First Sitting May Be Hit By Lack Of Presiding Officer (from The Herald Election Site)

The Scottish Parliament may be forced to suspend its first sitting of the new session this week because coalition negotiations could prevent new candidates as Presiding Officer from coming forward.

Trish Godman, Labour's current deputy presiding officer, is seen by many as an obvious successor to George Reid but there remains a question mark over whether her party would be prepared to lose her vote, given the astonishingly tight arithmetic of the parliament.

Margo MacDonald, the Independent MSP, yesterday confirmed an interest in the post. She said she did not want to be part of a coalition and was thinking about standing for the position, admitting: "I have been considering it but I don't know whether anybody else would like me to be the Presiding Officer and I need to find that out as well."

George Reid, who presided over the parliament's second four-year term, should return for just one more day, on Wednesday, to oversee the process of MSPs selecting a successor.

But by then there may well be no candidates volunteering to put themselves forward to take over as Presiding Officer, because no party will be prepared to sacrifice a single vote.

There is, therefore, a strong chance that if parliament is not yet in a position to elect a new Presiding Officer by Wednesday, George Reid may be prepared to adjourn the sitting for a few days to allow coalition talks to clarify.

With the 47 SNP MSPs, 17 Liberal Democrats and two Greens making up exactly the 65 seats need to command a majority in the 129-member chamber, none of the MSPs can accept the post of Presiding Officer without jeopardising that arithmetic.

But with Labour keeping their powder dry in case coalition talks break down and they become players again in that process, they, too, may be unwilling to give up one of their own for the post, how-ever much prestige and power it carries.

Talk of Tory leader Annabel Goldie shifting across to the Presiding Officer's chair carries much cross-party support but she has firmly ruled this out.

If an SNP-LibDem-Green coalition is put together, and Labour agree one of their number to go forward for the post, then Ms Godman may yet face competition from her own party's ranks.

However, with LibDem and SNP males serving the first two terms, it may be seen as time for a Labour Presiding Officer and for a woman to fill the post.

Margo is too important on the floor of the house. Let some Tory,Labour or Lib/dem jobsworth take their turn

Go for it Margo! You'd be great - and sort the Holyrood Building numpies out!

www.youscotland.com

Margo is incapable of the neutral role required by Parliament. She is also the least hard-working of MSPs (look at her voting record - even worse than the unmissed Campbell Martin - spending much of her time in her house in Portugal and has made no visible contribution to the work of the Parliament. She might be a ready commentator for journalists on (say) the building, but did not attend the enquiry with any diliigence nor undertake any original research on the subject. She is simply uninformed on too many subjects. A well-known hatred of the prospective new FM, Alex Salmond, absolutely debars her from the role. And in any case her prolix style, partly caused by her illness but mostly her nature, means that any session chaired by her would be chaotic.

Margo is incapable of the neutral role required by Parliament.

She is also the least hard-working of MSPs (look at her voting record - even worse than the unmissed Campbell Martin - spending much of her time in her house in Portugal and has made no visible contribution to the work of the Parliament.

She might be a ready commentator for journalists on (say) the building, but did not attend the enquiry with any diliigence nor undertake any original research on the subject. She is simply uninformed on too many subjects.

A well-known hatred of the prospective new FM, Alex Salmond, absolutely debars her from the role. And in any case her prolix style, partly caused by her illness but mostly her nature, means that any session chaired by her would be chaotic.

The real deadline for all this may not be 28 days, but 14 days, ie a week on Thurs. By then, the first voting period for a First Minister has to be held, and that needs a new Presiding Officer to have been elected.

McLetchie will emerge as PO.

I would be a gross betrayal of those who voted for Margo if she took the job - but then she is a politician.

Love tae see ye in the presiding officer role Margo......but yer too valuable on the floor o' the parliament.
We need the out-of-the-box thinkers ""

Margo is a self-serving egotist with a petty streak a mile wide.

She should do nicely.

Horrible thought that McLetchie could be Presiding Officer after his track record of fiddles and his even more dubious claim to have thrown out Henry McLeish. .. Maybe his history as a lawyer might come back to haunt him with some resignation worth scandals or something like that ... Lets have a good clean Presiding Officer this time .. Margo would be just the ticket.

Horrible thought that McLetchie could be Presiding Officer after his track record of fiddles and his even more dubious claim to have thrown out Henry McLeish. .. Maybe his history as a lawyer might come back to haunt him with some resignation worth scandals or something like that ...

Lets have a good clean Presiding Officer this time .. Margo would be just the ticket.

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