HUNDREDS of people attended a memorial service for former Holyrood presiding officer Sir Alex Fergusson.
The former Conservative MSP died last month after a short illness at the age of 69.
His life was remembered at a service at Kirkcudbright Parish Church, Dumfries and Galloway.
Those attending included Scottish Conservative leader Ruth Davidson, Deputy First Minister John Swinney, current Presiding Officer Ken Macintosh and former presiding officer Lord David Steel.
Scottish Secretary David Mundell said he was honoured to give a eulogy at what he described as a “moving but uplifting” service.
He paid tribute to Fergusson as a “loving husband and family man, true friend, self-identifying amateur politician, devoted constituency MSP, distinguished Presiding Officer of our Scottish Parliament, champion of rural Scotland and the most thoroughly decent man I’ve ever known”.
Flags at the Scottish Parliament were lowered to half-mast as a mark of respect.
Fergusson stood down from Holyrood in 2016 after 17 years as an MSP and was knighted for services to politics and public life in the same year. He served as the Parliament’s third presiding officer from 2007 until 2011.
A hill farmer by trade, he was first elected MSP for the South of Scotland region and later became MSP for Galloway and Upper Nithsdale, redrawn in 2011 as Galloway and West Dumfries.
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