:Member of the Scottish Parliament

{{Short description|Representatives in the Scottish Parliament (1999– )}}

{{Infobox official post

| post = Member

| body = the Scottish Parliament

| native_name =

| flag =

| flagsize = 150px

| flagborder =

| flagcaption = Flag of Scotland

| insignia =

| insigniasize = 200px

| insigniacaption = Emblem of the Scottish Parliament

| image = File:SPCB - Public entrance at the Scottish Parliament.jpg

| imagesize = 250px

| alt = Palace of Westminster, the meeting place of the members.

| incumbent = 6th Scottish Parliament

| incumbentsince = 13 May 2021

| type =

| status = Active

| department = Scottish Parliament

| style = * The Honourable
(formal)

His Excellency
(diplomatic)

| member_of = Scottish Parliament

| reports_to = Presiding Officer

| residence =

| seat = Scottish Parliament Building

| nominator =

| appointer =

| appointer_qualified =

| termlength = 5 years; renewable

| termlength_qualified =

| constituting_instrument = Constitution of Scotland

| precursor =

| formation = {{start date and age|1999|05|12|df=y|p=y}}

| first = 1st Scottish Parliament

| last = 5th Scottish Parliament

| abolished =

| succession =

| abbreviation = MSP

| unofficial_names =

| salary = £72,192 (incl. allowances) per year

| website = [https://www.parliament.scot/ www.parliament.scot]

}}

Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP; {{langx|gd|Ball Pàrlamaid na h-Alba, BPA}}; {{langx|sco|Memmer o the Scots Pairliament, MSP}}) is the title given to any one of the 129 individuals elected to serve in the Scottish Parliament.

Electoral system

The additional member system produces a form of proportional representation, where each constituency has its own representative, and each region has seats given to political parties to reflect as closely as possible its level of support among voters.{{cite web |url=http://www.gov.scot/About/Information/FAQs |title=About: Information resources: FAQs |publisher=Scottish Government |date=26 June 2012 |access-date=21 September 2014}} Each registered voter is asked to cast 2 votes, resulting in MSPs being elected in one of two ways:

73 are elected as First past the post constituency MSPs and;
56 are elected as Regional additional member MSPs. Seven are elected from each of eight regional groups of constituencies.{{cite web|url=http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/PublicInformationdocuments/HTSPW-240613.pdf |title=How the Scottish Parliament works |publisher=Scottish Parliament |date=July 2013 |access-date=22 July 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140924062438/http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/PublicInformationdocuments/HTSPW-240613.pdf |archive-date=24 September 2014 }}

Types of candidates

With the additional members system, there are 3 ways in which a person can stand to be a MSP:{{cite web |url=http://www.electoralcommission.org.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0014/110075/Key-CA-Scotland-web-and-email.pdf |title=Standing for Scottish Parliamentary election |publisher=Electoral Commission (United Kingdom)|date=February 2011|access-date=21 September 2014}}

a constituency candidate
a candidate named on a party list at the regional election
an individual candidate at the regional election

A candidate may stand both in a constituency and on a regional list. Constituency seats are decided first. Candidates who succeed in being elected to a constituency seat will then have their name removed from the regional list process.{{cite web |url=http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/Research%20briefings%20and%20fact%20sheets/Scottish_Parliament_Electoral_System.pdf |title=Scottish Parliament Fact sheet: Scottish Parliament Electoral System |publisher=Scottish Parliament | date=8 June 2011 |access-date=21 September 2014}}

Elections

All MSP positions become simultaneously vacant for elections held on a five-year cycle. The Scotland Act 1998 as amended by the Fixed-term Parliaments Act 2011 sets out that ordinary general elections for the Scottish Parliament are held on the first Thursday in May, every five years.{{cite web |url=http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/ResearchBriefingsAndFactsheets/Recess_Dissolution_Parliamentary_Years.pdf |title=Scottish Parliament Fact Sheet: Dates of Recess, Dissolution and Parliamentary Years |publisher=Scottish Parliament |date=8 May 2014 |access-date=21 September 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151010125435/http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/ResearchBriefingsAndFactsheets/Recess_Dissolution_Parliamentary_Years.pdf |archive-date=10 October 2015 |df=dmy-all }}

If a vacancy arises at another time, due to death or resignation, then it may be filled in one of two ways, depending on whether the vacancy is for a first-past-the-post constituency MSP or for an additional-member MSP.

A constituency vacancy may be filled by a by-election. An additional-member vacancy may be filled by the next available candidate on the relevant party list. In case there is no next available person, then the vacancy will remain. This situation occurred in April 2014 following the death of Margo MacDonald, independent MSP for the Lothian region.

Title

An MSP is known as Name MSP (Name BPA in Gaelic). For instance, Mike Russell can be entitled either Mike Russell, MSP, or Mìcheal Ruiseal, BPA.

References

Category:Scottish Parliament