Scottish Parliament – June 12, 2025 – 3

A Migration System that Works for Scotland

Result

✅ Motion passed.

Aye: 67 MSPs

No: 42 MSPs

Absent: 20 MSPs

Parliamentary analysis

Strong conflict: Gov proposes

This vote is most similar to a group of votes where the government is proposing a motion and the opposition is strongly opposing it (few defections, high turnout).

This usually suggests an important point of principle, that even if the government is likely to win, is a significant public signal of opposition.

Motion

Motion type: Other(?)

S6M-17906: That the Parliament recognises the contribution to Scotland’s communities, public services and economy by those who have chosen to migrate to Scotland and build their lives here;

notes that stakeholders from multiple sectors across Scotland have expressed significant concerns with the UK Government’s immigration white paper, and that proposals submitted by the Scottish Government to the Home Office were not included in the published paper;

further notes that the Parliament has previously endorsed a motion calling for the development of a differentiated, more flexible migration policy, tailored to meet Scotland’s specific needs;

calls on the UK Government to engage with Scottish Government officials urgently to ensure that the needs of Scotland’s businesses, public services and communities are supported, rather than harmed, by the reforms outlined in the UK immigration white paper, and further calls on the UK Government to ensure that a new youth mobility scheme is designed, with engagement from young people across the UK nations, to be as broad and inclusive as possible, restoring the greatest freedom of movement for young people as can be agreed with the EU.

Motion in TheyWorkForYou

Annotations

No annotations for this decision.

Whip reports

No whip reports for this decision.

Overall counts

Grouping MSPs on date Vote participant count For motion Against motion Absent motion Turnout For motion percentage
All MSPs 129 109 67 42 20 84.50% 61.47%

Government counts

Grouping MSPs on date Vote participant count For motion Against motion Absent motion Turnout For motion percentage
Government 63 57 57 0 6 90.48% 100.00%
Opposition 66 52 10 42 14 78.79% 19.23%

Party voting counts

Grouping MSPs on date Vote participant count For motion Against motion Absent motion Party turnout For motion percentage
Conservative 30 23 0 23 7 76.67% 0.00%
Green 8 6 6 0 2 75.00% 100.00%
Scottish National Party 63 57 57 0 6 90.48% 100.00%
Labour 23 19 0 19 4 82.61% 0.00%
Liberal Democrat 5 4 4 0 1 80.00% 100.00%

