Alison Johnstone was elected to be the Presiding Officer of the Scottish Parliament’s sixth session following the election in May 2021 when she also relinquished her Green party affiliation. Alison had represented Lothian region as a Green party MSP since 2011 and was an Edinburgh city councillor between 2007 and 2012. Alison is from Edinburgh and lives in the south west of the city. A former East of Scotland 800m and 1500m title holder, Alison is a qualified athletics coach and Board member of Scottish Athletics. She led the Fans First campaign to win football fans the right to buy their clubs; led the fight against fracking by proposing a ban in 2014 when all other parties supported it; and persuaded ministers to make energy efficient housing a national infrastructure priority. Since 2016 her advocacy for a compassionate social security system has led to benefit sanctions not being applied to devolved employment schemes and boosted family incomes by securing a roll out of the Healthier, Wealthier Children programme. She secured an amendment to the Social Security Act to ensure that unnecessary face-to-face assessments will not be required to access disability benefits when these are devolved to the Scottish Parliament. Alison also brought forward legislation to introduce a real ban on fox hunting and protect Scotland’s hares. In one of her first interviews since becoming PO, she outlined her approach to the role and told Holyrood magazine: “I don’t want a sterile, dull chamber but one where we can have robust but courteous debate.”