Holyrood must not “rest on its laurels” after Scots elected the most diverse Parliament ever, the new Presiding Officer has said.
Alison Johnstone said she was “so excited and pleased” to see a more diverse group of MSPs in the Scottish Parliament than ever before.
Last month’s elections saw a record number of women elected, with the proportion of female MSPs increasing to 45%.
That includes women of colour being elected for the first time ever, while Holyrood also has its first MSP who is a permanent wheelchair user.
Despite those achievements, Ms Johnstone said Holyrood must still “continue to strive to have a Parliament that even better represents the people”.
She also said she wanted work to be done to help understand “to what extent that more diverse parliament is engaged in parliamentary business”.
© Jane Barlow/PA WireMs Johnstone explained this could involve looking at “are we hearing 45% of contributions coming from women, are 45% of interventions made by women, or on women”.
She added: “I am not sure to what extent my predecessors looked at this, but I am really keen to make sure that that more diverse parliament has an opportunity to impact on the decisions we take for the people of Scotland.”
Opposition politicians have called for reforms of the Holyrood system, including a recall system for MSPs, so anyone found guilty of misconduct could face expulsion or a by-election; the return of four-year parliamentary terms and reform of the committee process.
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