THE Scottish Parliament is due to hear a motion of condolence for Winnie Ewing after she sadly passed away at the end of the last term.
The legendary Scottish independence campaigner and MP, MSP and MEP died aged 93 in June.
Ewing was the mother of two serving SNP MSPs, Fergus and Annabelle Ewing.
She made headlines in 1967 after she won the Hamilton by-election for the SNP, now famously declaring “Stop the World, Scotland wants to get on” after her victory.
And now, MSPs will pay tribute to Ewing on the afternoon of Thursday September 7, during a packed parliamentary week, which will also see First Minister Humza Yousaf outline his first Programme for Government (PfG).
Holyrood has been in recess over the summer but will reconvene on Monday September 4, with committee meetings kicking off business.
It won’t be until Tuesday at 2pm that MSPs will file into the Holyrood chamber, with topical questions up first, before the FM (above) gives a statement on the PfG for 2023-24.
Afterwards, MSPs will debate the content of the policy package until the end of business.
Wednesday 6 September will see politicians, again after 2pm, take part in a Scottish Government-led debate on “Equality within the 2023-24 Programme for Government”.
On Thursday, there will be FMQs as usual and the motion of condolence for Ewing will be heard, followed by a third Scottish Government debate titled “Opportunity within the 2023-24 Programme for Government”.
The parliamentary timetable is subject to change and full timings will be posted on the Scottish Parliament’s website next week.
We told how figures across the political spectrum paid tribute to Ewing after her death earlier this year.
Former first minister Nicola Sturgeon described her as a “master of the art of campaigning”, while Alex Salmond said she was the “most influential Scottish nationalist of the 20th century”.
Scottish Greens co-leader Lorna Slater described Ewing as a “trailblazer” and Scottish Tory leader Douglas Ross called her a “titan of the SNP and wider independence movement”.
Ewing was known as Madame Ecosse, because of her advocacy of Scottish issues while a member of the European Parliament. The term was originally coined by French newspaper Le Monde.
She also presided over the reconvening of the Scottish Parliament in 1999 after almost 300 years.
Alba party leader Salmond led tributes to Ewing at a memorial service held in Inverness in July.
