What your MSPs have prioritised since they were elected

Tracking the performance of your local representatives ahead of next year's election

As MSPs settle into the final parliamentary year of this government, their focus will be turning increasingly to next May’s Holyrood election. With Labour’s polling taking a nosedive since taking power at Westminster and Reform UK making opinion poll gains in Scotland, it promises to be another unpredictable and important election.

It’s certainly been an eventful parliamentary term since we cast our votes in 2021 - from two First Ministerial resignations; defections to Alba, the Lib Dems and Reform; leadership contests and more. But what has been happening behind the headlines and the rhetoric? And what part have Edinburgh’s elected representatives played?

Edinburgh has six constituency MSPs: three SNP, one Labour, one Liberal Democrat and one Alba party member. There are also nine regional MSPs who represent the whole of Lothian. This week, we’ve been checking in on our six constituency MSPs; hang tight for a review on the work of our regional MSPs too!

The Scottish Parliament has passed tonnes of legislation in the past four years. That has included recovery policies during the Covid-19 pandemic; temporary rent controls; changes to education and social care; introducing additional child benefit payments; abolishing juvenile detention centres for under-18s; and allowing local authorities to charge tourist taxes.

The government’s action on climate has ranged from ambitious goals on food systems and circular economy; a mad rush to smooth the impact of the Grangemouth refinery closure; to ditching interim goals for emissions reductions. Its efforts to make the process of obtaining a gender recognition certificate easier for transgender people have been blocked by the UK parliament and sparked vicious debate. It has taken a more critical view than Westminster of Israel’s military campaign and suspected genocide in Gaza; faced criticism for failing to take a strong enough stand against arms companies supplying the Israeli Defence Force; and conversely for failing to sufficiently back the UK defence industry as a shield against Putin.

It would be impossible to track everything that our MSPs have voted on, put forward, rebelled against or promoted amidst four years of government. However, we have tried to pull out the general priorities of these MSPs based on their voting records, and the motions they have put forward to parliament in the last four years. We also asked them all to comment on what we had found. Those who are not quoted unfortunately didn’t respond to our requests.

All on their best behaviour

In terms of individual voting, MSPs have almost always voted with their parties since 2021: SNP and Greens usually vote together, Labour, Liberal Democrats and Conservatives likewise. The Edinburgh MSPs also appear to be particularly obedient - while in general there has been the odd rebellion against party lines, the city’s MSPs are never among those defying the whip. Only the Alba party MSP, Ash Regan, for Edinburgh East is less predictable after her defection from the SNP. Beyond votes on new law, though, MSPs do a lot to draw attention to specific issues, amend proposed laws before they are voted on, and champion what’s happening in their constituencies.

Here’s a look at what they have prioritised over the last four years.

Ash Regan: SNP, then Alba Party: Edinburgh East