Part of the debate – in the Scottish Parliament at on 15 January 2019.
Liam McArthur
Liberal Democrat
1. To ask the Scottish Government what its projections are for the prison population, in light of statistics showing that the Majority are at or above capacity. (S5T-01435)
The term "majority" is used in two ways in Parliament. Firstly a Government cannot operate effectively unless it can command a majority in the House of Commons - a majority means winning more than 50% of the votes in a division. Should a Government fail to hold the confidence of the House, it has to hold a General Election. Secondly the term can also be used in an election, where it refers to the margin which the candidate with the most votes has over the candidate coming second. To win a seat a candidate need only have a majority of 1.
