Swinney says Presiding Officer ‘always acts impartially’ after Ross ejected

John Swinney has backed Holyrood’s Presiding Officer after the Scottish Conservatives accused her of bias for kicking their former leader Douglas Ross out of the debating chamber.

Mr Swinney said she “always acts impartially” and upholds the rules of the Scottish Parliament.

During a fiery session of First Minister’s Questions on Thursday, Presiding Officer Alison Johnstone took the rare move of ordering Mr Ross to leave the chamber and barring him for the rest of the day.

She said Mr Ross had “persistently refused” to abide by Holyrood’s standing orders, which make clear MSPs should treat each other courteously.

Her intervention came as Tory MSPs heckled the First Minister as he clashed with Russell Findlay over the Scottish Government’s net zero policies.

But the decision to expel Mr Ross angered his Tory colleagues, who said Ms Johnstone was regularly treating them unfairly.

The Scottish Conservatives said they would be “seeking discussions to reiterate that the Presiding Officer should not show blatant bias”.

Ms Johnstone was elected as a Green MSP, but Holyrood’s Presiding Officer is expected to be neutral and incumbents give up their party affiliation when taking on the role.

The First Minister was asked about the Conservatives’ claims as he visited a distillery near Glasgow on Friday.

Mr Swinney said: “The Presiding Officer has got to make very difficult decisions about the conduct of parliamentary business, and it’s important that at all times – and this is what the presiding presiding officer does at all times – is to reflect the rules and the Standing Orders of parliament.

“I’m absolutely certain that the Presiding Officer exercises that judgement impartially on all occasions.”

Pressed on whether Ms Johnstone is biased in her role, Mr Swinney said: “The Presiding Officer acts impartially on all occasions, and there is absolutely nothing that anybody could suggest otherwise.

“The Presiding Officer has a difficult job to do to make sure that Parliament operates to the rules that parliament itself has directed.

“And I think it’s very clear from the conduct of the Presiding Officer on all occasions that she always acts impartially.”

A Scottish Conservative spokesman said: “We are not at all surprised at John Swinney’s comments. He won’t want anything to change.”