4Th Scottish Parliament
This is a list of members (MSPs) returned to the fourth Scottish Parliament at the 2011 general election.
Of the 129 MSPs, 73 were elected from first past the post constituencies with a further 56 members being returned from eight regions, each electing seven MSPs as a form of mixed member proportional representation.
| 4th Scottish Parliament | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| |||||
 | |||||
| Overview | |||||
| Legislative body | Scottish Parliament | ||||
| Jurisdiction | Scotland | ||||
| Meeting place | Scottish Parliament Building | ||||
| Term | 11 May 2011 – 24 March 2016 | ||||
| Election | 2011 | ||||
| Government | Second Salmond government First Sturgeon government | ||||
| Members | 129 | ||||
| Presiding Officer | Rt Hon Tricia Marwick | ||||
| First Minister of Scotland | Alex Salmond (2011–14) Nicola Sturgeon (2014–16) | ||||
| Deputy First Minister | Nicola Sturgeon (2011–14) John Swinney (2014–16) | ||||
| Leader of the Opposition | Iain Gray (2011) Johann Lamont (2011–14) Jackie Baillie (2014) Kezia Dugdale (2014–15) Iain Gray (2015) Kezia Dugdale (2015–16) | ||||
The 2011 general election produced an unexpected majority government with the governing Scottish National Party winning 69 seats, to the opposition Scottish Labour Party's 37 (down seven seats from the previous election). First Minister, Alex Salmond went on to form his second government.
Composition
| Party | May 2011 election | March 2016 dissolution | |
|---|---|---|---|
| • | Scottish National Party | 69 | 64 |
| Scottish Labour Party | 37 | 38 | |
| Scottish Conservative Party | 15 | 15 | |
| Scottish Liberal Democrats | 5 | 5 | |
| Scottish Green Party | 2 | 2 | |
| Independents | 1 | 3 | |
| Presiding Officer | 0 | 1 | |
| Total | 129 | 128 | |
| Vacant | 0 | 1 | |
| Government majority | 9 | 1 | |
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 2011 general election and its composition at the time of its dissolution in March 2016:
- Note this is not the official seating plan of the Scottish Parliament.
List of MSPs
This is a list of MSPs at dissolution. The changes table below records all changes in party affiliation during the session. See here a list of MSPs elected in the 2011 election.
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Former MSPs
| Name | Image | Member for | Type | Party | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| John Park |  | Mid Scotland and Fife | Regional | Scottish Labour Party | resigned 7 December 2012 | |
| Brian Adam |  | Aberdeen Donside | Constituency | Scottish National Party | died 25 April 2013 | |
| David McLetchie |  | Lothian | Regional | Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party | died 12 August 2013 | |
| Bill Walker |  | Dunfermline | Constituency | Independent | resigned 7 September 2013 | |
| Helen Eadie |  | Cowdenbeath | Constituency | Scottish Labour Party | died 9 November 2013 | |
| Margo MacDonald |  | Lothian | Regional | Independent | died 4 April 2014 | |
| Richard Baker |  | North East Scotland | Regional | Scottish Labour Party | resigned 11 January 2016 | |
Changes
| Date | Constituency/region | Gain | Loss | Note | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 11 May 2011 | Mid Fife and Glenrothes | Presiding Officer | SNP | Tricia Marwick is elected as the Presiding Officer and had to take voluntary suspension from her party. | ||
| 4 March 2012 | Dunfermline | Independent | SNP | Bill Walker was suspended from the SNP pending an investigation into domestic abuse allegations. | ||
| 23 October 2012 | Highlands and Islands | Independent | SNP | John Finnie resigned from the SNP because of its conference decision on NATO membership. Though he joined the Scottish Green Party in October 2014, Finnie continued to sit as an independent MSP until the end of the parliament. | ||
| 23 October 2012 | Highlands and Islands | Independent | SNP | Jean Urquhart resigned from the SNP because of its conference decision on NATO membership. | ||
| 07 December 2012 | Mid Scotland and Fife | Labour | Labour | John Park resigned as an MSP to take up a full time Trade-Union position, he is replaced by Jayne Baxter. | ||
| 25 April 2013 | Aberdeen Donside | SNP | Brian Adam dies of cancer at age 64, causing a by-election. | |||
| 14/15 May 2013 | North East Scotland | SNP | SNP | Mark McDonald resigns his position as an MSP in order to contest the 2013 Aberdeen Donside by-election. Christian Allard takes up the vacant seat as the next (and final) name on the SNP's list for the region. | ||
| 20 June 2013 | Aberdeen Donside | SNP | Mark McDonald holds the seat for the SNP in the 2013 Aberdeen Donside by-election. | |||
| 12 August 2013 | Lothian | Conservative | Conservative | David McLetchie dies of cancer, aged 61. He was replaced by Cameron Buchanan. | ||
| 7 September 2013 | Dunfermline | Labour | Independent | Bill Walker resigned following his conviction for assault, precipitating a by-election in the constituency. He was replaced by Cara Hilton. | ||
| 9 November 2013 | Cowdenbeath | Labour | Labour | Helen Eadie dies of cancer at age 66, causing a by-election. She was replaced by Alex Rowley. | ||
| 4 April 2014 | Lothian | Independent | Margo MacDonald died, age 70. She had been elected as an independent to a regional seat and therefore no-one could be nominated as a replacement. | |||
| 23 September 2014 | Central Scotland | Independent | SNP | John Wilson resigned from the SNP because of its 2012 conference decision on NATO membership. Though he joined the Scottish Green Party in December 2014, Wilson continued to sit as an independent MSP until the end of the parliament. | ||
| 11 January 2016 | North East Scotland | Labour | Labour | John Wilson resigned to take up a charity role, and was replaced by Lesley Brennan, the next person on the Labour regional list. | ||
References
- Scottish Parliament website
- Current and previous Members of the Scottish Parliament (MSPs), on the Scottish Parliament website
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