Presiding Officer to step down at Holyrood 2026 election
Alison Johnstone has been in the role since 2021 and was the sixth person – and only the second woman – to hold the position.
She entered politics in 2007 when she was elected as a Scottish Greens councillor in Edinburgh.
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She was then elected as an MSP in 2011, and 10 years later became the first Scottish Greens party member to take up the role of Presiding Officer.
Alison Johnstone (Image: PA) Announcing her decision to step down, Johnstone told The Times that "it was always my intention that this would be my last term in Holyrood".
'I came from a wholly non-political background and got involved in a campaign to save a school playing field," she said.
'I was not in a political party but campaigned for the creation of a Scottish parliament and I then worked as an assistant for Robin Harper, the first-ever Green parliamentarian in the UK elected to the first-ever Scottish parliament.'
Most recently, Johnstone made headlines after she expelled former Scottish Tory leader Douglas Ross from the debating chamber after he refused to follow rules.
Ross tried to bring the matter up a week later, and was slapped down again after he inferred Johnstone had not acted in a "neutral manner".
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Holyrood's Presiding Officer is impartial – when MSPs take up the role, they give up their party affiliation.
They are responsible for chairing meetings in the debating chamber, selecting which questions will be asked at First Minister's Questions, as well as chairing Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body and Parliamentary Bureau meetings.
The Presiding Officer is supported by two deputies – currently Annabelle Ewing (SNP) and Liam McArthur (LibDem).
According to the Scottish Parliament website, the Presiding Officer receives a salary of £130,500.
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