Scottish Parliament – Nov. 19, 2025 – 3
Scotland's Skills System
Result
✅ Motion passed.
Aye: 61 MSPs
No: 57 MSPs
Absent: 11 MSPs
Parliamentary analysis
Strong conflict: Opposition proposesThis vote is most similar to a group of votes where the opposition has proposed a motion and the government is strongly opposing it (few defections, high turnout).
This usually suggests an important point of principle, or that it would have substantive effects if passed.
Motion
Motion type: Other(?)
S6M-19756: That the Parliament believes that Scotland’s skills system is letting down young people and holding back economicgrowth, and further believes that there needs to be a new partnership between education and industry, with better careers advice in schools central to it, and new Scottish industrial pathways to link school subjects to future careers, guaranteed industrialplacements for secondary school pupils including in industry and a clearingsystem for apprenticeships, so that good candidates do not fall out of the system.
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 | 118 | 61 | 57 | 11 | 91.47% | 51.69% |
Government counts
| Grouping | MSPs on date | Vote participant count | For motion | Against motion | Absent motion | Turnout | For motion percentage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Opposition | 66 | 60 | 60 | 0 | 6 | 90.91% | 100.00% |
| Government | 63 | 58 | 1 | 57 | 5 | 92.06% | 1.72% |
Party voting counts
| Grouping | MSPs on date | Vote participant count | For motion | Against motion | Absent motion | Party turnout | For motion percentage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Scottish National Party | 63 | 58 | 1 | 57 | 5 | 92.06% | 1.72% |
| Labour | 21 | 21 | 21 | 0 | 0 | 100.00% | 100.00% |
| Liberal Democrat | 5 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 60.00% | 100.00% |
| Reform UK | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 100.00% | 100.00% |
| Independent | 3 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 66.67% | 100.00% |
| Conservative | 28 | 26 | 26 | 0 | 2 | 92.86% | 100.00% |
| Green | 8 | 7 | 7 | 0 | 1 | 87.50% | 100.00% |
Voting list
| Person | Party | Vote | Party alignment |
|---|---|---|---|
| Marie McNair | Scottish National Party | No | 98.28% |
| Neil Bibby | Labour | Aye | 100.00% |
| Annie Wells | Conservative | Aye | 100.00% |
| George Adam | Scottish National Party | No | 98.28% |
| Siobhian Brown | Scottish National Party | No | 98.28% |
| Pauline McNeill | Labour | Aye | 100.00% |
| Nicola Sturgeon | Scottish National Party | No | 98.28% |
| Russell Findlay | Conservative | Aye | 100.00% |
| Alex Rowley | Labour | Aye | 100.00% |
| Davy Russell | Labour | Aye | 100.00% |
| Pam Duncan-Glancy | Labour | Aye | 100.00% |
| Ariane Burgess | Green | Aye | 100.00% |
| Sarah Boyack | Labour | Aye | 100.00% |
| Willie Rennie | Liberal Democrat | Aye | 100.00% |
| Gillian Mackay | Green | Aye | 100.00% |
| Ben Macpherson | Scottish National Party | No | 98.28% |
| Tom Arthur | Scottish National Party | No | 98.28% |
| Jackie Baillie | Labour | Aye | 100.00% |
| Douglas Lumsden | Conservative | Aye | 100.00% |
| Karen Adam | Scottish National Party | No | 98.28% |
| Joe FitzPatrick | Scottish National Party | No | 98.28% |
| Finlay Carson | Conservative | Aye | 100.00% |
| Richard Leonard | Labour | Aye | 100.00% |
| Bob Doris | Scottish National Party | No | 98.28% |
| Brian Whittle | Conservative | Aye | 100.00% |
| Oliver Mundell | Conservative | Aye | 100.00% |
| Douglas Ross | Conservative | Aye | 100.00% |
| Liam Kerr | Conservative | Aye | 100.00% |
| Roz McCall | Conservative | Aye | 100.00% |
| Graeme Dey | Scottish National Party | No | 98.28% |
| Jackie Dunbar | Scottish National Party | No | 98.28% |
| Alison Johnstone | Green | Absent | n/a |
| Jamie Greene | Liberal Democrat | Absent | n/a |
| John Swinney | Scottish National Party | Absent | n/a |
| Meghan Gallacher | Conservative | Absent | n/a |
| Michael Matheson | Scottish National Party | No | 98.28% |
| Baroness Clark | Labour | Aye | 100.00% |
| Shirley-Anne Somerville | Scottish National Party | No | 98.28% |
| Tess White | Conservative | Aye | 100.00% |
| Ivan McKee | Scottish National Party | No | 98.28% |
| Clare Adamson | Scottish National Party | No | 98.28% |
| Bill Kidd | Scottish National Party | No | 98.28% |
| Elena Whitham | Scottish National Party | No | 98.28% |
| Alasdair Allan | Scottish National Party | No | 98.28% |
