What are the differences between Westminster and Holyrood?

They are apples and pears. They really cannot be compared because they are so innately different.

Jamie Stone is the Liberal Democrat MP for Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross and the chair of the House of Commons Petitions Committee.

“You’ve been in both, Jamie, so what’s the difference between the Scottish Parliament and the House of Commons?”

If I had a penny for every time I’d been asked that… 

Right, here goes: the first is formality versus informality. In the Scottish Parliament, where I had the pleasure to work for twelve years, the staff all called me Jamie. In fact, sometimes they would comment in a derogatory way on what they had just heard me say in the Chamber. 

“We’re all Jock Tamson’s bairns.” They’d say. 

In other words, we’re all equal. This was and very much still is the style of the Scottish Parliament. In fact, only the other day when I popped into Holyrood (they still allow me in now and again!) Kirsty behind the bar in the Garden Lobby greeted my appearance with a loud and cheerful, ‘Jamie! What are you doing back here?’. 

If one quote was to typify the Scottish Parliament then that’s it. Indeed, having been a Member since its inception in 1999, I happen to know that when they were being trained, the staff were instructed to address the newly elected MSP’s as Mr, Mrs, Ms and so forth… but never by their first name. I also happen to know that this training fell on deaf ears from the very start. I was Jamie on day one, and still am today. I must admit that’s how I’ve always preferred it. 

In stark contrast, the members of staff in Westminster will never call me Jamie. Every morning when I’m going to the Chamber the doorkeepers in their white bow ties and tailcoats say, ‘Good morning, Mr Stone’. I’ve tried saying, ‘please call me Jamie’, but it hasn’t stuck. 

Don’t get me started on the Chamber… You’d have to pass the smelling salts if anyone dared call me by my name. It’s the Honourable Member for Caithness Sutherland and Easter Ross – and even if somebody did refer to me as Jamie, Hansard would always correct it. It’s a funny old place down here. 

I once arrived a minute late for the start of a statement by Theresa May, when she was Prime Minister. I then dared to try and catch the Speaker’s eye (in other words, indicate that I intended to ask a question). Within minutes, one of the aforementioned doorkeepers appeared with a posh envelope for me. On the back, it said ‘Mr Speaker’s Private Secretary’: 

“As you attended the Chamber tardily for the commencement of the Prime Minister’s statement, Mr Speaker has no intention of calling you for a question.”

Smacky wristy time…

Another big difference is the access to Government Ministers. In Holyrood, you simply cannot help bumping into Scottish Ministers as you walk about the place. There is no hiding for them, and indeed with the boot on the other foot, there is no hiding for an MSP. A good example of this is the offices themselves. In Holyrood, the walls and doors are transparent glass – you simply cannot have anything to hide. To put it plainly, there’s no easy way to shirk your responsibilities. People notice.

In Westminster, how different. Boris Johnson and Liz Truss never really bothered circulating at all. And on the rare occasion when they did, they didn’t seem to know who anyone was. In fact, on the one occasion that Liz Truss did speak to me, she thought I was a Tory MP! Very different indeed. It’s as if the thick old wooden doors in the palace are designed precisely to keep things hidden. 

If you want to buttonhole a Minister or Prime Minister in Westminster, then really your only chance is when it comes to a vote. Only then, you might catch them in one of the two voting lobbies. Apart from that, they’re into their black limousines and away into the night. Indeed, Boris Johnson and Liz Truss would be deeply shocked to think of themselves as being one of ‘Jock Tamson’s bairns’. No no, not them – not alongside the likes of me. Even then, I’m sure the expressions would have to be carefully explained to those untuned to Scottish expressions. 

In closing, it does seem to me that I have been a little harsh on my present workplace, the House of Commons. There is one thing, however, that cannot be taken away. To walk this place, to sit in the same room that Winston Churchill may have sat, or to touch the toe on his statue outside the Chamber and make a wish, is to walk alongside history. Every time I step into Westminster Hall I am both privileged and humbled. I imagine the great people who have stood in the very same spot, and I realise that I am a cog in a much greater democratic machine which has preceded, and will succeed, me. I’m immensely proud of that. That much can never be taken away. 

So when I answer the question I started with, I always use the same formula. They are apples and pears. They really cannot be compared because they are so innately different. It is quite fascinating to experience their different political cultures and I think it’s wonderful that, like us all, they hold very different personalities. All in all, it is an enormous privilege to be elected to either of them. How lucky I’ve been. 

Image credit: Diliff – Creative Commons