Who are the four MSPs hoping to be presiding officer?published at 14:32 BST
Kenneth Gibson
Kenneth Gibson was first elected in 1999, and aside from a
spell between 2003 and 2007, has been an MSP ever since, representing the
Ayrshire seat Cunninghame North.
Although an SNP veteran, he has never been a minister. In
the last parliament, he served as convener of Holyrood’s finance committee. In
that role he was known as a tough scrutiniser who was not afraid to criticise
the SNP administration.
Gibson is married to fellow SNP MSP Patricia Gibson, elected
in Cunninghame South.
Born in Paisley, he served as councillor in Glasgow before
being elected to Holyrood. He was the first MSP to table plans for a public
smoking ban in 1999, though the plans were shelved when Gibson lost his seat,
with a ban not passed until 2006.
Liam McArthur
Orkney MSP Liam McArthur is best-known as the
parliamentarian who got closer than anyone else to legalising assisted dying in
Scotland.
Throughout the debate he was praised for his collegiate
approach – though he could not help but become emotional during impassioned
pleas for MSPs to back his ultimately doomed bill.
McArthur served as deputy presiding officer in the last
parliament. He was reportedly reluctant to go for the top job this time but was
persuaded by colleagues keen for a widely respected candidate to take on SNP
rivals.
Born in Edinburgh, he moved to Orkney aged 10. After
returning to Edinburgh for university, he worked in various roles in public
affairs and political consultancy, including a spell in Brussels.
He was first elected to Holyrood in 2007.
Claire Haughey
Claire Haughey, MSP for Rutherglen and Cambuslang, served as
convener of Holyrood’s health committee in the last parliament.
A former mental health and children’s minister, she is seen
as the SNP leadership’s pick for the role.
Haughey, an MSP since 2016, has spoken of her grief after
losing her 20-year-old son Charlie, who died suddenly while on holiday in
Amsterdam in 2019.
Stuart McMillan
An MSP for the West of Scotland since 2007, Stuart McMillan
is another former committee convener – this time the delegated powers
committee.
He has never had a ministerial post but does have the
distinction of being the parliamentary piper.
McMillan was born in Cumbria and moved to Inverclyde as a
child. He has represented the constituency since 2016.
He worked for IBM before working in the SNP central office
in Westminster and was a staffer for MSP Bruce McFee prior to his own election.
