Current MSP: Alex Fergusson (Conservative) [MSP website]
Party Candidate Votes +/– % +/–
Conservative Alex Fergusson * 11071 -1685 36.9 -2.2
SNP Aileen McLeod 10209 -43 34.0 +2.6
Labour Willie Scobie 7954 +157 26.5 +2.6
Liberal Democrat Joe Rosiejak # 763 -806 2.5 -2.3
Majority 862 Turnout 29997 Swing +2.4% CON hold

Unlike Westminster, there is no convention allowing the Presiding Officer to stand again unopposed, not least because that would not work for list MSPs. It did not matter here – Alex Fergusson, who had won as a Conservative before having his arm twisted to become Presiding Officer in 2007, returned to his party and won again, the first ex-Presiding Officer to serve at Holyrood. Aileen McLeod won a seat on the South of Scotland list.

Notes: Given boundary changes since 2007, variations in votes and share between seats with different boundaries would be misleading. We use the Denver figures, essentially a calculation of the 2007 votes cast within 2011 boundaries. More information on this here.

Symbols used:

* – Incumbent
^ – Challenger holding a list seat in previous Parliament
# – Lost deposit