Holyrood, made browsable

MacDonald, Gordon

Everything we have on one MSP — voting record, motions, questions, committee work, allowances, Hansard contributions, registered interests and career history — pulled together on a single page.

MacDonald, Gordon
MSP profile

MacDonald, Gordon

Former (left at end of session) Scottish National Party Edinburgh Pentlands

Politically, you're most like Lyle, Richard SNP — similarity 81.8/100.

Compare with… Speeches Motions & Q+A
Divisions voted in
2,607
last on 24 Mar 2026
Party alignment
99.8%
0.2% rebellion
Attendance
91.8%
233 "Not Voted" of 2,840 divisions present
Motions lodged
408
269 questions · 0 unanswered
Hansard contributions
3,259
617 chamber · 2,642 committee
Allowances claimed
£195,647
1,093 transactions
Most-discussed topics in Hansard
bill ·105 stage ·103 time ·88 question ·86 housing ·74 portfolio ·60 scrutiny ·45 pre-budget ·34 regional ·30 poverty ·26 city ·26 region ·26
Recent motions & questions
Recent rebellions

Divisions where they voted against their party's majority position.

Motion success

Of the motions they've lodged that went to a vote, how often did the chamber agree.

Lodged
408
Carried
0
Defeated
0
Not divided
408
Closest voting allies

MSPs who voted the same way most often across shared divisions.

Furthest apart on votes

MSPs they vote against most often.

MSPs like this one

Composite of voting agreement, sponsorship overlap, and Hansard topic affinity. Weighted 50 / 25 / 25.

Voice fingerprint

Words and phrases this MSP uses far more often than the chamber average (TF-IDF over their Hansard contributions).

pentlands edinburgh pentlands redford dads dads rock hailes convenience store convenience stores wester hailes broomhouse balerno barracks
Voting drift across sessions

Rebellion rate (vs party majority) per session.

0.3%
S4 · SNP
0.0%
S5 · SNP
0.2%
S6 · SNP
Career arc

Unified timeline: party joinings, seat changes, committee appointments, ministerial roles.

  1. ☷
    Left Net Zero, Energy and Transport Committee
    08 Apr 2026
  2. ☷
    Left Economy and Fair Work Committee
    08 Apr 2026
  3. ⌂
    Stood down from Edinburgh Pentlands (Dissolution)
    08 Apr 2026
  4. –
    Left Scottish National Party
    08 Apr 2026
  5. ☷
    Joined Net Zero, Energy and Transport Committee as Substitute Member
    12 Nov 2025
  6. ☷
    Left Social Justice and Social Security Committee
    19 Jun 2025
  7. ☷
    Left Health, Social Care and Sport Committee
    20 Nov 2024
  8. ☷
    Joined Social Justice and Social Security Committee as Member
    13 Nov 2024
  9. ☷
    Joined Health, Social Care and Sport Committee as Substitute Member
    18 Sep 2024
  10. ☷
    Left Local Government, Housing and Planning Committee
    11 Sep 2024
  11. ☷
    Joined Local Government, Housing and Planning Committee as Member
    06 Mar 2024
  12. ☷
    Left Local Government, Housing and Planning Committee
    05 Mar 2024
  13. ☷
    Joined Local Government, Housing and Planning Committee as Substitute Member
    16 Nov 2023
  14. ☷
    Left Finance and Public Administration Committee
    16 Nov 2023
  15. ☷
    Joined Finance and Public Administration Committee as Substitute Member
    29 Jun 2023
  16. ☷
    Left Social Justice and Social Security Committee
    29 Jun 2023
  17. ☷
    Joined Social Justice and Social Security Committee as Deputy Convener
    27 Apr 2023
  18. ☷
    Left Social Justice and Social Security Committee
    26 Apr 2023
  19. ☷
    Joined Social Justice and Social Security Committee as Member
    18 Apr 2023
  20. ☷
    Joined Economy and Fair Work Committee as Member
    17 Jun 2021
  21. ⌂
    Started representing Edinburgh Pentlands
    06 May 2021
  22. +
    Joined Scottish National Party
    06 May 2021
  23. ☷
    Left Local Government and Communities Committee
    04 May 2021
  24. ☷
    Left Economy, Energy and Fair Work Committee
    04 May 2021
  25. ☷
    Left Standards, Procedures and Public Appointments Committee
    04 May 2021
  26. ⌂
    Stood down from Edinburgh Pentlands (Dissolution)
    04 May 2021
  27. –
    Left Scottish National Party
    04 May 2021
  28. ☷
    Joined Local Government and Communities Committee as Member
    03 Dec 2020
  29. ☷
    Left Finance and Constitution Committee
    25 Feb 2020
  30. ☷
    Joined Finance and Constitution Committee as Member
    03 Sep 2019
  31. ☷
    Left Education and Skills Committee
    03 Sep 2019
  32. ☷
    Joined Economy, Energy and Fair Work Committee as Member
    06 Sep 2018
  33. ☷
    Joined Standards, Procedures and Public Appointments Committee as Substitute Member
    06 Sep 2018
  34. ☷
    Left Finance and Constitution Committee
    06 Sep 2018
  35. ☷
    Left Economy, Jobs and Fair Work Committee
    06 Sep 2018
  36. ☷
    Joined Education and Skills Committee as Member
    24 May 2018
  37. ☷
    Joined Finance and Constitution Committee as Substitute Member
    29 Sep 2016
  38. ☷
    Left Finance Committee
    29 Sep 2016
  39. ☷
    Joined Finance Committee as Substitute Member
    07 Sep 2016
  40. ☷
    Joined Economy, Jobs and Fair Work Committee as Member
    08 Jun 2016

