Alison Johnstone was elected for the third time as Green MSP for Lothian in May 2021.
Since the election she has been elected to the post of Parliament Presiding Officer and, as normal, she has suspended her Green membership while in that post. She still continues to represent the people of Lothian.
Alison has represented Lothian region since 2011. She was previously councillor for City of Edinburgh Council for the Meadows/Morningside ward.
Alison is from Edinburgh and lives in the south west of the city. A former East of Scotland 800m and 1500m title holder, Alison is a qualified athletics coach and Board member of Scottish Athletics.
During her time at Holyrood, Alison has held the government to account on social justice, land reform, climate change, pollution, nuclear disarmament and cleaner transport.
She has pioneered the right of fans to buy their football clubs, made warm homes a National Infrastructure Priority, pursued a permanent ban on fracking and coal gasification, and worked to increase powers for Scotland through the Devolution Committee.
Since 2016, her advocacy for a compassionate social security system has led to benefit sanctions not being applied to devolved employment schemes and boosted family incomes by securing a roll out of the Healthier, Wealthier Children programme; she secured an amendment to the Social Security Act to ensure that unnecessary face-to-face assessments will not be required to access disability benefits when these are devolved to the Scottish Parliament.
Alison has brought forward proposals to close loopholes in fox hunting legislation. And in 2020, following huge public support, the Scottish Government agreed to back Alison’s amendment to the Wildlife Bill, ensuring protection for Scotland’s iconic mountain hares.
Contact details
Email:
alison.johnstone.msp@scottishparliament.scot
Phone: 0131 348 5000
Post:
Scottish Parliament, Edinburgh, EH99 1SP
Posts
Greens in Edinburgh congratulate Alison Johnstone on her election as Parliament Presiding Officer
Alison Johnstone’s election comes on top of a record result for the Scottish Greens and is a further sign of how central Green politics now is to Scottish political debate
Their future depends on it
Alison Johnstone on protecting Scotland’s wildlife and why you should vote Green this Thursday.
Imagine if every park had one of these
The Archimedes Screw sounds like something from Greek mythology, but in fact it is a clever device that powers one of our city parks. Alison Johnstone reports…
It’s time for ambitious investment in greener cities
With even the US is investing in its streetscapes – there’s no excuse for Scotland to be left behind on green infrastructure says Alison Johnstone.