Scottish Parliament – Nov. 12, 2025 – 5
Better Bus Services (Amendment 2)
Result
✅ Motion passed.
Aye: 81 MSPs
No: 35 MSPs
Absent: 11 MSPs
Abstain: 2 MSPs
Parliamentary analysis
Divided opposition: Government Aye, Opposition dividedThis vote is most similar to a group of votes where the government is proposing a motion, but there is division among opposition MPs/parties in opposing it (but generally, leaning against).
Motion
Motion type: Amendment(?)
The result of the division on amendment S6M-19632.2, in the name of Sue Webber, is: For 35, Against 83, Abstentions 0. S6M-19632.2: As an amendment to motion S6M-19632 in the name of Mark Ruskell (Better Bus Services), leave out from "further agrees" to end and insert "recognises that competition is essential to keeping bus fares fair and reasonable;
calls on the Scottish Government to enhance the reliability and punctuality of bus services through the greater interlinking of timetables and integrated ticketing across bus and rail providers;
agrees that good road surfaces are essential to improve bus services;
notes that communities across Scotland, but particularly in rural areas, struggle to access bus services, and urges the Scottish Government to take action to make buses safer and to expedite the process to remove bus passes from passengers who commit antisocial behaviour."
Original motion(S6M-19632): That the Parliament agrees that communities across Scotland deserve affordable, accessible and reliable bus services;
further agrees that more bus services across Scotland should be run in the public interest to improve services and reduce fares for all passengers;
celebrates that 250 million bus journeys have been taken by young people in Scotland since the introduction of free bus travel for under-22s, and calls on the Scottish Government to expand free bus travel to more young people.
Original motion(S6M-19632): That the Parliament agrees that communities across Scotland deserve affordable, accessible and reliable bus services;
further agrees that more bus services across Scotland should be run in the public interest to improve services and reduce fares for all passengers;
celebrates that 250 million bus journeys have been taken by young people in Scotland since the introduction of free bus travel for under-22s, and calls on the Scottish Government to expand free bus travel to more young people.
Original motion(S6M-19632): That the Parliament agrees that communities across Scotland deserve affordable, accessible and reliable bus services;
further agrees that more bus services across Scotland should be run in the public interest to improve services and reduce fares for all passengers;
celebrates that 250 million bus journeys have been taken by young people in Scotland since the introduction of free bus travel for under-22s, and calls on the Scottish Government to expand free bus travel to more young people.
Original motion(S6M-19632): That the Parliament agrees that communities across Scotland deserve affordable, accessible and reliable bus services;
further agrees that more bus services across Scotland should be run in the public interest to improve services and reduce fares for all passengers;
celebrates that 250 million bus journeys have been taken by young people in Scotland since the introduction of free bus travel for under-22s, and calls on the Scottish Government to expand free bus travel to more young people.
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 | Neutral motion | Absent motion | Turnout | For motion percentage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| All MSPs | 129 | 116 | 81 | 35 | 2 | 11 | 89.92% | 69.83% |
Government counts
| Grouping | MSPs on date | Vote participant count | For motion | Against motion | Neutral motion | Absent motion | Turnout | For motion percentage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Opposition | 66 | 58 | 23 | 35 | 1 | 7 | 87.88% | 39.66% |
