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The Scottish Parliament and law making
The Scottish Parliament and law making

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2.1 The many roles of an MSP

MSPs will become involved in law making and may propose new laws, take part in Chamber debates, participate on Parliamentary Committees, suggest amendments to laws, participate in campaigns to change the law, speak in debates, and ask questions of Government. Their work is varied. Each MSP has an office at the Scottish Parliament and their offices form part of the iconic images of the Scottish Parliament. Box 4 explains this in more detail.

Box 4 MSP accommodation at the Scottish Parliament

The unique façade of the Members’ office accommodation quickly became the first iconic image of Holyrood. The shape of the windows is said to have been inspired by an outline of the Reverend Robert Walker skating on Duddingston Loch taken from Raeburn’s famous painting.

The windows are made from stainless steel and framed in oak, with the oak lattices providing privacy and shade for MSPs. The cladding around the windows is a mosaic of materials, including Kemnay granite from Aberdeenshire and darker granite from South Africa. To break the uniformity of the façade the windows jut out at differing widths and face in both directions.

There are 114 projecting bay windows in total. MSPs occupy 108 of the offices and the others are used as party resource rooms.

Internal image of an MSP think window
Figure 4 Internal image of an MSP think window
External image of an MSP think window
Figure 5 External image of an MSP think window
Description of Members’ office accommodation taken from Scottish Parliament website (Scottish Parliament, 2015)

To learn more about the work of MSPs watch the following short videos.

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In the Parliamentary Chamber
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In Committees
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Out and about
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