Presiding Officer says she acted in neutral manner as MSP questions impartiality

The Scottish Parliament’s Presiding Officer has told one of its members she acted in a “neutral manner”, after her impartiality was questioned in a tense exchange.

Former Conservative leader Douglas Ross said Alison Johnstone had refused to meet with him after she ejected him from the debating chamber on Thursday last week.

Ms Johnstone made the rare decision to bar Mr Ross from the debating chamber for the rest of the day, following his interjections during a fiery session of First Minister’s Questions.

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

However, this decision led to the Tories accusing the Presiding Officer of “blatant bias” against them.

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.

Mr Ross, an MSP for the Highlands and Islands region, sought to raise the issue again on Tuesday with a point of order.

Questioning Ms Johnstone from the floor, he said: “Following your decision to remove me from the chamber last Thursday, I have made several requests to meet with you to discuss this.

“So far you have refused all requests.”

The Presiding Officer then said Mr Ross’ contribution was “not a point of order” and asked him to sit down.

The Conservative MSP immediately raised another point of order, saying that under parliament’s rules “you must act in a neutral manner”.

After the pair talked over each other, Ms Johnstone said: “I have acted in a neutral manner. I have addressed the point of order on Thursday.

“I am not continuing to have a dialogue about when I am meeting you in the chamber.”

She went on to say she had not specifically received a request to meet with Mr Ross, stating: “I treat all members equally.”

The Presiding Officer rebuffed further attempts from Mr Ross to raise points of order, saying she had to move on to other business.

On Friday, First Minister John Swinney said Ms Johnstone has a difficult job and “always acts impartially” in upholding the parliament’s rules.

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

Later on Tuesday, Mr Ross released a statement saying: “This latest exchange has left me with even greater concerns about the approach taken by the Presiding Officer in the chamber.

“If she or her office are going to repeatedly reject requests for a private meeting, then I have no option but to raise this in parliament.

“Given how she responded, I believe that there are further serious questions for her to answer as a matter of urgency.

“Either the Presiding Officer is completely unaware of these requests being turned down on her behalf, or she has misled parliament and should correct the record.”