Podcasts By The Scottish Parliament

The First Minister fields questions of national importance from Party Leaders in this weekly question time.

Read the full transcript from the Official Report https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/official-report

This episode was recorded ahead of the official Opening Ceremony of the Scottish Parliament, marking the beginning of our seventh session. As has become customary, MSPs invite one person from their local area to join us at Holyrood, to take part in the events of the day. We call these guests our local heroes, as they are selected thanks to the incredible work they do in their communities. All have fascinating stories, and in this episode you'll meet four of them.

The First Minister answers questions from backbench Members in this weekly question time.

A full transcript of this week's First Minister's Questions will be available on the Scottish Parliament website: https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/official-report

Pàdraig MacAoidh (Peter Mackay) is Scotland's Makar, or national poet. He's part of the programme for the Opening Ceremony taking place on 27 June 2026, to officially mark the seventh session of the Scottish Parliament.

He chats to us about the role, his inspiration behind the poem, and what else he's working on at the moment.

The First Minister fields questions of national importance from Party Leaders in this weekly question time.

Read the full transcript from the Official Report https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/official-report