'It's a really bad look': Why are there dozens of empty seats in the Scottish Parliament?

It is the weekly opportunity for MSPs to directly question First Minister John Swinney, and for members of the public to watch democratic scrutiny in action.

Yet there has been a familiar theme to FMQs over the past year - a lot of empty seats.

Each of Holyrood’s 129 MSPs has their own chair and desk in the Scottish Parliament debating chamber. Yet consistently since parliament returned from summer recess in September there have been approximately 30 empty seats each week.

Holyrood does not have exact attendance figures to find out how many MSPs are physically missing from FMQs each week as there is no official register taken and MSPs are allowed to dial in remotely.

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A spokesman for the Scottish Parliament said: “MSPs can participate in business either remotely or from the chamber for any item of business, including first minister’s questions.

“This approach supports diversity and inclusion, providing flexibility for MSPs with children, elderly parents, and other caring responsibilities.”

Like a lot of people during the pandemic, MSPs began working remotely during the coronavirus pandemic. However, while this was quickly ditched by Westminster once lockdown was over, the policy has stayed in place in Holyrood.

Around two-thirds of the empty seats in any given week are amongst the SNP benches. In total, there are 60 nationalist MSPs in Scotland, around 46 per cent of the total number.

However this is not something the SNP is particularly worried about - a spokesman for the party said there are many legitimate reasons for MSPs not to attend FMQs.

They said: “A majority of SNP MSPs are consistently present at FMQs every week.

“An individual member may miss individual sessions in the chamber for a whole host of reasons, including illness, bereavement and constituency or other parliamentary commitments.”

Sources from other parties have said some MSPs who are not due to ask any questions at FMQs do not bother attending as they would rather spend that time on other work.

For others, being MIA is understandable as some need to travel over 430 miles to get to the parliament from their constituency. However, many who do represent constituencies and regions further away from the capital often have accommodation arrangements in Edinburgh on taxpayers’ expenses to help them attend parliament.

With only a few months to go until the 2026 Holyrood election, things may be changing.

Graham Simpson MSP, who defected from the Scottish Conservatives to Reform UK in the summer, has a bill going through parliament which may tackle this problem.

Speaking to The Scotsman, he said: “My general view is MSPs don’t actually have to come into parliament at any point during their five years in position and don’t even have to do anything, which is a ludicrous situation.

“In terms of FMQs, that is the showpiece of the week and people should make an effort to be there.

“It is not a good look for the parliament to have so many empty seats.

“It is a really bad look, because even if you don’t get to ask a question, having a full chamber adds to the atmosphere.

“But the public rightly looks down on a half-empty chamber and takes a dim view.”

Mr Graham’s bill is currently at stage two.