5th Scottish Parliament

5th Scottish Parliament
5th Scottish Parliament
	Members elected to the Scottish Parliament on 5 May 2016
Overview
Legislative body	Scottish Parliament
Jurisdiction	Scotland
Meeting place	Scottish Parliament Building
Term	12 May 2016 – 5 May 2021
Election	2016
Government	Second Sturgeon government
Members	129
Presiding Officer	Rt Hon Ken Macintosh
First Minister	Nicola Sturgeon
Deputy First Minister	John Swinney
Leader of the Opposition	Ruth Davidson (2016–18); Jackson Carlaw (2018–19); Ruth Davidson (2019); Jackson Carlaw (2019–20); Ruth Davidson (2020–21)

This is a list of members of the Scottish Parliament (MSPs) who were returned to the fifth session of the Scottish Parliament. Of the 129 MSPs returned at the 2016 general election, 73 were returned from first past the post constituencies with a further 56 members returned from eight regions, each electing seven MSPs as a form of mixed member proportional representation.

Parliament reconvened on 12 May 2016 with the swearing-in of MSPs and the election of the presiding officer and two deputy presiding officers.^[2] Queen Elizabeth II formally opened the fifth session on 2 July 2016.^[3]

Composition

Party		May 2016 election	May 2021 dissolution
•	Scottish National Party	63	61
	Scottish Conservatives	31	30
	Scottish Labour	24	23
	Scottish Greens	6	5
	Scottish Liberal Democrats	5	5
	Reform UK	0	1
	Independent	0	3
	Presiding Officer	0	1
Total		129
Government majority		−3	−6

Government parties denoted with bullets (•)

Graphical representation

These are graphical representations of the Scottish Parliament showing a comparison of party strengths as it was directly after the 2016 general election and its composition at dissolution:

Note this is not the official seating plan of the Scottish Parliament.

List of MSPs

This is a list of MSPs. The changes table below records all changes in party affiliation during the session, since the May 2016 election.

