Hannah Mary Goodlad sworn in at Holyrood with Shaetlan oath
HANNAH Mary Goodlad has been officially sworn in as Shetland’s MSP at the Scottish Parliament this morning (Thursday).
Goodlad took the oath before repeating it in Shaetlan during the ceremony at Holyrood, watched on by her new fellow MSPs.
All 129 MSPs are asked to swear allegiance to the King, either by oath or affirmation, firstly in English and then in another language that is meaningful to them if they wish.
There was also another interesting link to Shetland at the ceremony, with the SNP MSPs donning white roses on their outfits.
This is in reference to the “little white rose of Scotland”, a line taken from a poem by Hugh MacDiarmid.
MacDiarmid lived in Whalsay for almost 10 years between 1933 and 1942, and is currently the subject of a landmark exhibition at Shetland Museum and Archives.
Later MSPs will vote on who the next presiding officer for Holyrood will be, with Orkney MSP Liam McArthur putting himself forward.
Goodlad became Shetland’s first ever SNP political representative after a stunning victory at the polls last Friday, winning 47 per cent of the votes in the isles.
In an online post on Wednesday, she said she was taking a little time to get her bearings in Edinburgh before getting down to work.
“I want to get this right from the beginning and that means taking time to establish the right team, the right operating model and the correct ways of working,” she added.
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