Annabelle Ewing
| Annabelle Ewing MSP |
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|---|---|
 |
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| Minister for Community Safety and Legal Affairs | |
| Assumed office 18 May 2016 |
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| Minister for Youth and Women's Employment | |
| In office 21 November 2014 – 18 May 2016 |
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| Preceded by | Angela Constance (as Minister for Youth Employment until 22 April 2014) |
| Deputy Convener of the Scottish Parliament Rural Affairs, Climate Change and Environment Committee |
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| In office 15 June 2011 – 21 November 2014 |
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| Preceded by | John Scott (as Deputy Convener of the Rural Affairs and Environment Committee) |
| Member of the Scottish Parliament for Cowdenbeath |
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| Assumed office 6 May 2016 |
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| Preceded by | Alex Rowley |
| Majority | 3,041 |
| Member of the Scottish Parliament for Mid Scotland and Fife |
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| In office 5 May 2011 – 23 March 2016 |
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| Member of Parliament for Perth |
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| In office 7 June 2001 – 5 May 2005 |
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| Preceded by | Roseanna Cunningham |
| Succeeded by | Constituency abolished |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 20 August 1960 |
| Political party | Scottish National Party |
| Alma mater | University of Glasgow |
| Profession | Lawyer |
| Website | Official website |
Annabelle Janet Ewing[1] (born 20 August 1960) is a Scottish politician, lawyer and Minister for Community Safety and Legal Affairs in the Scottish Government. She is the Scottish National Party (SNP) Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for the Mid Scotland and Fife region. She was formerly the Minister for Youth and Women's Employment 2014−16. She is a former Member of Parliament for Perth 2001−05.
Background
She attended the Craigholme School for Girls in Glasgow and the University of Glasgow, where she graduated with a law degree.
Before becoming an MP, Annabelle Ewing was an European Community competition lawyer in Brussels and ran a small legal practice.
She lives in Perthshire, and is a member of what is perhaps Scottish politics' best-known 'clan'. Her mother is former SNP President, Winnie Ewing, who in the past was a member of three different parliaments - Westminster, the Scottish Parliament and the European Parliament. She is sister to MSP (Member of the Scottish Parliament) Fergus Ewing, and sister-in-law to the late Margaret Ewing, who was also an MSP and a former Westminster MP.
Ewing is a member of both Shelter and Amnesty International. She has been involved in a number of Parliamentary campaigns, including fighting for the rights of Hepatitis C sufferers, and working to gain a public enquiry into the events at Princess Royal Barracks, Deepcut, where James Collinson, a constituent, died on 23 March 2002.
Parliamentarian
Ewing first stood for Parliament, unsuccessfully, in a by-election for Hamilton South in 1999, where she was beaten by Labour's Bill Tynan.
She was elected to the UK Parliament, winning Roseanna Cunningham's old seat in 2001, defeating the Conservative candidate by just 48 votes,[2] giving her the slimmest majority in Scotland. In the 2005 election, following a radical boundary revision, she contested the new constituency of Ochil and South Perthshire, but lost it to the Labour party candidate, Gordon Banks.
She sought to become SNP candidate for Moray in the 27 April 2006 Scottish Parliament by-election to succeed her late sister-in-law, Margaret Ewing, but was defeated by North East Scotland MSP Richard Lochhead[3] who went on to win the seat in the by-election.
She was later selected to contest the Falkirk East seat in the 2007 election on behalf of the SNP as a replacement for the previously selected candidate, the late Douglas Henderson. On 3 May 2007 she achieved a 9% swing from Labour to the SNP in Falkirk East, however this was not enough to displace the incumbent Cathy Peattie.
She contested Ochil and South Perthshire for a second time at the 2010 election, failing again to take it from Gordon Banks, this time on an increased (4%) swing away from the SNP to Labour. At the 2011 election Ewing was elected to the Scottish Parliament as an additional member for the Mid Scotland and Fife region.
She is famed due to an incident that occurred on 16 December 2004, whereby the Deputy Speaker removed her from the House as she refused to apologise for calling the then Defence Secretary Geoff Hoon a "back-stabbing coward"[4] during exchanges over Geoff Hoon's plans to merge Scottish Regiments, including the Black Watch.[5]
She was promoted to the Scottish Government on 21 November 2014 in Nicola Sturgeon's first reshuffle. She becomes Minister for Youth and Women's Employment.
References
- ↑ http://www.ukwhoswho.com/view/article/oupww/whoswho/U42274/
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External links
- biography pages at Scottish Parliament website
- profile at Scottish government website
- Official website
- Guardian
- They Work For You
- The Public Whip
| Parliament of the United Kingdom | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Member of Parliament for Perth 2001–2005 |
Constituency abolished |
- Use dmy dates from July 2014
- Use British English from July 2014
- Ministers of the Scottish Government
- 1960 births
- Politicians from Glasgow
- Living people
- Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Scottish constituencies
- Scottish lawyers
- Scottish National Party MPs
- Alumni of the University of Glasgow
- Female members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Scottish constituencies
- UK MPs 2001–05
- Scottish National Party MSPs
- Members of the Scottish Parliament 2011–16
- Female members of the Scottish Parliament
- Scottish women lawyers
- 20th-century Scottish lawyers
- 21st-century Scottish lawyers
- Members of the Scottish Parliament 2016–