	Member for	Type	Party
George Adam	Paisley	Constituency	Scottish National Party
Clare Adamson	Motherwell and Wishaw	Constituency	Scottish National Party
Alasdair Allan	Na h-Eileanan an Iar	Constituency	Scottish National Party
Tom Arthur	Renfrewshire South	Constituency	Scottish National Party
Jackie Baillie	Dumbarton	Constituency	Scottish Labour Party
Claire Baker	Mid Scotland and Fife	Regional	Scottish Labour Party
Jeremy Balfour	Lothian	Regional	Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Michelle Ballantyne	South Scotland (since 23/05/17)	Regional	Reform UK
Claudia Beamish	South Scotland	Regional	Scottish Labour Party
Colin Beattie	Midlothian North and Musselburgh	Constituency	Scottish National Party
Neil Bibby	West Scotland	Regional	Scottish Labour Party
Bill Bowman	North East Scotland (since 21/12/16)	Regional	Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Sarah Boyack	Lothian	Regional	Scottish Labour Party
Miles Briggs	Lothian	Regional	Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Keith Brown	Clackmannanshire and Dunblane	Constituency	Scottish National Party
Alexander Burnett	Aberdeenshire West	Constituency	Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Donald Cameron	Highlands and Islands	Regional	Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Aileen Campbell	Clydesdale	Constituency	Scottish National Party
Jackson Carlaw	Eastwood	Constituency	Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Finlay Carson	Galloway and West Dumfries	Constituency	Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Peter Chapman	North East Scotland	Regional	Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Willie Coffey	Kilmarnock and Irvine Valley	Constituency	Scottish National Party
Alex Cole-Hamilton	Edinburgh Western	Constituency	Scottish Liberal Democrats
Angela Constance	Almond Valley	Constituency	Scottish National Party
Maurice Corry	West Scotland	Regional	Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Bruce Crawford	Stirling	Constituency	Scottish National Party
Roseanna Cunningham	Perthshire South and Kinross-shire	Constituency	Scottish National Party
Ruth Davidson	Edinburgh Central	Constituency	Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Ash Denham	Edinburgh Eastern	Constituency	Scottish National Party
Graeme Dey	Angus South	Constituency	Scottish National Party
Bob Doris	Glasgow Maryhill and Springburn	Constituency	Scottish National Party
James Dornan	Glasgow Cathcart	Constituency	Scottish National Party
Annabelle Ewing	Cowdenbeath	Constituency	Scottish National Party
Fergus Ewing	Inverness and Nairn	Constituency	Scottish National Party
Linda Fabiani	East Kilbride	Constituency	Scottish National Party
Mary Fee	West Scotland	Regional	Scottish Labour Party
Neil Findlay	Lothian	Regional	Scottish Labour Party
John Finnie	Highlands and Islands	Regional	Scottish Green Party
Joe FitzPatrick	Dundee City West	Constituency	Scottish National Party
Kate Forbes	Skye, Lochaber and Badenoch	Constituency	Scottish National Party
Murdo Fraser	Mid Scotland and Fife	Regional	Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Jeane Freeman	Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley	Constituency	Scottish National Party
Kenneth Gibson	Cunninghame North	Constituency	Scottish National Party
Jenny Gilruth	Mid Fife and Glenrothes	Constituency	Scottish National Party
Maurice Golden	West Scotland	Regional	Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Mairi Gougeon (elected as Mairi Evans)	Angus North and Mearns	Constituency	Scottish National Party
Christine Grahame	Midlothian South, Tweeddale and Lauderdale	Constituency	Scottish National Party
Rhoda Grant	Highlands and Islands	Regional	Scottish Labour Party
Iain Gray	East Lothian	Constituency	Scottish Labour Party
Jamie Greene	West Scotland	Regional	Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Ross Greer	West Scotland	Regional	Scottish Green Party
Mark Griffin	Central Scotland	Regional	Scottish Labour Party
Jamie Halcro Johnston	Highlands and Islands (since 20/06/17)	Regional	Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Rachael Hamilton	Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire	Constituency	Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Emma Harper	South Scotland	Regional	Scottish National Party
Alison Harris	Central Scotland	Regional	Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Patrick Harvie	Glasgow	Regional	Scottish Green Party
Clare Haughey	Rutherglen	Constituency	Scottish National Party
Jamie Hepburn	Cumbernauld and Kilsyth	Constituency	Scottish National Party
Fiona Hyslop	Linlithgow	Constituency	Scottish National Party
Daniel Johnson	Edinburgh Southern	Constituency	Scottish Labour Party
Alison Johnstone	Lothian	Regional	Scottish Green Party
James Kelly	Glasgow	Regional	Scottish Labour Party
