Talk:Member of the Scottish Parliament

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[edit] List MSPs

Can list MSPs defect to another party/or become independent? Astrotrain 19:16, 6 April 2006 (UTC)

'80.192.41.245 15:39, 2 June 2006 (UTC) No, constituency MSPs have their own seats, if they leave a party (through choice or not) then they retain their place, if they have to leave for any reason there will be a by-election, but List seats are "owned" by the parties, so if a list MSP gets kicked out the party or leaves of their own freewill, they'll lose their seat, and the next person on the list will automatically take their place.

Yes. List MSPs can resign the party whip (and take another whip) but if they resign as MSPs, or die, then the seat reverts to the original party or, at least, to the next available candidate on the party list (irrespective, I imagine, of whether that next available candidate is still prepared to accept the whip). The list system, as currently used in Scotland, does not give party whips any more power over list MSPs than they have over constituency MSPs. Whips cannot force MSPs to resign as MSPs by removing the whip. (Sorry I cant immediately quote chapter and verse on this one.) Laurel Bush 17:19, 2 June 2006 (UTC).

So how did Tommy Sheridan and Rosemary Byrne, who were elected on the list, retain their seats when they left the SSP and joined Solidarity?

They did not resign as MSPs. They resigned one whip and took another. It is only when a list MSP dies or resigns as an MSP that the seat transfers to the next available candidate on a party list. In the case of Tommy Sheridan and Rosemary Byrne the relevant list would be SSP, despite the fact that they are now Solidarity. Laurel Bush 12:10, 17 March 2007 (UTC).