Nicola Sturgeon begins by joking that given Douglas Ross did not express his desire to be first minister in the campaign, his standing today could be viewed as a "heroic change of heart".

The SNP leader adds she almost has a sneaky admiration for Willie Rennie and his self-confidence on "throwing his hat into the ring" today.

On a more serious note Ms Sturgeon said her first and driving priority will be to "lead us through the pandemic and lead us to a recovery".

She highlights the recent easing of restrictions but adds: "We know this crisis is not over as the current situation in Moray and in Glasgow reminds us very starkly."

Mr Ross concludes with his hope that the Scottish Parliament rises to the "biggest challenges in weeks, months and years ahead".

He says he hopes his children will look back on today's proceedings with pride - "not because of what their dad was trying to do today, but of what we can all do over next five years".

All 129 MSPs are in a "privileged position", he says, "to improve the lives of people we represent". He adds: "I hope by the end of the session in 2026 we can all look back on our time in office with pride."

Mr Ross says that while the result of the vote may be a "foregone conclusion", the route for the FM is not "set in stone".

He mentions a number of bills the Conservatives would push for including a victims' law - which would include an end to the not proven verdict - and an enterprise bill for Covid recovery.

"Under the SNP, the spirit of enterprise has been stifled," he says, referencing the 11th hour decision to keep Glasgow in level three Covid restrictions when lockdown eased for much of the mainland.

He says: "They are also the bills that we will propose as a strong opposition and a party aspiring to govern our country in the future. Standing for first minister today is a marker of ambition not only for our party, but for Scotland."

Douglas Ross begins his speech with "nostalgia", saying as a young boy he wanted to be a dairy farmer when he grew up and eventually took a job as a cattleman.

He says that had someone told him he would eventually be bidding for votes to become first minister, he "simply would not have believed it".

Then injecting his speech with "some reality", he says: "I know there is more chance of one of my cows fulfilling the nursery rhyme of jumping over the moon than there is of me winning this vote today, but that doesn’t mean we can’t try."

"I stand for first minister today with great hope, but with a liberal dose of realism," continues Mr Rennie.

He tells the chamber: "This country is divided like never before, right down the middle."

The Scottish Lib Dem leader says the country lost out in a divided election "as the chasm grew".

He says he and Anas Sarwar reached out across the constitutional divide in the election campaign, but argues the Conservatives did not.

Mr Rennie insists Boris Johnson is not the United Kingdom and reiterates his vision for Scotland as a liberal country.

Willie Rennie is the first to speak, as it is in alphabetical order.

The Scottish Lib Dem leader says he wants "an open outward looking Scotland, not one that blames its neighbours for our problems."

He says if he were first minister he would "start by putting recovery first".

Mr Rennie stresses the need to focus on mental health waiting lists, Scotland's drug deaths, employment, the NHS, education and climate change.

He says these issues cannot wait behind another debate on the constitution.

The presiding officer gets proceedings under way by explaining how the election of the first minister will take place.

Alison Johnstone says three valid nominations have been received:

• Willie Rennie
• Douglas Ross
• Nicola Sturgeon

Image source, PA Media

New Presiding Officer Alison Johnstone will announce, in alphabetical order, the names of the nominations received for first minister.

Each nominee will then speak for five minutes in support of their candidacy before the voting process begins via the parliament’s digital voting system.

After a candidate is selected, each party leader will be invited to speak for five minutes each, taken in party size (largest party first) with the successful candidate being called to speak last.

The winner will then be formally appointed by the Queen.

Image source, Getty Images

Nicola Sturgeon's continuation in post first has been assured by the result of the election on 6 May - which saw the SNP take more than twice as many seats as its nearest rival, the Conservatives.

She has been a member of the Scottish government since 2007, and will become Scotland's longest-serving first minister in 2022.

Ms Sturgeon has said managing the Covid-19 crisis remains her immediate priority in government. She has been invited to take part in a recovery summit with Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Welsh First Minister Mark Drakeford.

However, she has also signalled her intention to push for a second referendum on Scottish independence later in the five-year term of parliament.

• Read more here

Image source, PA Media

Nicola Sturgeon is set to be formally re-elected first minister of Scotland by a vote of MSPs at Holyrood.

Ms Sturgeon's SNP won 64 of the 129 seats in the parliament at the election on 6 May, one short of a majority.

However, there still needs to be a vote of MSPs before her name is put forward to the Queen to be confirmed in office.

Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Willie Rennie is also standing in the contest, external, with Scottish Conservative leader Douglas Ross also expected to put his name forward.

But neither has any realistic chance of defeating Ms Sturgeon in the vote, which will be held after the candidates make a short speech in the Holyrood chamber.

Ms Sturgeon - who has continued to be the first minister throughout the election period - will then be officially sworn in at the Court of Session on Wednesday, and is widely expected to start appointing ministers to her government later in the week.

• Read more here
• Full details of the results from across Scotland, external
• Scottish election results A-Z, external

Good afternoon and welcome to BBC Scotland's live coverage of the election of the first minister, from 2pm.

MSPs will formally vote for the country's next first minister - with Nicola Sturgeon likely to retain the role.