Holyrood’s new presiding officer has said he wants to make the Parliament “more enjoyable” – but Kenneth Gibson also warned MSPs there would be “repercussions” if they breach the rules setting out parliamentary behaviour.
Mr Gibson, who had previously served as convener of Holyrood’s Finance Committee, told MSPs he would be “firm” when chairing proceedings “where necessary”.
He spoke after defeating fellow SNP MSPs Clare Haughey and Stuart McMillan, as well as Liberal Democrat Liam McArthur for the post.
Mr Gibson, who previously complained that Holyrood had become “dull”, said: “I intend to be imaginative, I intend to be innovative, but I will also be firm in the chair where necessary.
“I want to make everything somewhat more enjoyable than it has perhaps been in the past.
“It had got dull, so let’s hope that era has come to an end.”
In his time in charge of the Finance Committee he could be critical of the Scottish Government – saying last year that ministers need to put “greater emphasis on longer term financial planning”.
And he said, on Thursday, his election as presiding officer was “probably” an “unexpected” one for the Government.
He was elected into the role – which is similar to that of Speaker in the House of Commons and involves chairing debates at Holyrood along with the weekly clashes of First Minister’s Questions – after three rounds of voting, with Mr McMillan dropping out after the first and Mr McArthur eliminated after the second.
In the final round, he received 74 votes from MSPs, defeating Ms Haughey, who had 54.
Adding he was “basking in my victory”, Mr Gibson told journalists: “One of the things I’m so delighted about is I got support from right across parliamentary chamber, I think that’s really important.
“We’re going to be an inclusive Parliament, but also a Parliament that works for everyone – not just for the people of Scotland outside, but also within.
MSPs have voted Kenneth Gibson as the Presiding Officer of @ScotParl for Session 7.
— Scottish Parliament (@ScotParl) May 14, 2026
“I want to make sure every party feels it’s got a role to play in this Parliament in making it better.”
As well as electing Mr Gibson as the new Presiding Officer, SNP MSP Clare Adamson and Scottish Labour MSP Katy Clark were elected as the two new Deputy Presiding Officers for the five-year parliamentary term.
The ballots came after the 129 MSPs elected in last week’s Scottish elections were all formally sworn in.
With the SNP the largest party at Holyrood, John Swinney was the first to take the oath, declaring as he did that his “primary loyalty” is to the “people of Scotland”.
Next to take the oath was Reform UK’s Scottish leader Malcolm Offord whose party is the joint second largest in the chamber.
With both Reform and Scottish Labour having 17 MSPs, alphabetical order was used to determine which of the two leaders went next.
Lord Offord took his oath, followed by Scottish Labour’s Anas Sarwar.
However, ahead of the ceremony, campaigners at Stand Up To Racism Scotland staged a small demo outside Holyrood, branding Reform as being “racist through and through”.
While the Reform MSPs had already entered the Parliament building before the protesters arrived, Scottish Green co-leaders Gillian Mackay and Ross Greer showed their support as they walked into the building.
The Green co-leaders took their oaths after the party secured its best ever Holyrood result in the election, with Mr Greer declaring their “ultimate loyalty” is “not to King or Crown, but to the people of Scotland”.
Similarly, Ms Mackay said: “My oath is to the people of Scotland, who are sovereign.”
The Scottish Green co-leaders were followed by Scottish Conservative leader, Russell Findlay, and Scottish Liberal Democrat leader, Alex Cole-Hamilton.
MSPs used a variety of languages to take their oaths, with some opting for Gaelic and Doric – a form of Scots spoken in the north east. Others used Arabic, British Sign Language, Dutch, French and Mandarin, Hindi and Polish.
Meanwhile, new Green MSP Q Manivannan, who is originally from India and will have to have a new visa granted to serve a full parliamentary term, described Scotland as being “bonnie, bonnie home”.
