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| Member of the Scottish Parliament | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Scottish Parliament | |
| Abbreviation | MSP |
| Member of | Scottish Parliament |
| Reports to | Presiding Officer |
| Seat | Scottish Parliament Building |
| Term length | 5 years; renewable |
| Constituting instrument | Scotland Act 1998 |
| Formation | 12 May 1999 (26 years ago) (1999-05-12) |
| Salary | £72,192 (incl. allowances) per year |
| Website | www.parliament.scot |
Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP;Scottish Gaelic:Ball Pàrlamaid na h-Alba,BPA;Scots:Memmer o the Scots Pairliament,MSP) is the title given to any one of the 129 individuals elected to serve in theScottish Parliament.
Theadditional member system produces a form ofproportional representation, where each constituency has its own representative, and each region has seats given to political parties to reflect as closely as possible its level of support among voters.[1] Each registered voter is asked to cast 2 votes, resulting in MSPs being elected in one of two ways:
With the additional members system, there are 3 ways in which a person can stand to be a MSP:[3]
A candidate may stand both in a constituency and on a regional list. Constituency seats are decided first. Candidates who succeed in being elected to a constituency seat will then have their name removed from the regional list process.[4]
All MSP positions become simultaneously vacant forelections held on a five-year cycle. TheScotland Act 1998 as amended by theFixed-term Parliaments Act 2011 sets out that ordinary general elections for the Scottish Parliament are held on the first Thursday in May, every five years.[5]
If avacancy arises at another time, due to death or resignation, then it may be filled in one of two ways, depending on whether thevacancy is for afirst-past-the-postconstituency MSP or for an additional-member MSP.
A constituency vacancy may be filled by a by-election. An additional-member vacancy may be filled by the next available candidate on the relevant party list. In case there is no next available person, then the vacancy will remain. This situation occurred in April 2014 following the death ofMargo MacDonald, independent MSP for the Lothian region.
An MSP is known asName MSP (Name BPA in Gaelic). For instance,Mike Russell can be entitled either Mike Russell, MSP, or Mìcheal Ruiseal, BPA.
