When is the Michael Matheson vote? How will the SNP and Greens vote? Will the former health secretary quit?

There are several votes taking place on Wednesday afternoon in Holyrood, the first of which will decide whether Mr Matheson should be suspended in line with the recommendations of the Scottish Parliament’s standards committee, which recently deliberated on the case.

The committee has recommended Mr Matheson should be suspended from Parliament for 27 sitting days for his role in the iPad expenses scandal, which saw the Falkirk MSP rack up an £11,000 bill on a parliamentary device.

Mr Matheson would also have his salary withheld for 54 days if the recommendations are voted through.

What time is the vote on Michael Matheson expected to take place?

Members of the Scottish Parliament will vote on the motion to suspend Mr Matheson and withhold his salary around 3pm, following portfolio questions on health and rural affairs.

Are there any amendments or subsequent votes on Michael Matheson?

There is an amendment to the motion to suspend Mr Matheson, lodged by Deputy First Minister Kate Forbes, which calls on Conservative MSP Annie Wells to resign from the standards committee after making “public pronouncements on this case in advance of the complaint being heard by the committee”, which “runs the risk of the committee report being open to bias and prejudice”.

Following this vote, which is very likely to result in Mr Matheson being suspended from Holyrood, the Scottish Parliament will then vote on a Scottish Conservative motion, lodged by the party’s leader Douglas Ross, calling on Mr Matheson to resign as an MSP.

How will the SNP and Greens vote on Michael Matheson?

The Scottish Greens, whose votes in Holyrood can decide majorities due to the make-up of the Parliament, will be voting to suspend Mr Matheson, but will not be supporting the Scottish Conservatives’ motion.

A spokesperson for the Scottish Greens said: “It remains correct that Mr Matheson is held accountable for his actions and our MSP group will vote for the sanctions excluding him from Parliament and sacrificing his salary.”

The Scottish Greens will also lodge an amendment to the Tory motion seeking to delete calls from the Tories for Mr Matheson to step down, dismissing them as “naked politicking” and “wholly malicious”.

The SNP are also expected to back a Holyrood ban for Mr Matheson, but are calling for an inquiry into parliament’s complaints process.

This is despite First Minister John Swinney previously saying he would not back the sanction, claiming the committee had been "prejudiced" against Mr Matheson.

Will Michael Matheson quit as a MSP?

Mr Matheson has previously said he believed the fairness of the process had been compromised, but he has stressed he will abide by the decision of Parliament.

However, he has repeatedly said he will not stand down as an MSP for Falkirk West. That has not stopped speculation that Mr Matheson could elect to step down if he is officially suspended.

Even if the Tories motion was supported in a vote, it is non-binding and it is unlikely to pass regardless after the Greens said they would not support it.

Why is Michael Matheson facing suspension?

The SNP MSP's iPad was used to set up a wifi hotspot during a family holiday to Morocco in December 2022, during which time he said his children used the hotspot to watch football.

Mr Matheson initially denied there had been any inappropriate use of the device, but later stepped down from his position after it became apparent the bill was not related to parliamentary business.

The standards, procedures and public appointments committee made the decision to suspend Mr Matheson following a damning report from the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body (SPCB), which investigated the former minister’s expenses bill.

The SPCB found Matheson had breached the MSP’s code of conduct, and decided the ex-minister had made an improper claim under the members’ reimbursement scheme, and failed to make sure his iPad’s hotspot ability was not used for non-parliamentary business.

The SPCB also found Mr Matheson “failed to undertake a sufficient level of inquiry” before making the claim.

In deciding whether to sanction Mr Matheson, the standards committee did note the Sim card used in the iPad was outdated, and under a new plan available to members of the Scottish Parliament the bill would have been greatly reduced.

The committee also noted there had been several attempts to replace the Sim card, and that “other steps should have been taken by Parliament”, such as providing a new Sim card by post or cancelling the iPad’s Sim card after the contract was not updated.

However, the committee ruled Mr Matheson’s failure to notify the parliament of his trip to Morocco was “a contributory factor” in the colossal bill.