Fortnight POLITICAL INTERVIEW


“I do not treat MSPs as naughty children or to be scolded or reprimanded”


be more nimble, more vocal, more assertive about their own agenda, so there are trade-offs to be had there.” First Minister’s Questions is another ritual


Macintosh says he wants to “reinvigorate”, in the sense that backbenchers are not merely observers to a rammy between the party lead- ers but rather are given their chance. Te new PO is already looking to extend the time allo- cated to FMQs, for instance. “What I’d really like to see, if possible, and this returns to my own belief in parliament, is a move away from the sort of partisan or tribal divisions that it’s very easy to emerge. People vote along party lines and I recognise it is part of politics and part of our discourse, but people do not want to switch on their telly and see politicians shouting at each other, nobody wants that and it doesn’t do anybody any favours.” In a nutshell? “If we could get shorter questions, shorter answers, a bit more respect, a bit less theatrics then that would be ideal.” Knowing that will be a tall order, Macintosh jokes: “You can tell I am an optimist, eh?”


14 www.holyrood.com 23 May 2016


For those who previously didn’t play ball, Marwick’s trademark “wheesht” often echoed round the chamber. “I won’t be using that,” he says. “Tricia was a very good presiding officer and did a lot of things, including bringing the parliament to a certain stage of maturity, which is great, and I’ll be honest if I can be as good as any of the four presiding officers, I’ll be happy. But I’ve got my own style and my own style is a far more collaborative, consensual approach. “Te thing I would suggest most of all that I want to do is I want to treat all


MSPs as not just adults, as individuals, but as people who have as much pride in this parliament as I do. I do not treat MSPs as naughty children or to be scolded or reprimanded… I expect every one of them to be on their best behaviour, to treat each other respectfully and I don’t think I even need to lay down rules to make that happen. I expect them to be like that because they want to be like that and I am going to assume that’s the case rather than assume that they’re actually a bunch of adolescents looking for a chance to misbehave.” Macintosh talks movingly about his father, a headteacher who was asked to stand


as a candidate by three different parties, who would have “loved” the pomp and ceremony set to accompany the official opening of the new session by the Queen. “Do you know, the funny thing is I never asked him which parties, mainly because I didn’t want to disappoint myself,” he says, crediting his mother with his Labour politics. Having resigned his Labour membership to become PO, though, Macin- tosh leaves behind a party that has suffered an electoral collapse after its numbers at Holyrood were almost halved. Is it a blessing in disguise to be cut free? “No, no, it’s not. I’ve got two drivers, one was my Labour values and one is my belief in parliament and devolution, and clearly I’ve had to sacrifice one for the other. But it’s quite clear to me that I can play a role and it’s not difficult. I used to be a BBC journalist and the whole thing about being a journalist at the BBC, I used to do current affairs all the time, is I don’t find it difficult to be objective and to be able to detach myself in that way. I’m not going to pretend, though, it is not painful. I’ve spent a lifetime in the Labour Party and 17 years as a Labour MSP. I’m not going to pretend it’s an easy thing to do but it’s the right thing to do and it’s what people expect. And sometimes, you have to live up to people’s expectations because that is the role, that is the job. I am comfortable in that sense.” ⌜


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