In Context: Defections at Holyrood

How common are party defections at the Scottish Parliament? 

It’s not uncommon. However, most defections involve an MSP becoming an independent first and then changing party affiliation. Jamie Greene’s move to the Liberal Democrats is a good example.  

It’s very uncommon for an MSP to change their party affiliation to another sitting party directly. Since 1999, there have only been three defections that did not include an MSP becoming an independent first. In 2006, Scottish Socialist Party MSPs Tommy Sheridan and Rosemary Byrne founded Solidarity and changed their party affiliation at Holyrood. And in October 2023, former government minister, Ash Regan left the SNP and joined the Alba Party.  

How do defections impact party mathematics?  

It’s dependent on the make-up of the parliament. Sometimes a defection can have little effect on a party and its standings in the parliament.  

However, in the case of Jamie Greene, it has had a much bigger impact. The extra seat brings the Lib Dems up to five seats, which means it is now an official parliamentary group. This gives it extra privileges such as a seat on the Scottish Parliament’s Parliamentary Bureau, which is responsible for proposing the business programme each week.

For the Tory leadership, Greene’s departure raises a worry. The party now has 30 MSPs and if it were to fall below this threshold the amount it would receive in leadership allowance would fall from £48,885 to £25,738 - a near 50 per cent decrease. 

How do defectors tend to do in the following election? 

Historically, MSPs who change their party affiliation often face an uphill battle at the next election to keep their seat. While there have been outliers, often defectors lose the organisational support that propelled them to Holyrood. In Greene’s case, he is an MSP for the West Scotland region, an area the Lib Dems haven’t won a seat in since 2007, so it may be wise for him to stand in a different area of the country if he wants to return to Holyrood in 2026. 

Is there a scenario where a defection means an MSP must vacate their seat? 

Just like at Westminster, if an MSP is elected to represent a constituency that seat belongs to them. The voter chooses the candidate, not the party they are affiliated with.  

Some have asked why Greene, who was elected as a Conservative MSP through the West Scotland regional list, hasn’t lost his seat since joining the Lib Dems.  

The answer lies in the Scotland Act. Despite the electorate voting for a party in the regional list portion of the vote, once an MSP has been allocated a space on a party’s list for that parliament, the seat is legally theirs regardless of party affiliation throughout the parliamentary term, and there’s no mechanism for a party to recall or remove an MSP who switches affiliation. 

What does the Scotland Act say? 

The most important section here is section 15. It pertains to the disqualification of membership from the Scottish Parliament. It says the three reasons a seat can be given up are by resignation to the presiding officer, death, or through disqualification.  

An MSP would be disqualified if they hold certain jobs, such as a judge, civil servant, member of the armed forces, police officer, or a member of a certain public body. They would also lose their seat if they became bankrupt or were convicted of a crime and sentenced to more than one year in prison. 

If a seat is vacated for one of the reasons set out in the Scotland Act, how is it filled? 

If an MSP is elected to represent a constituency, a byelection is held and voters pick a new representative via the first-past-the-post system.  

If a list MSP vacates their seat, then the next eligible candidate on the original party’s list usually takes the seat. This has happened twice in the last few years. Scottish Conservative MSPs Roz McCall and Tim Eagle replaced Donald Cameron and Dean Lockhart who both resigned, with Cameron joining the House of Lords and Lockhart pursuing an opportunity in business.  

If no one is left on the list, or if no one on the list for that region wants it, then the seat stays vacant for the rest of the parliament. This happened in 2006, when Scottish Green MSP Chris Ballance resigned and there was no other eligible candidate on the party’s list.

Another example of a seat remaining vacated was when Margo MacDonald died in 2014. As she was an independent MSP and elected through the regional system, there was no list to draw from so the seat remained vacant until the end of the parliament.