A motion was put before the House proposing the successful candidate as Speaker.

When the question was agreed, the Member then took the Chair as Speaker-elect. Traditionally he is pulled ‘reluctantly’ to the chair.

The Speaker-elect goes to the House of Lords to receive the Queen’s approbation from a Royal Commission.

How long does the process take?

The time taken to get a candidate with the support of half of the votes cast in a ballot will depend on how many candidates present themselves for the position. There may be several rounds of voting each of which may take up to two hours. At the election of Speaker Bercow proceedings started at 2.30pm and there were three rounds of voting with the Speaker-elect taking the chair at 8.30pm.

Was this the first time the Speaker has been elected?

No, the election of a Speaker takes place at the beginning of every Parliament and every time a Speaker steps down from the post. The timetable and procedure for the election of a Speaker are set out in Standing Orders 1, 1A and 1B. Standing order 1A has been used before in the re-election of the Speaker in 2001 and 2005, but this is the first time the system of exhaustive secret ballot introduced in 2001 and set out in Standing Order No. 1B will have been used to elect a new Speaker.

What is different from the old system to elect a Speaker?

The old system was based on a motion put to the House. In the motion, one candidate would be proposed as Speaker and the other candidates would be presented as successive amendments to the main motion. One key change in the new system is the introduction of an exhaustive secret ballot system. Each MP will be able to vote for their candidate without anyone else knowing who they voted for. The new system also allows MPs to vote for any of the candidates on the first ballot.

Why was the system changed?

The old system put an emphasis on the candidate who would be proposed first to the House and this provided the Father of the House with a difficult decision. The system also meant that it was possible for candidates to be presented as later amendments to the first name not to be considered at all by the House, as an earlier candidate might win before they were reached. The new system was adopted by the House following recommendations made by the Procedure Committee in a report published in 2000-01.

Procedure Committee report http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200001/cmselect/cmproced/40/4003.htm #a1