MSPs pay tribute to former presiding officer Alex Fergusson

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Alex Fergusson parly picImage source, Scottish Parliament
Image caption,
Sir Alex Fergusson was Holyrood's third presiding officer

MSPs have paid tribute to former Presiding Officer Sir Alex Fergusson, who died in July aged 69.

Sir Alex was MSP for Galloway and West Dumfries, serving as Holyrood's third presiding officer from 2007 to 2011.

Members passed a motion of condolence on Tuesday as his family looked on from the public gallery, and parliament's flags were lowered to half mast.

Current Presiding Officer Ken Macintosh said Sir Alex was "a good friend who made a great mark on this place".

Sir Alex was born in Wigtownshire in 1949, and reared cattle and sheep on his family farm in South Ayrshire for almost 30 years before being elected to Holyrood for the Scottish Conservatives in 1999.

He died at home in July following a short illness.

Scottish Tory leader Ruth Davidson said his death "has left a huge hole" both in her party and the parliament.

She said: "The example and the humanity of Sir Alex Fergusson will stay in our hearts for some time to come. We offer his family our deepest condolences in their loss."

Image caption,
Sir Alex's family were in the Holyrood chamber to hear the tributes

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon led the tributes for the government, saying Sir Alex was "a very special human being".

She added: "It is often said that political parties are like big extended families. That is certainly how I feel about my party. In that spirit, we all recognise that Scottish Conservative members have lost one of their most revered and respected family members.

"However, across the chamber, we have all lost a colleague and a friend who will be noted in future years as having played a pivotal role in the early period of the Scottish Parliament."

Scottish Labour leader Richard Leonard suggested that establishing a new national park in Galloway would be "a fitting legacy" to Sir Alex, thanking his family for "sharing this gentle man with us".

Green co-convener Patrick Harvie thanked Sir Alex for his service to parliament, saying that the former presiding officer was "someone whose humanity and warmth was always evident in how he did the job".

And Lib Dem leader Willie Rennie said he had been "a force for stability in the parliament at a time of great potential instability", during the first term of minority government.

Image caption,
Flags at Holyrood were lowered to half mast ahead of the debate