Liam Kerr	North East Scotland	Regional	Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Bill Kidd	Glasgow Anniesland	Constituency	Scottish National Party
Johann Lamont	Glasgow	Regional	Scottish Labour Party
Monica Lennon	Central Scotland	Regional	Scottish Labour Party
Richard Leonard	Central Scotland	Regional	Scottish Labour Party
Gordon Lindhurst	Lothian	Regional	Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Richard Lochhead	Moray	Constituency	Scottish National Party
Dean Lockhart	Mid Scotland and Fife	Regional	Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Richard Lyle	Uddingston and Bellshill	Constituency	Scottish National Party
Angus MacDonald	Falkirk East	Constituency	Scottish National Party
Gordon MacDonald	Edinburgh Pentlands	Constituency	Scottish National Party
Lewis Macdonald	North East Scotland	Regional	Scottish Labour Party
Fulton MacGregor	Coatbridge and Chryston	Constituency	Scottish National Party
Ken Macintosh	West Scotland	Regional	Presiding Officer
Derek Mackay	Renfrewshire North and West	Constituency	Independent
Rona Mackay	Strathkelvin and Bearsden	Constituency	Scottish National Party
Ben Macpherson	Edinburgh North and Leith	Constituency	Scottish National Party
Ruth Maguire	Cunninghame South	Constituency	Scottish National Party
Jenny Marra	North East Scotland	Regional	Scottish Labour Party
Gillian Martin	Aberdeenshire East	Constituency	Scottish National Party
John Mason	Glasgow Shettleston	Constituency	Scottish National Party
Tom Mason	North East Scotland (since 20/06/17)	Regional	Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Michael Matheson	Falkirk West	Constituency	Scottish National Party
Joan McAlpine	South Scotland	Regional	Scottish National Party
Liam McArthur	Orkney	Constituency	Scottish Liberal Democrats
Mark McDonald	Aberdeen Donside	Constituency	Independent
Ivan McKee	Glasgow Provan	Constituency	Scottish National Party
Christina McKelvie	Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse	Constituency	Scottish National Party
Stuart McMillan	Greenock and Inverclyde	Constituency	Scottish National Party
Pauline McNeill	Glasgow	Regional	Scottish Labour Party
Margaret Mitchell	Central Scotland	Regional	Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Edward Mountain	Highlands and Islands	Regional	Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Oliver Mundell	Dumfriesshire	Constituency	Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Alex Neil	Airdrie and Shotts	Constituency	Scottish National Party
Gil Paterson	Clydebank and Milngavie	Constituency	Scottish National Party
Willie Rennie	North East Fife	Constituency	Scottish Liberal Democrats
Shona Robison	Dundee City East	Constituency	Scottish National Party
Gail Ross	Caithness, Sutherland and Ross	Constituency	Scottish National Party
Alex Rowley	Mid Scotland and Fife	Regional	Scottish Labour Party
Mike Rumbles	North East Scotland	Regional	Scottish Liberal Democrats
Mark Ruskell	Mid Scotland and Fife	Regional	Scottish Green Party
Michael Russell	Argyll and Bute	Constituency	Scottish National Party
Anas Sarwar	Glasgow	Regional	Scottish Labour Party
John Scott	Ayr	Constituency	Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Graham Simpson	Central Scotland	Regional	Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Elaine Smith	Central Scotland	Regional	Scottish Labour Party
Liz Smith	Mid Scotland and Fife	Regional	Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Colin Smyth	South Scotland	Regional	Scottish Labour Party
Shirley-Anne Somerville	Dunfermline	Constituency	Scottish National Party
Stewart Stevenson	Banffshire and Buchan Coast	Constituency	Scottish National Party
Alexander Stewart	Mid Scotland and Fife	Regional	Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
David Stewart	Highlands and Islands	Regional	Scottish Labour Party
Kevin Stewart	Aberdeen Central	Constituency	Scottish National Party
Nicola Sturgeon	Glasgow Southside	Constituency	Scottish National Party
John Swinney	Perthshire North	Constituency	Scottish National Party
Maree Todd	Highlands and Islands	Regional	Scottish National Party
Adam Tomkins	Glasgow	Regional	Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
David Torrance	Kirkcaldy	Constituency	Scottish National Party
Maureen Watt	Aberdeen South and North Kincardine	Constituency	Scottish National Party
Annie Wells	Glasgow	Regional	Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Paul Wheelhouse	South Scotland	Regional	Scottish National Party
Sandra White	Glasgow Kelvin	Constituency	Scottish National Party
Brian Whittle	South Scotland	Regional	Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Andy Wightman	Lothian	Regional	Independent
Beatrice Wishart	Shetland	Constituency	Scottish Liberal Democrats
Humza Yousaf	Glasgow Pollok	Constituency	Scottish National Party

