Who's Who: An introduction to the new Highlands and Islands list MSPs
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The Highlands and Islands regional list has thrown up a diverse group of representatives for the north.
Though the SNP won all three Highland constituencies it was the Conservatives who swept the list seats, returning a record four MSPs.
Most prominent among them is Scottish Conservative leader Douglas Ross.
“I have lived in the Highlands and Islands and Moray my entire life and I am delighted to be returned to represent this wonderful and diverse part of Scotland," he said after his election.
“It is 44 per cent of the landmass of Scotland, a huge number of different islands and communities all seeking something different from their elected politicians.”
He was joined by Edward Mountain, Jamie Halcro Johnston and Donald Cameron, the latter two having already been a part of Mr Ross’s front bench team.
Mr Mountain said: “My pledge to those people who voted for me and for my party is that in the next five years, that will be the focus of my attention – resolving the issues that people face every day of their lives.”
Alness native Emma Roddick’s election via the regional list makes the 23-year-old SNP member the youngest MSP in the new Scottish Parliament.
She was just a year old when the re-elected Inverness and Nairn constituency MSP Fergus Ewing first took up his seat in 1999.
She said: “Many people I went to school with in Alness have had to move away to afford to live, and I have struggled myself with saving while working and private renting in the Highlands.
"This, along with the fact I represent, on the Highland Council, another area which has one of the highest levels of deprivation in the country means addressing poverty is a central focus of mine.”
Ms Roddick will stay on as councillor until next year’s local government elections, donating her salary to good causes, saying she does not want to put the council through another by-election.
Ariane Burgess will represent the Greens after John Finnie stood down, saying her focus will be on the climate crisis and depopulation.
“It is clear that those who voted for the Greens are aware that the climate and nature emergencies are critical and this is what I want to be working on in Holyrood,” she said.
“One of the things I have heard in this campaign is the concern about rural depopulation and I am absolutely committed to working with communities across the region to make sure that we turn that around and we make this region a place where young people can stay and they don’t feel homeless and they don’t feel they have to move to cities.
“This is an emergency along with climate and nature and I am very well aware of it.”
Labour fared less well than 2016, losing one seat on the list to leave Rhoda Grant as the party’s only Highland representative in Holyrood.
She said: “We love the area that we serve. Taking the issues that affect our region to fight for a better deal for the area, that is something I hope to do.”