| Government | 63 | 58 | 58 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 92.06% | 100.00% |
Party voting counts
| Grouping | MSPs on date | Vote participant count | For motion | Against motion | Neutral motion | Absent motion | Party turnout | For motion percentage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Scottish National Party | 63 | 58 | 58 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 92.06% | 100.00% |
| Labour | 21 | 18 | 18 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 85.71% | 100.00% |
| Liberal Democrat | 5 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 100.00% | 100.00% |
| Independent | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 33.33% | 0.00% |
| Reform UK | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 100.00% | 0.00% |
| Conservative | 28 | 26 | 0 | 26 | 0 | 2 | 92.86% | 0.00% |
| Green | 8 | 7 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 1 | 87.50% | 0.00% |
Voting list
| Person | Party | Vote | Party alignment |
|---|---|---|---|
| Paul O'Kane | Labour | Aye | 100.00% |
| Mark Ruskell | Green | No | 100.00% |
| Tim Eagle | Conservative | No | 100.00% |
| Shona Robison | Scottish National Party | Aye | 100.00% |
| Angus Robertson | Scottish National Party | Aye | 100.00% |
| Carol Mochan | Labour | Aye | 100.00% |
| Davy Russell | Labour | Aye | 100.00% |
| Maree Todd | Scottish National Party | Aye | 100.00% |
| Willie Rennie | Liberal Democrat | Aye | 100.00% |
| Rachael Hamilton | Conservative | No | 100.00% |
| Jenni Minto | Scottish National Party | Aye | 100.00% |
| Craig Hoy | Conservative | No | 100.00% |
| Michael Marra | Labour | Aye | 100.00% |
| Alex Cole-Hamilton | Liberal Democrat | Aye | 100.00% |
| Douglas Lumsden | Conservative | No | 100.00% |
| Bob Doris | Scottish National Party | Aye | 100.00% |
| Liam Kerr | Conservative | No | 100.00% |
| Roz McCall | Conservative | No | 100.00% |
| Graeme Dey | Scottish National Party | Aye | 100.00% |
| Gillian Mackay | Green | No | 100.00% |
| Karen Adam | Scottish National Party | Aye | 100.00% |
| Kaukab Stewart | Scottish National Party | Aye | 100.00% |
| Natalie Don | Scottish National Party | Aye | 100.00% |
| Beatrice Wishart | Liberal Democrat | Aye | 100.00% |
| Fergus Ewing | Scottish National Party | Abstain | 50.00% |
| Emma Roddick | Scottish National Party | Aye | 100.00% |
| Gillian Martin | Scottish National Party | Absent | n/a |
| Monica Lennon | Labour | Absent | n/a |
| Jackie Baillie | Labour | Absent | n/a |
| Murdo Fraser | Conservative | Absent | n/a |
| Audrey Nicoll | Scottish National Party | Aye | 100.00% |
| John Mason | Scottish National Party | Aye | 100.00% |
| Jackson Carlaw | Conservative | No | 100.00% |
| Mark Griffin | Labour | Aye | 100.00% |
| Ariane Burgess | Green | No | 100.00% |
| Graham Simpson | Reform UK | No | 100.00% |
| Baroness Clark | Labour | Aye | 100.00% |
| Shirley-Anne Somerville | Scottish National Party | Aye | 100.00% |
| Marie McNair | Scottish National Party | Aye | 100.00% |
| Neil Bibby | Labour | Aye | 100.00% |
| Annie Wells | Conservative | No | 100.00% |
| Pauline McNeill | Labour | Aye | 100.00% |
| Douglas Ross | Conservative | No | 100.00% |
| Fulton MacGregor | Scottish National Party | Aye | 100.00% |
| Annabelle Ewing | Scottish National Party | Aye | 100.00% |
| Michelle Thomson | Scottish National Party | Aye | 100.00% |
| Christine Grahame | Scottish National Party | Aye | 100.00% |
| Neil Gray | Scottish National Party | Aye | 100.00% |
| Jamie Greene | Liberal Democrat | Aye | 100.00% |
| Lorna Slater | Green | No | 100.00% |
| Emma Harper | Scottish National Party | Aye | 100.00% |
| Jim Fairlie | Scottish National Party | Aye | 100.00% |
| Joe FitzPatrick | Scottish National Party | Aye | 100.00% |
| Stephanie Callaghan | Scottish National Party | Aye | 100.00% |
| Nicola Sturgeon | Scottish National Party | Absent | n/a |
