Scottish Parliament MSPs with dual mandates would have to give up their job, sacrifice salary under plans
The dual mandate proposals have been praised as a ‘step in the right direction’
MSPs who are also MPs, Lords or councillors could soon have their salaries slashed and be forced to give up one of their jobs.
The Scottish Government’s new Parliamentary Business Minister Graeme Dey set out the proposals to end the practice of dual mandates on Thursday morning.
Dual mandates are when an MSP holds another elected office, such as a local councillor, MP in the House of Commons, or a peer in the House of Lords.
Several MSPs have held dual mandates in the past, including First Minister John Swinney and a number of current MSPs.
The most high-profile recent example is Douglas Ross, who was an MP for Moray and an MSP for the Highlands and Islands up until last year’s general election.
Emma Roddick MSP and Sue Webber MSP were both councillors for a year after they were first elected as Holyrood parliamentarians.
Under the new proposals, those who are MPs and MSPs would have 49 days to “resolve” their dual mandate. This would mean MPs who are planning to run in the 2026 Holyrood election, such as the SNP’s Stephen Flynn and Stephen Gethins, would have to give up their seat in Westminster and trigger a by-election within 49 days.
Mr Dey said this time period should limit by-elections taking place during the school summer holidays.
Peers in the House of Lords would be given just 14 days to do this. Mr Dey said the shorter time period “reflects the unelected nature of the Lords” as no by-election would need to take place if they left.
However, if a councillor was elected, they would be given 372 days to give up this position. The timeframe would be to prevent a “large number” of by-elections happening at the same time.
There are also proposals in place to automatically deduct salaries from MSPs who hold dual mandates.
Ailsa McKeever, from the Scottish Government’s parliament and legislation unit, said: “When we look at MSPs and councillors, we propose their MSP salary is reduced by whatever the base councillor salary is at the time, so people in that situation only receive the equivalent of one salary, the higher of the two.
“This creates consistency and ensures everyone has the same salary limitations in place.”
However, the standards, procedures and public appointments committee was told any top-ups to councillors’ base salary, for example if they hold a senior position within a local authority, would not be affected by this.
Tory Highlands and Islands MSP Edward Mountain said the proposals were a “huge step in the right direction”. Mr Dey said the move also protected MSPs from coming under media scrutiny about their salary.
The proposals were discussed after Mr Flynn, the SNP Westminster leader, initially announced late last year that he intended to stand in the Scottish Parliament elections, but retain his role as MP for Aberdeen South in the House of Commons.
He said he would not accept salaries from both positions. However, Mr Flynn later reversed this decision, saying he had “got it wrong”.
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