As the MSP for Edinburgh Southern, Daniel Johnson splits his time between his constituency and the Scottish Parliament, with an average week seeing him juggle his responsibilities to his constituents and his parliamentary duties. As with most of his colleagues, Mondays and Fridays are put aside for local visits and constituency engagement, while Parliament sits from Tuesday to Thursday.
Daniel holds surgeries on Monday, Friday and Saturday mornings and meets with local groups, charities and businesses whenever he can. Given how close his constituency is to the Parliament, he is able to carry out local visits on any day of the week and in the evenings, especially with school parent councils.
In Parliament, the Finance and Public Administration Committee, of which Daniel is Deputy Convener, meets every week.
Daniel also actively takes part in debates in the chamber of the Parliament and poses questions to Scottish Government Ministers including the First Minister. His areas of interest include: education, neuro-diversity, local retail business and justice.
Throughout the week, Daniel holds regular meetings and round-table discussions with third sector groups and organisations linked to improvements in education in schools and universities.
Meetings of Cross Party Groups (CPGs) take place throughout the week. Daniel is convener of the CPG on Social Science and a member of the CPGs on Autism, Families affected by imprisonment, Germany, independent convenience stores, science and technology, towns and town centres, women in enterprise, and women’s justice.
Evenings at Parliament allow Daniel to meet with groups at exhibitions and receptions, along with hosting meetings and members business debates in the chamber to raise awareness about particular issues.
Daniel recently put through a members bill on the protection of retail workers, involving engagement with trade unions, retail stakeholders and the legislation clerks of the Scottish parliament, along with evidence sessions in front of the Economy Committee.