| Jamie Hepburn | Scottish National Party | Aye | 100.00% |
| Alison Johnstone | Green | Absent | n/a |
| Colin Smyth | Independent | Absent | n/a |
| Mercedes Villalba | Labour | Absent | n/a |
| Mairi Gougeon | Scottish National Party | Aye | 100.00% |
| Pam Gosal | Conservative | No | 100.00% |
| Elizabeth Smith | Conservative | No | 100.00% |
| Sue Webber | Conservative | No | 100.00% |
| Richard Lochhead | Scottish National Party | Aye | 100.00% |
| Alex Rowley | Labour | Aye | 100.00% |
| Rona Mackay | Scottish National Party | Aye | 100.00% |
| Martin Whitfield | Labour | Aye | 100.00% |
| Miles Briggs | Conservative | No | 100.00% |
| Rhoda Grant | Labour | Aye | 100.00% |
| Ash Denham | Scottish National Party | Aye | 100.00% |
| Maggie Chapman | Green | No | 100.00% |
| Paul McLennan | Scottish National Party | Aye | 100.00% |
| Edward Mountain | Conservative | No | 100.00% |
| Clare Haughey | Scottish National Party | Aye | 100.00% |
| Foysol Choudhury | Independent | Abstain | n/a |
| Sandesh Gulhane | Conservative | No | 100.00% |
| Collette Stevenson | Scottish National Party | Aye | 100.00% |
| Gordon MacDonald | Scottish National Party | Aye | 100.00% |
| George Adam | Scottish National Party | Aye | 100.00% |
| Siobhian Brown | Scottish National Party | Aye | 100.00% |
| Bill Kidd | Scottish National Party | Aye | 100.00% |
| Elena Whitham | Scottish National Party | Aye | 100.00% |
| Kevin Stewart | Scottish National Party | Aye | 100.00% |
| David Torrance | Scottish National Party | Aye | 100.00% |
| Finlay Carson | Conservative | No | 100.00% |
| Richard Leonard | Labour | Aye | 100.00% |
| Brian Whittle | Conservative | No | 100.00% |
| Fiona Hyslop | Scottish National Party | Aye | 100.00% |
| Màiri McAllan | Scottish National Party | Aye | 100.00% |
| Jackie Dunbar | Scottish National Party | Aye | 100.00% |
| Ruth Maguire | Scottish National Party | Aye | 100.00% |
| Colin Beattie | Scottish National Party | Aye | 100.00% |
| James Dornan | Scottish National Party | Aye | 100.00% |
| Maurice Golden | Conservative | No | 100.00% |
| Daniel Johnson | Labour | Aye | 100.00% |
| Ben Macpherson | Scottish National Party | Aye | 100.00% |
| Russell Findlay | Conservative | Absent | n/a |
| Michael Matheson | Scottish National Party | Absent | n/a |
| Patrick Harvie | Green | No | 100.00% |
| Anas Sarwar | Labour | Aye | 100.00% |
| Paul Sweeney | Labour | Aye | 100.00% |
| Alexander Burnett | Conservative | No | 100.00% |
| Ross Greer | Green | No | 100.00% |
| Stuart McMillan | Scottish National Party | Aye | 100.00% |
| Pam Duncan-Glancy | Labour | Aye | 100.00% |
| Sarah Boyack | Labour | Aye | 100.00% |
| Liam McArthur | Liberal Democrat | Aye | 100.00% |
| Jamie Halcro Johnston | Conservative | No | 100.00% |
| Tess White | Conservative | No | 100.00% |
| Ivan McKee | Scottish National Party | Aye | 100.00% |
| Clare Adamson | Scottish National Party | Aye | 100.00% |
| Angela Constance | Scottish National Party | Aye | 100.00% |
| Alasdair Allan | Scottish National Party | Aye | 100.00% |
| Jenny Gilruth | Scottish National Party | Aye | 100.00% |
| Claire Baker | Labour | Aye | 100.00% |
| Oliver Mundell | Conservative | No | 100.00% |
| Sharon Dowey | Conservative | No | 100.00% |
| Alexander Stewart | Conservative | No | 100.00% |
| Stephen Kerr | Conservative | No | 100.00% |
| Kenneth Gibson | Scottish National Party | Aye | 100.00% |
| Willie Coffey | Scottish National Party | Aye | 100.00% |
| John Swinney | Scottish National Party | Aye | 100.00% |
| Keith Brown | Scottish National Party | Aye | 100.00% |
| Tom Arthur | Scottish National Party | Aye | 100.00% |
| Kate Forbes | Scottish National Party | Aye | 100.00% |
| Meghan Gallacher | Conservative | No | 100.00% |
| Jeremy Balfour | Independent | No | n/a |
| Evelyn Tweed | Scottish National Party | Aye | 100.00% |
| Humza Yousaf | Scottish National Party | Absent | n/a |