Elaine Smith (Scottish politician)

Elaine Smith
MSP
Member of the Scottish Parliament
for Central Scotland
Assumed office
6 May 2016
Deputy Presiding Officer of the Scottish Parliament
In office
11 May 2011 – 12 May 2016
Serving with John Scott
Preceded by Trish Godman
Succeeded by Linda Fabiani
Member of the Scottish Parliament
for Coatbridge and Chryston
In office
6 May 1999 – 23 March 2016
Succeeded by Fulton MacGregor
Personal details
Born (1963-05-05) 5 May 1963
Political party Scottish Labour Party
Website Elaine Smith MSP official biography

Elaine Agnes Smith (born 5 May 1963, Coatbridge) is a Scottish Labour Party politician. She is a Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for the Central Scotland region since 2016, previously having been the MSP for the Coatbridge and Chryston constituency from 1999 to 2016.

Political career

She was first elected to the Scottish Parliament in 1999,[1] and subsequently returned in 2003,[2] 2007[3] and 2011.

On 11 May 2011, Smith was elected to serve as one of two Deputy Presiding Officers of the Scottish Parliament.

On 5 May 2016 Smith lost her seat after watching her share of the vote drop by almost 18%.[4] She gained a regional list seat and returned to the parliament for the new session. She was unsuccessful in her attempt to become Presiding Officer, being defeated by fellow Labour list MSP Ken Macintosh.[5]

Smith supported Jeremy Corbyn during the Labour Party (UK) leadership election, 2015[6]

During the United Kingdom European Union membership referendum, 2016, Smith backed Britain leaving the European Union, contrary to the position of the Labour Party.[7] Scotland subsequently voted 62% in favour of remaining in the European Union.

References

  1. ↑ "Previous MSPs: Session 1 (1999-2003): Elaine Smith MSP". Scottish Parliament. Retrieved 9 August 2014.
  2. ↑ "Previous MSPs: Session 2 (2003-2007): Elaine Smith MSP". Scottish Parliament. Retrieved 9 August 2014.
  3. ↑ "Previous MSPs: Session 3 (2007-2011): Elaine Smith MSP". Scottish Parliament. Retrieved 4 August 2014.
  4. ↑ "Scotland election 2016: Coatbridge and Chryston". BBC News. Retrieved 1 July 2016.
  5. ↑ Brooks, Libby (12 May 2016). "Ken Macintosh elected as presiding officer of Scottish parliament". The Guardian. Retrieved 1 July 2016.
  6. ↑ Alexander, James (13 August 2015). "Jeremy Corbyn prepares for his Scottish tour". The National. Retrieved 16 May 2016.
  7. ↑ http://stv.tv/news/politics/1355437-labour-msp-breaks-ranks-to-make-left-wing-case-for-brexit/
Scottish Parliament
New constituency Member of the Scottish Parliament for Coatbridge and Chryston
1999–2016 		Succeeded by
Fulton MacGregor
This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 9/24/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.