Holyrood Presiding Officer Ken Macintosh to quit

Holyrood’s Presiding Officer Ken Macintosh has announced that he is to quit the Scottish Parliament at next year’s election.

Ken Macintosh is standing down

The West of Scotland MSP has been an ever present at Holyrood since the onset of devolution in 1999 and says the Parliament has grown in “confidence and maturity” over the past two decades.

Macintosh was a Labour MSP before giving his party allegiance to sit in the Presiding Officer’s seat. He has held the role since 2016 and has overseen the shift to a hybrid system of part-live and part-virtual debate during the Covid-19 crisis.

“After much reflection, I have decided not to seek re-election to the Scottish Parliament in May next year,” he announced oin social media today.

"It has been an honour to represent the people of East Renfrewshire and the West of Scotland for the last two decades and I would thank you for the trust you have placed in me,” he said.

“The Scottish Parliament has delivered so much since 1999 and has grown in confidence and maturity, but there are clearly many challenges which lie ahead.

"The privilege of being Presiding Officer in this, my now final, term is something I will never forget and I will continue to do what I can to support the Parliament and the hopes and ambitions it sustains for our democracy.”

He was first elected in 1999 to represent the constituency of Eastwood just south of Glasgow. He held the Eastwood seat in the 2003, 2007 and 2011 Scottish Parliamentary elections.

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