| Jenny Gilruth | Scottish National Party | No | 98.28% |
| Paul O'Kane | Labour | Aye | 100.00% |
| Anas Sarwar | Labour | Aye | 100.00% |
| Tim Eagle | Conservative | Aye | 100.00% |
| Elizabeth Smith | Conservative | Aye | 100.00% |
| Rona Mackay | Scottish National Party | No | 98.28% |
| Martin Whitfield | Labour | Aye | 100.00% |
| Graham Simpson | Reform UK | Aye | 100.00% |
| Ross Greer | Green | Aye | 100.00% |
| Maggie Chapman | Green | Aye | 100.00% |
| Rhoda Grant | Labour | Aye | 100.00% |
| Willie Coffey | Scottish National Party | No | 98.28% |
| Emma Harper | Scottish National Party | No | 98.28% |
| Jim Fairlie | Scottish National Party | No | 98.28% |
| Mercedes Villalba | Labour | Aye | 100.00% |
| Keith Brown | Scottish National Party | No | 98.28% |
| Jeremy Balfour | Independent | Aye | n/a |
| Fiona Hyslop | Scottish National Party | No | 98.28% |
| Michelle Thomson | Scottish National Party | No | 98.28% |
| Sharon Dowey | Conservative | Aye | 100.00% |
| Stephen Kerr | Conservative | Aye | 100.00% |
| Colin Beattie | Scottish National Party | No | 98.28% |
| Alex Cole-Hamilton | Liberal Democrat | Absent | n/a |
| Sandesh Gulhane | Conservative | Absent | n/a |
| Rachael Hamilton | Conservative | Aye | 100.00% |
| Gordon MacDonald | Scottish National Party | No | 98.28% |
| Jenni Minto | Scottish National Party | No | 98.28% |
| Kevin Stewart | Scottish National Party | No | 98.28% |
| David Torrance | Scottish National Party | No | 98.28% |
| Michael Marra | Labour | Aye | 100.00% |
| Craig Hoy | Conservative | Aye | 100.00% |
| John Mason | Scottish National Party | No | 98.28% |
| Jackson Carlaw | Conservative | Aye | 100.00% |
| Carol Mochan | Labour | Aye | 100.00% |
| Miles Briggs | Conservative | Aye | 100.00% |
| Maree Todd | Scottish National Party | No | 98.28% |
| Stuart McMillan | Scottish National Party | No | 98.28% |
| Mark Griffin | Labour | Aye | 100.00% |
| Liam McArthur | Liberal Democrat | Aye | 100.00% |
| Jamie Halcro Johnston | Conservative | Aye | 100.00% |
| Monica Lennon | Labour | Aye | 100.00% |
| Lorna Slater | Green | Aye | 100.00% |
| James Dornan | Scottish National Party | No | 98.28% |
| Maurice Golden | Conservative | Aye | 100.00% |
| Kaukab Stewart | Scottish National Party | No | 98.28% |
| Stephanie Callaghan | Scottish National Party | No | 98.28% |
| Jamie Hepburn | Scottish National Party | No | 98.28% |
| Humza Yousaf | Scottish National Party | No | 98.28% |
| Claire Baker | Labour | Aye | 100.00% |
| Fulton MacGregor | Scottish National Party | No | 98.28% |
| Màiri McAllan | Scottish National Party | No | 98.28% |
| Christine Grahame | Scottish National Party | No | 98.28% |
| Emma Roddick | Scottish National Party | Absent | n/a |
| Collette Stevenson | Scottish National Party | Absent | n/a |
| Fergus Ewing | Scottish National Party | Absent | n/a |
| Colin Smyth | Independent | Absent | n/a |
| Angela Constance | Scottish National Party | Absent | n/a |
| Edward Mountain | Conservative | Aye | 100.00% |
| Clare Haughey | Scottish National Party | No | 98.28% |
| Foysol Choudhury | Independent | Aye | n/a |
| Murdo Fraser | Conservative | Aye | 100.00% |
| Mark Ruskell | Green | Aye | 100.00% |
| Patrick Harvie | Green | Aye | 100.00% |
| Mairi Gougeon | Scottish National Party | No | 98.28% |
| Pam Gosal | Conservative | Aye | 100.00% |
| Audrey Nicoll | Scottish National Party | No | 98.28% |
| Sue Webber | Conservative | Aye | 100.00% |
| Richard Lochhead | Scottish National Party | No | 98.28% |
| Shona Robison | Scottish National Party | No | 98.28% |
| Angus Robertson | Scottish National Party | No | 98.28% |
| Alexander Burnett | Conservative | Aye | 100.00% |
| Paul Sweeney | Labour | Aye | 100.00% |
| Ash Denham | Scottish National Party | Aye | 1.72% |
| Paul McLennan | Scottish National Party | No | 98.28% |
| Daniel Johnson | Labour | Aye | 100.00% |
| Gillian Martin | Scottish National Party | No | 98.28% |
| Beatrice Wishart | Liberal Democrat | Aye | 100.00% |
| Natalie Don | Scottish National Party | No | 98.28% |
| Kate Forbes | Scottish National Party | No | 98.28% |
| Evelyn Tweed | Scottish National Party | No | 98.28% |
| Annabelle Ewing | Scottish National Party | No | 98.28% |
| Alexander Stewart | Conservative | Aye | 100.00% |
| Neil Gray | Scottish National Party | No | 98.28% |
| Kenneth Gibson | Scottish National Party | No | 98.28% |
| Ruth Maguire | Scottish National Party | No | 98.28% |