Meeting of the Parliament 23 March 2016
Thank you. There is a rumour of a sweepstake on when I will start crying during this speech. I am determined that nobody is going to win that.
I thank you all for your very generous words, not just to me but to those who are leaving us, and to those who have sadly left us during this session.
I was honoured to be one of the 129 MSPs who walked together into our Parliament in 1999. When I joined the Scottish National Party in 1985, the prospects for a Scottish Parliament were not promising. Winning the Central Fife constituency seat in 2007, after 15 years of standing and being defeated in the same seat, perhaps showed something of my determination. To be the constituency MSP would have been enough for me, but the privilege of being the Presiding Officer of this Parliament has been the most fulfilling experience of my life.
I am passionate about this Parliament. I have been impartial in this Parliament, but I have never been impartial about this Parliament.
There are many people to thank. First, I thank my family: my husband, Frank, my children, Louise and Steven, and my sisters and brother, who have always been there for me and are here today. I thank my constituency staff throughout, and I thank Karen Newton, my parliamentary secretary from the beginning, for her friendship and for keeping my secrets.
I thank the wonderful, professional staff of this Parliament and all our contractors, many of whom have been with us since 1999 and who have become friends as well as colleagues. I thank Sir Paul Grice, who has led the Parliament throughout with distinction and has been a good friend to many of us.
My special thanks go to my principal private secretary, Billy McLaren, who has been a calming influence and who has, together with Paul Grice, given me wise advice and counsel. All the mistakes that I have made have been my own. My thanks also go to my current private office, Jen Bell and Lynsey Mackay, and their predecessors, and to those in the international relations office. My thanks go especially to Gail Grant, who helped me and looked after me when I was so ill and kept me supplied with tea—I could not have got through it without you.
I thank my deputies, Elaine Smith and John Scott, who have worked hard on your behalf and have given me great support. I thank the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body members who have since 2011 taken brave and bold decisions in the interests of and on behalf of the Parliament and its members.
My constituents of Mid Fife and Glenrothes are wonderful people, and it has been a privilege to be their MSP. I am so proud to have represented the constituency that has been my home for over 40 years.
Seventeen years is but the blink of an eye but, in those short years, the Parliament has grown in stature and in the powers that it has acquired and the powers that it will gain in the future. The Parliament has in that period established itself at the centre of public life, and we have done that together.
The referendum campaign was without doubt the most exciting time in any of our political lives. More than that, it was about the sheer energy of the people and their determination to be central to decisions about their future and the future direction of their country and their Parliament. We owe it to them to make sure that they continue to be so.
There are many memories that I will treasure from my time here. As the former convener of the Waverley Railway (Scotland) Bill Committee, I will never forget the official opening journey on the Borders railway last year, particularly when we passed Stow station, which the committee added as an amendment to the bill. I claim Stow station as my own—Marwick station has a certain ring to it.
Votes for young people at 16, proportional representation for council elections, tolls removed from the Forth and Tay road bridges and the new Forth bridge—those are all issues that I campaigned passionately for.
Scotland has changed since 1999, and it has changed for the better. Who will ever forget the convulsions over the repeal of section 28 or the debates about civil partnerships? A measure of that change came in 2014 with the passing of the equal marriage bill and the joyous scenes in the public gallery and outside, as this Parliament placed itself firmly on the side of equality and what is now mainstream opinion.
Our Parliament has changed, too. It looks different, feels different and is different. In 1999, the Presiding Officer and all the party leaders were men. As I look out from here, I see the first female First Minister, and female leaders of the two main opposition parties. That makes me proud and hopeful for the generations of young women to follow us.
One hundred and twenty-nine of us walked into the Parliament together on that momentous day in 1999 and, now, only 30 of us are seeking re-election to the next Parliament. The baton is being passed to new generations. My hope for them is that they, like us, reach across the party divides and find common ground and friendships.
It has been an honour to serve you and the Parliament as Presiding Officer for the past five years. I have cherished every moment. I promised, on my election as Presiding Officer, that I would do my best—that I would always put the Parliament first. I have.
Like Duncan McNeil, I am going to spend more time with my wonderful grandchildren, Róisin and Odhrán.
I can say that it is goodbye from me, for now. I will be back on 12 May to preside over the selection of your next Presiding Officer.
I close this meeting and the fourth session of the Scottish Parliament.
Meeting closed at 12:57.