In my role of Presiding Officer, I am responsible, with the support of my Deputies, for representing the Scottish Parliament at home and abroad.  This covers a wide range of duties and takes up a significant part of my time.  The representative role can range from attending Royal functions, receiving delegations from across the world, leading outward Scottish Parliament delegations, and delivering speeches at events within the parliament and across Scotland, as well as at international conferences.  The pictures below provides a flavour of this aspect of our work. Read more about the role.

See also: May 2007-May 2008 | Presiding Officer's Summer Tour 2008 | Scotland Week 2008

2 October 2008: James Wright, the Canadian High Commissioner to the UK, met with the Presiding Officer for a courtesy call.		18 September 2008: Wolfgang Mössinger, German Consul General to Scotland, meeting with Deputy Presiding Officer Alasdair Morgan.		4 September 2008: Deputy Presiding Officer Trish Godman MSP co-hosts the closing ceremony of the Social Enterprise World Forum at the Parliament.
21 August 2008: Denis Healey shares his experience of 'A Life in Politics' with the Presiding Officer and audience at the 2008 Festival of Politics.		20 August 2008: Deputy Presiding Officer Trish Godman MSP, with actor Simon Callow, left, and Patrick Harvie MSP at the Festival of Politics.		7 July 2008: The Presiding Officer chairs the opening ceremony of the 2008 Commonwealth Law Ministers Meeting.
26 June 2008: The High Commissioner of Namibia, George Liswaniso, meets with the Presiding Officer for a courtesy call.		26 June 2008: Veterans are presented with their lapel badges at a reception hosted by the Presiding Officer to mark National Veterans’ Day.		24 June 2008: The Scottish Parliament space mission saltire flag is gifted to the National Museums Scotland by the Presiding Officer.
21 June 2008: The Presiding Officer with pupils from Belmont Academy, Ayr, the winners of the Citizenship Foundation’s 2008 National Youth Parliament Competition.		12 June 2008: The Grand Final of the Donald Dewar Memorial Debating Tournament, hosted by the Presiding Officer.		12 June 2008: The Presiding Officer co-hosts a medal ceremony in recognition of the victims and survivors of the Lancastria disaster on 17 June 1940.
10 June 2008: The Presiding Officer meets with Jan Winkler, the Czech Republic Ambassador to the United Kingdom.		3 June 2008: The Presiding Officer chairs a conference by Scotland's Futures Forum to launch its report Approaches to Alcohol and Drugs in Scotland; A Question of Architecture.