How cross-party cooperation could give cities like Glasgow a stronger voice in Holyrood

This week I am heading to Glasgow’s Old Fruitmarket for the 28th State of the City Economy Conference, the annual gathering of the businesses, institutions, investors and – crucially – people who maintain Glasgow’s position at the heart of Scotland’s biggest city-region economy. It is a good moment to ask an awkward question: how well represented is the city at Holyrood?

Over the last five years, Glasgow’s prominence within both the Scottish Government and parliament has reduced significantly. After the 2021 election, the city’s MSPs included the then first minister, Nicola Sturgeon, a cabinet secretary, two junior ministers and two opposition party leaders. Today, only one cabinet secretary and one junior minister represent Glasgow constituencies, and no party leader serves the city.

Help is on the horizon. At last year’s conference, long before Andy Burnham arrived in No10 with his power-to-the-people agenda, first minister John Swinney committed to legislation that would lay the foundation for a future devolution deal, giving local leaders greater control over skills, planning and economic development. But that is, at best, a medium-term ambition. And while the centre of political gravity will no doubt shift back towards Glasgow one day, the city cannot simply wait. The question is what can be done now, within existing structures, to make sure Glasgow and Scotland’s other cities and regions are heard loud and clear.

Other parliaments do this much better than we do. They create space within the national legislature for representatives of a particular place to gang together across party lines and, where possible, sing from the same hymn sheet.

Westminster is the closest example. All-party parliamentary groups exist for almost every region of England, and for cities including London and Manchester. The Greater Manchester APPG describes its purpose as gathering “political and business leaders to build consensus and drive investment and growth for the benefit of communities throughout the region”.

Holyrood has nothing comparable within its network of cross-party groups. A dedicated CPG for Glasgow is the obvious place to start: a forum where MSPs from across Greater Glasgow discuss the issues affecting the city and champion it in parliament. Between them, those MSPs outnumber some of Holyrood’s opposition parties. Working collectively, they could be a far more influential force.

A CPG would only be a start, though. These groups lack the ability to lead debates in the chamber, with ministers under no obligation to engage with their work. This means MSPs may need to be more creative and ambitious about how they work together.

In the United States, members of Congress are organised into state delegations, with the longest-serving member recognised as dean. At their best, these delegations give members of both parties a route to make joint representations on behalf of their state.

A more radical option would be to follow our Nordic cousins, as so many MSPs are keen to do. In Norway, members of the Storting sit in the chamber by constituency, not by party, so political opponents often find themselves side by side. Now there’s an idea that would set the cat among the pigeons.

None of this needs to wait for a devolution deal. MSPs working with their regional counterparts would be good for communities and good for our politics – exactly the collaborative approach Holyrood was designed to foster. Until new regional structures exist, they should be actively looking for common ground with their opponents, and opportunities to give a stronger voice to the places they represent.

by John Cumming, Senior client manager