Former MSPs

	Member for	Type	Party	Notes
Kezia Dugdale	Lothian	Regional	Scottish Labour Party	Resigned 15 July 2019
Alex Johnstone	North East Scotland	Regional	Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party	Died 7 December 2016
John Lamont	Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire	Constituency	Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party	Resigned 27 April 2017
Douglas Ross	Highlands and Islands	Regional	Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party	Resigned 11 June 2017
Tavish Scott	Shetland	Constituency	Scottish Liberal Democrats	Resigned 15 July 2019
Ross Thomson	North East Scotland	Regional	Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party	Resigned 12 June 2017

Changes

Date	Constituency/region			Note
12 May 2016	West Scotland	Presiding Officer	Labour	Ken Macintosh was elected Presiding Officer and consequently had to renounce his party affiliation.^[4]^[5]
7 December 2016	North East Scotland	Conservative	Conservative	Alex Johnstone died on 7 December 2016, aged 55.^[6] It was announced on 13 December that the Conservatives had nominated Bill Bowman to replace Johnstone.^[7] Bowman was sworn in on 21 December.^[8]
27 April 2017	Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire	Conservative	Conservative	John Lamont resigned his seat, effective 4 May 2017, in order to contest the 2017 UK general election.^[9] This triggered a by-election in his Scottish Parliament seat, which was held on the same day as the UK general election (8 June 2017).^[9] Rachael Hamilton won the seat.
2 May 2017	South Scotland	Conservative	Conservative	Rachael Hamilton resigned her list seat in order to contest the 2017 Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire by-election on 8 June.^[10] She was replaced by Michelle Ballantyne,^[11] who was sworn in on 23 May.^[12]
11 June 2017	Highlands and Islands	Conservative	Conservative	Douglas Ross resigned his seat in the Scottish Parliament, having won election to the UK Parliament in the 2017 general election.^[13] Ross was succeeded by Jamie Halcro Johnston, who was sworn in on 20 June.^[14]
12 June 2017	North East Scotland	Conservative	Conservative	Ross Thomson resigned his seat in the Scottish Parliament, having won election to the UK Parliament in the 2017 general election.^[13] Thomson was succeeded by Tom Mason, who was sworn in on 20 June.^[14]
15 November 2017	Mid Scotland and Fife	Independent	Labour	Alex Rowley was suspended by Labour due to allegations about his conduct.^[15]
16 November 2017	Aberdeen Donside	Independent	SNP	Mark McDonald was suspended by the SNP due to allegations about his conduct,^[16] and he subsequently resigned his membership of the SNP.^[17]
19 December 2017	Mid Scotland and Fife	Labour	Independent	Alex Rowley was reinstated by Labour.^[18]
15 July 2019	Lothian	Labour	Labour	Kezia Dugdale resigned her seat in the Scottish Parliament, taking a job with a think-tank.^[19] Dugale was succeeded by Sarah Boyack.^[19]
15 July 2019	Shetland	Liberal Democrats	Liberal Democrats	Tavish Scott resigned his seat in the Scottish Parliament, taking a job with Scottish Rugby.^[20] This triggered a by-election, which was won Beatrice Wishart.
6 February 2020	Renfrewshire North and West	Independent	SNP	Derek Mackay was suspended by the SNP due to allegations about his conduct.^[21]
24 November 2020	South Scotland	Independent	Conservative	Michelle Ballantyne left the Conservative Party due to disagreements over policy relating to the Covid-19 pandemic.^[22]
18 December 2020	Lothian	Independent	Scottish Green	Andy Wightman resigned from the Scottish Green Party due to disagreements over policy relating to transgender rights.^[23]
11 January 2021	South Scotland	Reform UK	Independent	Michelle Ballantyne joined Reform UK (formerly known as the Brexit Party) and was appointed leader of Reform UK Scotland.^[24]

References

^ "Scottish General Election (Coronavirus) Act 2021". legislation.gov.uk. Retrieved 5 May 2021.
^ Vevers, Den (12 May 2016). "MSPs sworn in as Scottish Parliament resumes business". STV News. Retrieved 29 June 2016.
^ "Queen urges calm in 'challenging world'". BBC News. 2 July 2016. Retrieved 7 July 2016.
^ "Ken Macintosh chosen as Holyrood presiding officer". BBC News. BBC. 12 May 2016. Retrieved 12 May 2016.
^ Brooks, Libby (12 May 2016). "Ken Macintosh elected as presiding officer of Scottish parliament". The Guardian. Retrieved 29 June 2016.
^ "Scottish Conservative MSP Alex Johnstone dies aged 55". BBC News. BBC. 7 December 2016. Retrieved 7 December 2016.
^ "Replacement for late MSP Alex Johnstone announced as Bill Bowman". BBC News. BBC. 13 December 2016. Retrieved 13 December 2016.
^ "New Conservative MSP Bill Bowman takes his oath of allegiance". BBC News. BBC. 21 December 2016. Retrieved 21 December 2016.
^ ^a ^b "Tory MSP to quit Holyrood to stand for Westminster". BBC News. 25 April 2017. Retrieved 25 April 2017.
^ "MSP Rachael Hamilton quits to fight Holyrood by-election". BBC News. BBC. 3 May 2017. Retrieved 3 May 2017.
^ Freeman, Tom (18 May 2017). "Selkirkshire councillor Michelle Ballantyne is new Tory MSP". Holyrood Magazine. Archived from the original on 22 May 2017. Retrieved 18 May 2017.
^ "New Conservative MSP sworn in at Holyrood". BBC News. BBC. 23 May 2017. Retrieved 23 May 2017.
^ ^a ^b "Newly-elected Tory MPs quit Holyrood for Westminster". BBC News. BBC. 13 June 2017. Retrieved 15 June 2017.
^ ^a ^b "Two new Conservative MSPs sworn in at Holyrood". BBC News. BBC. 20 June 2017. Retrieved 20 June 2017.
^ "Labour suspends deputy leader Alex Rowley during conduct probe". BBC News. BBC. 15 November 2017. Retrieved 15 November 2017.
^ "SNP suspends former government minister". BBC News. BBC. 16 November 2017. Retrieved 16 November 2017.
^ "Mark McDonald quits SNP but continues as MSP". BBC News. BBC. 6 March 2018. Retrieved 6 March 2018.
^ "Leonard unveils new Scottish Labour front bench team". BBC News. BBC. 19 December 2017. Retrieved 19 December 2017.
^ ^a ^b "Sarah Boyack to return to Holyrood as Labour MSP". BBC News. BBC. 30 April 2019. Retrieved 30 August 2019.
^ "Former Lib Dem leader Tavish Scott to quit Holyrood". BBC News. BBC. 26 June 2019. Retrieved 30 August 2019.
^ "Derek Mackay: Scottish finance secretary quits over messages to boy". BBC News. BBC. 2 February 2020. Retrieved 2 February 2020.
^ "MSP Michelle Ballantyne quits Scottish Tories". BBC News. BBC. 24 November 2020. Retrieved 25 November 2020.
^ "Andy Wightman quits Scottish Greens over trans rights stance". BBC News. BBC. 18 December 2020. Retrieved 18 December 2020.
^ "Former Tory MSP to lead Scots wing of rebranded Brexit Party". BBC News. BBC. 11 January 2021. Retrieved 17 January 2021.