16 earlier events not shown.

Who backs their motions most
Whose motions they back most
Recent contributions to the Official Report
  • First Minister’s Question Time Chamber
    19 Mar 2026
    George Adam deliberately put me off before I started. Sorry.Constituents in the semi-rural areas of my constituency of Edinburgh Pentlands have expressed conce…
  • First Minister’s Question Time Chamber
    19 Mar 2026
    Constituents in the semi-rural areas of my constituency of Edinburgh Paisley—Laughter. Sorry, I mean Edinburgh Pentlands. This is my last contribution—
  • Portfolio Question Time Chamber
    04 Mar 2026
    Deer numbers have doubled since the 1990s and the population is estimated to be close to 1 million. Deer are now so numerous that, even in my constituency of E…
  • Portfolio Question Time Chamber
    04 Mar 2026
    To ask the Scottish Government how proposed changes to deer management policy will affect land use and biodiversity across Scotland. (S6O-05583)
  • Cyber Security and Resilience (Network and Information Systems) Bill (UK Parliament Legislation) Committee
    04 Mar 2026
    Good morning. As you quite rightly said, cabinet secretary, the bill will not come fully into force until 2028, so I am keen to understand what we can do in th…
Committee & government roles

Committee

Allowance — vs. party average (2025)

Per-category claim total for this MSP compared to the average per-MSP total inside their party for the same year. Positive = above party average.

Category MSP Party avg Difference
Office costs £8,901 £7,961 +£940
Engagement costs £1,061 £5,809 −£4,747
Registered interests

30 total · showing most recent.

  • Voluntary · 01 Jun 2021
    From 24 to 25 August 2023 I visited Islay as an office-bearer of the Cross-Party Group on Scotch Whisky. The costs of the visit, including travel, accommodation and hospitality amounted to £495 and w…
  • Voluntary · 01 Jun 2021
    I am a member of Historic Scotland.
  • Voluntary · 01 Jun 2021
    I am a Trustee of Currie Youth Club trading as Currie Community Centre.
  • Voluntary · 01 Jun 2021
    I am the Chair of the CPG on Independent Convenience Stores.
  • Voluntary · 01 Jun 2021
    I am a member of Historic Scotland.
  • Voluntary · 01 Jun 2021
    I am a Trustee of Currie Youth Club trading as Currie Community Centre.
  • Voluntary · 01 Jun 2021
    I am the Chair of the CPG on Independent Convenience Stores.
  • Controlled transactions · 01 Jun 2021
    No registrable interests
Career timeline

Party

Seats