THE SNP will not push for one of its MSPs to become the next Presiding Officer - as the party still hopes to achieve an overall majority at Holyrood in the coming parliament.

SNP sources indicated the party would sit out this week’s contest for Presiding Officer, partly because it was right for another party to have a turn, but also to maintain SNP numbers.

The post is politically neutral and requires the holder to cut all links with their former party.

Labour’s Elaine Smith, a deputy presiding officer in the last parliament, yesterday became the first declared candidate for the job.

“I am considering it,” she confirmed to the Sunday Herald last night.

With the SNP having 63 MSPs, just two short of a majority, a government source said there was no appetite to go even lower when by-elections or defections might improve the picture.

Even one more MSP would help the SNP, as it would mean the party would have the same number as the opposition combined and could not be out-voted.

The calculation means Labour, as the only major party yet to provide a Presiding Officer (PO), are odds-on to supply the next one.

The first PO was the LibDem Lord David Steele, the second the SNP’s George Reid, the third the Conservative Alex Fergusson and the fourth the SNP’s Tricia Marwick.

Although she stood down as an MSP in March, Marwick will return to the chamber on Thursday to oversee the election of the next PO.

Also tipped as potential candidates are former Labour leader Johann Lamont, Tory John Scott, who like Smith was a deputy presiding officer, and his fellow Tory Murdo Fraser.

The SNP’s former parliamentary business manager Bruce Crawford, a popular cross-party choice had been tipped for the post, but this now seems unlikely.

The Presiding Officer’s salary is the same as that of a Cabinet Secretary, meaning around £45,000 extra on top of the standard MSP’s pay of £60,000.

Scottish Labour democracy spokesperson Claire Baker said: “We need a Scottish Parliament where the many voices of opposition – from all parties – are heard. As a start, the Presiding Officer and the majority of committee convenerships should not come from the governing party.

“We saw in the last term that SNP dominated committees did not provide anywhere near the level of scrutiny that the Government’s work required. We will work to change that.

“People require confidence that the politicians they elect to serve are giving them the full attention they deserve. That is why we will push for a ban on MSPs holding second jobs, including paid directorships and consultancies.”