THERE have been confessions of secret poetry writing, invented words, emotional apologies and praise for the opposition.

It’s not been typical times at Holyrood, with MSPs who are bowing out at the election now making their final speeches.

More than 30 have announced they will not be standing again this year, and over a third are from the class of ‘99 who were there on day one of the Scottish Parliament.

As Holyrood prepares to go into recess in less than two weeks’ time, ahead of the election in May, here we look at some of the goodbyes so far.

Gail Ross, SNP MSP for Caithness, Sutherland and Ross

WITH Ross stepping down due to the demands of the job and having to be away from her family, it is of little surprise she urged a change to working practices at Holyrood.

“The Parliament has to have a long hard look at how it encourages people – especially women – to become elected members,” she said.

“There has to be more flexibility in work practices, and remote and virtual working – which I was told was not possible only a month before we were forced into that way of working by the pandemic – must become the norm.

“Otherwise, more people like me and others who will speak in the chamber, and remotely, will be forced into making a decision either to leave or not to stand at all. That is not good for our democracy.”

Ross also confessed that when she sat in the chamber she wrote poems on the subject being debated – and left them in the desk for other MSPs to find.

Sandra White, SNP MSP for Glasgow Kelvin

ONE of the original intakes of MSPs in 1999, in her final speech White recounted the early days of Holyrood as having a “camaraderie” because everyone was a new start and did not know what to expect.

She added: “I will leave it at that and not mention what is happening now or whether the same camaraderie is still there. However, we do get on with others.”

White also said independence is the only way to raise levels of wellbeing and prosperity for the country and that she believed “independence is coming”.

“For the life of me, I cannot see how it can be normal for a country of just under 6 million people to have to wait for a country of more than 60 million people to tell it what it can do,” she said.

“That is not normal, and we need those powers.”

Stewart Stevenson, SNP MSP for Banffshire and Buchan Coast

KNOWN as one of the most colourful characters of Holyrood, Stevenson highlighted how he managed to get a new word officially recognised in the records of the parliament – inspired by having to deal with the huge amount of information stored in the modern world.

He said: “I want to single out the Official Report team for so masterfully converting some of my more obscure contributions into something that approximates readable English, and for being persuaded to accept the majority of my suggested changes to their drafts – especially when they accepted a new word that Bruce Crawford and I created: ‘cumsnuggered’, which is an adjective that means ‘overwhelmed by information’.”

He said he would be departing with a “final ping of my galluses”.

Bruce Crawford, SNP MSP for Stirling

ANOTHER member of the class of ‘99, Crawford criticised “spiteful and nasty comments” being made by MSPs about their fellow parliamentary representatives, particularly on social media.

He added: “Many on the receiving end have been my friends for decades, and I can tell members that I find such comments hurtful and distressing. I genuinely hoped that the pandemic would usher in a kinder and more considered politics. I can only hope that, after the election, the reset button will be pressed and a greater degree of respect will be found – both between MSPs and between the parties, in order that the job of politics can be done as the citizens of Scotland expect from their elected representatives.”

Mark McDonald, independent MSP for Aberdeen Donside

FORMER Scottish Government minister McDonald has sat as an independent after resigning from the SNP in 2017 in the wake of a scandal over inappropriate behaviour.

He spoke of his achievements, including bringing the baby box to Scotland, but said he recognised these would “not be foremost in anyone’s mind”.

“I recognise that I have made poor decisions in my life and, although I have never set out to deliberately cause upset to anyone, the fact that people felt hurt and upset by my actions causes me immense regret and sorrow,” he said.

“Although I have apologised sincerely for those actions, I want to take the opportunity to do so in the chamber: I am sorry.

“I have learned a lot about myself over the past few years, and I hope that I have been able to emerge as a better person as a consequence.”