Podcasts By The Scottish Parliament

Time to meet your Makar!

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.

How we use Gaelic at the Pàrlamaid na h-Alba

Meet our Gaelic Development Officer, Alasdair, for a chat about the language and how we use it at the Parliament. We're also keen to hear from Gaelic speakers and learners about our latest Language Plan, which is open for consultation here: https://yourviews.parliament.scot/pco/glp2023/. Follow our Gaelic Twitter account here: https://twitter.com/ParlAlba

Parliament‘s powers: what is the public‘s understanding?

In this podcast introduced by Kenneth Gibson MSP, Convener of the Finance and Public Administration Committee, we learn about the public's understanding of powers held by the Scottish Parliament.

Professor Graeme Roy from the University of Glasgow presents key findings of a research project undertaken in collaboration with SPICe - the Parliament's independent research body.

The project also investigated whether better understanding of devolved powers has led to improved parliamentary scrutiny.

First Minister's Questions (FMQs) - 17th June 2020

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon MSP answered questions from opposition party leaders and other MSPs on Wednesday 17th June 2020.

Presiding Officer Ken Macintosh MSP: Parliament's work during the coronavirus outbreak

The Presiding Officer, Ken Macintosh MSP, speaks about the work Parliament has done to ensure MSPs can represent constituents in Parliament during the coronavirus outbreak, and some of the new ways of working coming to Parliament in the next few weeks.

Virtual Leaders' Questions - Thursday 9th April 2020

In the first ever Virtual Leaders' Questions session, opposition party leaders put questions to First Minister Nicola Sturgeon MSP on the Scottish Government's ongoing response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Novel coronavirus COVID-19 update - 17th March 2020

An statement on the coronavirus by the First Minister Nicola Sturgeon MSP, followed by a statement by the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Sport Jeane Freeman MSP.

There follows a range of questions by MSPs answered by all ministers in the Scottish Government.

First Minister's Questions (FMQs) - 5th March 2020

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon MSP answered questions from opposition party leaders and other MSPs on Thursday 5th March 2020.

First Minister's Questions (FMQs) - Thursday 27th February 2020

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon MSP answered questions from opposition party leaders and other MSPs on Thursday 27th February 2020.

Looking at the Scottish Budget for 2020-21

This year's Scottish Budget was presented to the Parliament by Kate Forbes MSP, Minister for Public Finance and Digital Economy  on Thursday 6 February 2020.

Join Allan Campbell and Ross Burnside from the Scottish Parliament Information Centre, SPICe, as they provide an impartial and factual viewpoint about what the Scottish Government has proposed.

Among the topics discussed are the reasons why this year's process is a little different, some of the key terms used in the budget and the changes to tax and expenditure.

Learn more by visiting SPICe's blog.