Newly-elected MSPs have begun arriving at the Scottish Parliament following the results of the election, with some comparing the experience to the “first day of school”.
Representatives who have been elected for the first time, or who are returning after a period outside Holyrood, are being inducted into the building on Monday and Tuesday ahead of the formal swearing-in ceremony on Thursday.
READ MORE: The front pages following the Scottish election
On Monday, 23 new MSPs from across the political parties will be inducted, followed by another 20 on Tuesday.
Scottish Conservative leader Douglass Ross
Newly-elected Edinburgh Central MSP Angus Robertson
Once all members are sworn in on Thursday, the first order of business will be to elect a new Presiding Officer to replace Ken Macintosh.
Among those being inducted on Monday are Scottish Conservative leader Douglas Ross, who is returning to Holyrood after stepping down to become an MP in 2017, and Scottish Greens co-leader, Lorna Slater.
Scottish Green Party's newly elected Lorna Slater (left) and Gillian Mackay (centre) arrive for registration, with party co-leader Patrick Harvie (right)
READ MORE: Date for next Scottish Parliament revealed
Ms Slater tweeted “here we are!” as she arrived, saying there was a “strong first day of school vibe”.
Scottish Conservative's newly elected Meghan Gallacher changes her shoes as she arrives for registration
Scottish National Party's (SNP) newly elected Evelyn Tweed kisses husband Ahsan Khan as she arrives
The election saw two female ethnic minority MSPs elected for the first time: the SNP’s Kaukab Stewart and Pam Gosal for the Tories.
Day 1 at Holyrood Scottish Parliament @ScotParl
— Pam Gosal MSP (@PamGosalMSP) May 10, 2021
Feeling excited, nervous and proud to be the first Indian Sikh @ScotTories MSP🙏🏼 pic.twitter.com/13QzJFu46k
Ms Gosal posted a video message on Twitter saying: “Today is my first day and it will be induction day.
“How am I feeling? I’m feeling excited, nervous. Do you know when it’s that first day at school and you’ve got those butterflies in your stomach?
“That’s how I’m feeling, wish me luck.”
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel