Alison Johnstone

Early political involvement Johnstone began to have an interest in politics in the mid-1990s, when she joined the Keep Meggetland Green, a campaign against a proposal for flats to be built on Meggetland Playing Fields. She wrote to politicians to gain attention, with Green politicians Robin Harper and Gavin Corbett the only ones to respond. Although the campaign was unsuccessful, Johnstone attended a Green party conference as a non-member and became more involved in politics. Johnstone was "certain that the Green Party will grow and attract more support as the other parties reveal themselves to lack the ambition to really change course from business as usual when it comes to the crunch". She served alongside Robin Harper, and both were replaced in 2008 as co-conveners by Patrick Harvie and Eleanor Scott.

Member of the Scottish Parliament In the 2011 Scottish Parliament election, Johnstone was elected as an additional member for the Lothian region.

She unsuccessfully contested Edinburgh Central in the 2016 Scottish Parliament election but finished fourth behind the Scottish Conservatives' Ruth Davidson, the Scottish National Party's Alison Dickie and Scottish Labour's Sarah Boyack. She was again returned on the regional list. On 22 May, she was announced as the Scottish Greens spokesperson on Health and Sport, Social Security, Children and Young People.

She served as Co-Leader of the Scottish Greens in the Scottish Parliament, serving with Patrick Harvie from March 2019 to May 2021. In 2020, she introduced a measure to grant protected species status to the mountain hare in Scotland, which was accepted on 17 June 2020.

Johnstone previously represented the Green Party at First Minister's Questions and in September 2019 sketch writer Stephen Daisley commented, "Going by her performance at First Minister's Questions, they [the Greens] should dump the rest and put her in charge full-time. Unlikely as it sounds, she was the star of this week’s FMQs, giving Nicola Sturgeon the toughest time she’s had in parliament in many a week."

Presiding Officer (2021–2026) On 13 May 2021, Johnstone stood unopposed in the election to appoint the 6th Presiding Officer of the Scottish Parliament. A yes/no vote was held on her nomination, and she won with 97 Yes votes, 29 No votes, two abstentions and one spoilt vote. The Presiding Officer is expected to be strictly nonpartisan, so Johnstone resigned her Greens membership to take on the role.

Johnstone is the second woman in the post. The first was Tricia Marwick, who was Presiding Officer from 2011 to 2016. She is also the first Green MSP to serve as Presiding Officer. She is also the second Presiding Officer to be elected unopposed, after George Reid in 2003. This is the first time since the establishment of the Scottish Parliament in 1999 that neither the Presiding Officer nor any of the deputies has been a Labour or Conservative MSP. She said in response to her appointment: “It was a great privilege to be elected Presiding Officer of the Scottish Parliament last May, and it was an honour to be made a Privy Counsellor by Her Majesty The Queen this afternoon. “This appointment is recognition of the important role the Scottish Parliament and the Office of Presiding Officer plays and I am pleased to accept it.”

On 29 May 2025, during First Minister's Questions, Johnstone expelled Conservative MSP Douglas Ross from chambers for the remainder of the day being for disruptive behaviour. Ross had been warned about his behaviour in previous weeks. Upset by being expelled, Mr Ross subsequently made multiple television interviews complaining of bias by Johnstone in her role as Presiding Officer. Douglas Ross was forced to publicly apologise for his behaviour to the Presiding Officer and other MSPs upon his return from one day suspension.

On 23 June 2025, Johnstone announced that she would be stepping down as Presiding Officer at the next election and would not be standing for re-election as an MSP.

Personal life Johnstone has a husband and daughter.