Voting list

Download as CSV

Person Party Vote Party alignment
Finlay Carson Conservative No 100.00%
Richard Leonard Labour No 100.00%
Christine Grahame Scottish National Party Aye 100.00%
Kenneth Gibson Scottish National Party Aye 100.00%
Willie Coffey Scottish National Party Aye 100.00%
Fergus Ewing Scottish National Party Aye 100.00%
Gillian Martin Scottish National Party Aye 100.00%
Natalie Don Scottish National Party Aye 100.00%
Daniel Johnson Labour No 100.00%
Evelyn Tweed Scottish National Party Aye 100.00%
Kate Forbes Scottish National Party Aye 100.00%
Meghan Gallacher Conservative No 100.00%
Tom Arthur Scottish National Party Aye 100.00%
Mark Ruskell Green Aye 100.00%
Jackson Carlaw Conservative No 100.00%
Stuart McMillan Scottish National Party Aye 100.00%
Pam Duncan-Glancy Labour No 100.00%
Maree Todd Scottish National Party Aye 100.00%
Carol Mochan Labour No 100.00%
Ariane Burgess Green Aye 100.00%
Liam McArthur Liberal Democrat Aye 100.00%
John Swinney Scottish National Party Absent n/a
Bill Kidd Scottish National Party Aye 100.00%
Elena Whitham Scottish National Party Aye 100.00%
Angela Constance Scottish National Party Aye 100.00%
Alasdair Allan Scottish National Party Aye 100.00%
Alex Rowley Labour Absent n/a
Rachael Hamilton Conservative Absent n/a
Alexander Stewart Conservative Absent n/a
Claire Baker Labour No 100.00%
Douglas Lumsden Conservative No 100.00%
Bob Doris Scottish National Party Aye 100.00%
Michelle Thomson Scottish National Party Aye 100.00%
Roz McCall Conservative No 100.00%
Ruth Maguire Scottish National Party Aye 100.00%
Gillian Mackay Green Aye 100.00%
Lorna Slater Green Aye 100.00%
Kaukab Stewart Scottish National Party Aye 100.00%
Colin Smyth Labour No 100.00%
Alexander Burnett Conservative No 100.00%
Martin Whitfield Labour No 100.00%
Mairi Gougeon Scottish National Party Aye 100.00%
Paul McLennan Scottish National Party Aye 100.00%
Jamie Halcro Johnston Conservative No 100.00%
Graham Simpson Conservative No 100.00%
Sandesh Gulhane Conservative No 100.00%
Alex Cole-Hamilton Liberal Democrat Aye 100.00%
Foysol Choudhury Labour No 100.00%
Murdo Fraser Conservative No 100.00%
Tim Eagle Conservative Absent n/a
Clare Adamson Scottish National Party Absent n/a
Keith Brown Scottish National Party Absent n/a
Paul O'Kane Labour Absent n/a
Liam Kerr Conservative No 100.00%
Fiona Hyslop Scottish National Party Aye 100.00%
Oliver Mundell Conservative No 100.00%
Jamie Greene Liberal Democrat Aye 100.00%
Monica Lennon Labour No 100.00%
Emma Harper Scottish National Party Aye 100.00%
Karen Adam Scottish National Party Aye 100.00%
Emma Roddick Scottish National Party Aye 100.00%
Jackie Baillie Labour No 100.00%
Anas Sarwar Labour No 100.00%
John Mason Scottish National Party Aye 100.00%
Sue Webber Conservative No 100.00%
Mercedes Villalba Labour No 100.00%
Joe FitzPatrick Scottish National Party Aye 100.00%
Jeremy Balfour Conservative No 100.00%
Stephanie Callaghan Scottish National Party Aye 100.00%
Jamie Hepburn Scottish National Party Aye 100.00%
Mark Griffin Labour No 100.00%
Davy Russell Labour No 100.00%
Miles Briggs Conservative No 100.00%
Willie Rennie Liberal Democrat Aye 100.00%
Sarah Boyack Labour No 100.00%
Michael Matheson Scottish National Party Aye 100.00%
Edward Mountain Conservative No 100.00%
Gordon MacDonald Scottish National Party Aye 100.00%
Collette Stevenson Scottish National Party Aye 100.00%
Siobhian Brown Scottish National Party Aye 100.00%
Jenni Minto Scottish National Party Aye 100.00%
Annie Wells Conservative No 100.00%
Jenny Gilruth Scottish National Party Aye 100.00%
Rhoda Grant Labour Absent n/a
Neil Bibby Labour Absent n/a
James Dornan Scottish National Party Absent n/a
Brian Whittle Conservative Absent n/a
Beatrice Wishart Liberal Democrat Absent n/a
Alison Johnstone Green Absent n/a
Stephen Kerr Conservative Absent n/a
Humza Yousaf Scottish National Party Aye 100.00%
Màiri McAllan Scottish National Party Aye 100.00%
Neil Gray Scottish National Party Aye 100.00%
Annabelle Ewing Scottish National Party Aye 100.00%
Sharon Dowey Conservative No 100.00%
Colin Beattie Scottish National Party Aye 100.00%
Graeme Dey Scottish National Party Aye 100.00%
Jackie Dunbar Scottish National Party Aye 100.00%
Jim Fairlie Scottish National Party Aye 100.00%
Maurice Golden Conservative No 100.00%
Audrey Nicoll Scottish National Party Aye 100.00%
Ben Macpherson Scottish National Party Aye 100.00%
Elizabeth Smith Conservative No 100.00%
Pam Gosal Conservative No 100.00%
Rona Mackay Scottish National Party Aye 100.00%
Richard Lochhead Scottish National Party Aye 100.00%
Shona Robison Scottish National Party Aye 100.00%
Paul Sweeney Labour No 100.00%
Angus Robertson Scottish National Party Aye 100.00%
Ash Denham Scottish National Party Aye 100.00%
Maggie Chapman Green Aye 100.00%
Ross Greer Green Aye 100.00%
Clare Haughey Scottish National Party Aye 100.00%
Nicola Sturgeon Scottish National Party Aye 100.00%
Marie McNair Scottish National Party Aye 100.00%
Ivan McKee Scottish National Party Aye 100.00%
Shirley-Anne Somerville Scottish National Party Aye 100.00%
Tess White Conservative No 100.00%
Baroness Clark Labour No 100.00%
Douglas Ross Conservative Absent n/a
Pauline McNeill Labour No 100.00%
Kevin Stewart Scottish National Party Aye 100.00%
David Torrance Scottish National Party Aye 100.00%
Michael Marra Labour No 100.00%
Craig Hoy Conservative No 100.00%
Fulton MacGregor Scottish National Party Absent n/a
Russell Findlay Conservative Absent n/a
George Adam Scottish National Party Absent n/a
Patrick Harvie Green Absent n/a