Presiding Officer, Alison Johnstone MSP
Alison was elected to the role of Presiding Officer of the Scottish Parliament in May 2021. In this role Alison chairs the Parliamentary Bureau and the Scottish Parliament Corporate Body.
Alison has represented Lothian region in the Scottish Parliament since 2011 and prior to that was a City of Edinburgh Councillor 2007-2012. As an MSP and Councillor Alison campaigned on issues of environmental justice, health and wellbeing, sport, equality human rights and animal welfare.
Kate Forbes, Deputy First Minister and Cabinet Secretary for Economy and Gaelic
Claire Baker MSP
Claire Baker is a Scottish Labour Party and Scottish Co-operative Party Member of the Scottish Parliament for Mid Scotland and Fife, first elected in 2007. She is Labour’s Shadow Minister for Drugs Policy, Convener of the Scottish Parliament’s Economy and Fair Work Committee and a Member of the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body.
Claire has previously been Shadow Cabinet Secretary for Culture, Tourism and External Affairs, Shadow Cabinet Secretary for Justice, Shadow Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs, Food and the Environment and Shadow Minister for Education.
Prior to being elected for the Mid Scotland and Fife region in May 2007, Claire Baker worked in a variety of research and policy posts. This included working as a Research Officer for the Scottish Parliamentary Labour Group, Research Officer for the trade union Amicus and a similar role for the Royal College of Nursing.
Immediately prior to being elected to the Scottish Parliament, she was Policy Manager for the Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations, the umbrella body for charities and community and voluntary organisations in Scotland.
Dr Hina Khan, Executive Director of Space Scotland
Dr Hina Khan has recently taken up the first ever Executive Director role at Space Scotland, a not-for-profit company formed through an industry-led group seeking to develop the space sector in Scotland.
Hina has an extensive background in the space sector, with a PhD in Space Science from the University of Leicester followed by a 10 year research career in space science data analytics from NASA, ESA and UCL. She transitioned to knowledge exchange and business development activity and successfully integrated non-space sectors with space and satellite applications, driving growth in areas of data science, analytics and technology of space applications. Following this, Hina moved into leadership roles, firstly as the Innovation Lead at the Scottish Centre of Excellence in Satellite Applications and then to Spire as the programme lead for a large portfolio of delivering world leading satellite technology development.
Hina also led on Spire UK stakeholder engagement activity, regularly deputising for senior management at key events with Government and UK officials from the space sector. Hina is a Board member for the Global Network on Sustainability In Space (GNOSIS) and was involved in the development workshops which lead to the first ever Space Sustainability Roadmap, in partnership with Space Scotland.