External links

Scottish Parliament website
Current and previous Members of the Scottish Parliament (MSPs), on the Scottish Parliament website

[1] "Scottish General Election (Coronavirus) Act 2021". legislation.gov.uk. Retrieved 5 May 2021.

[2] Vevers, Den (12 May 2016). "MSPs sworn in as Scottish Parliament resumes business". STV News. Retrieved 29 June 2016.

[3] "Queen urges calm in 'challenging world'". BBC News. 2 July 2016. Retrieved 7 July 2016.

[4] "Ken Macintosh chosen as Holyrood presiding officer". BBC News. BBC. 12 May 2016. Retrieved 12 May 2016.

[5] Brooks, Libby (12 May 2016). "Ken Macintosh elected as presiding officer of Scottish parliament". The Guardian. Retrieved 29 June 2016.

[6] "Scottish Conservative MSP Alex Johnstone dies aged 55". BBC News. BBC. 7 December 2016. Retrieved 7 December 2016.

[7] "Replacement for late MSP Alex Johnstone announced as Bill Bowman". BBC News. BBC. 13 December 2016. Retrieved 13 December 2016.

[8] "New Conservative MSP Bill Bowman takes his oath of allegiance". BBC News. BBC. 21 December 2016. Retrieved 21 December 2016.

[BBC_25Apr2017-9] "Tory MSP to quit Holyrood to stand for Westminster". BBC News. 25 April 2017. Retrieved 25 April 2017.

[10] "MSP Rachael Hamilton quits to fight Holyrood by-election". BBC News. BBC. 3 May 2017. Retrieved 3 May 2017.

[11] Freeman, Tom (18 May 2017). "Selkirkshire councillor Michelle Ballantyne is new Tory MSP". Holyrood Magazine. Archived from the original on 22 May 2017. Retrieved 18 May 2017.

[12] "New Conservative MSP sworn in at Holyrood". BBC News. BBC. 23 May 2017. Retrieved 23 May 2017.

[tory_resignations-13] "Newly-elected Tory MPs quit Holyrood for Westminster". BBC News. BBC. 13 June 2017. Retrieved 15 June 2017.

[halcro-14] "Two new Conservative MSPs sworn in at Holyrood". BBC News. BBC. 20 June 2017. Retrieved 20 June 2017.

[15] "Labour suspends deputy leader Alex Rowley during conduct probe". BBC News. BBC. 15 November 2017. Retrieved 15 November 2017.

[16] "SNP suspends former government minister". BBC News. BBC. 16 November 2017. Retrieved 16 November 2017.

[17] "Mark McDonald quits SNP but continues as MSP". BBC News. BBC. 6 March 2018. Retrieved 6 March 2018.

[18] "Leonard unveils new Scottish Labour front bench team". BBC News. BBC. 19 December 2017. Retrieved 19 December 2017.

[dugdale-19] "Sarah Boyack to return to Holyrood as Labour MSP". BBC News. BBC. 30 April 2019. Retrieved 30 August 2019.

[20] "Former Lib Dem leader Tavish Scott to quit Holyrood". BBC News. BBC. 26 June 2019. Retrieved 30 August 2019.

[21] "Derek Mackay: Scottish finance secretary quits over messages to boy". BBC News. BBC. 2 February 2020. Retrieved 2 February 2020.

[22] "MSP Michelle Ballantyne quits Scottish Tories". BBC News. BBC. 24 November 2020. Retrieved 25 November 2020.

[23] "Andy Wightman quits Scottish Greens over trans rights stance". BBC News. BBC. 18 December 2020. Retrieved 18 December 2020.

[24] "Former Tory MSP to lead Scots wing of rebranded Brexit Party". BBC News. BBC. 11 January 2021. Retrieved 17 January 2021.

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