Kirsty Blackman

Kirsty Blackman
MP
Deputy Leader of the Scottish National Party in the House of Commons
Assumed office
14 June 2017
Leader Ian Blackford
Preceded by Stewart Hosie
SNP Spokesperson for Economics
Assumed office
20 June 2017
Leader Ian Blackford
Preceded by Stewart Hosie
Member of Parliament
for Aberdeen North
Assumed office
8 May 2015
Preceded by Frank Doran
Majority 4,139 (11.2%)
Personal details
Born Kirsty Ann West
(1986-03-20) 20 March 1986
Aberdeen, Scotland
Political party Scottish National Party
Spouse(s) Luke Blackman[1]
Children 2
Website Commons website

Kirsty Ann Blackman MP (née West; 20 March 1986[2][3]) is a Scottish National Party politician who was elected as the Member of Parliament for Aberdeen North at the 2015 UK general election. She is the SNP Spokesperson on the Economy and the SNP Deputy Westminster Leader. Blackman was re-elected in 2017 with a greatly reduced majority; largely due to a nationwide swing across Scotland towards unionist parties.[4][5]

Early life

She was educated at Robert Gordon's College after winning a scholarship.[6]

She first entered politics when she was elected to Aberdeen City Council as an SNP councillor in the Hilton/Stockethill ward, in the Aberdeen North constituency in the Aberdeen City Council election, 2007 topping the poll in her ward with 1,761 first preferences. Her brother, John West, was also elected for the Hazlehead/Ashley/Queens Cross ward at this time. She was re-elected in Aberdeen City Council election, 2012 with 823 first preferences taking the second seat in the ward. She would become Convener of the SNP group in Aberdeen City Council at this time.[7]

Parliamentary career

At the 2015 general election, she became the Member of Parliament for Aberdeen North. She succeeded Frank Doran, of the Labour Party, who had announced in October 2013 that he would stand down at the next general election.[8] She won the seat with 24,793 votes, 13,396 more than the Labour Party candidate Richard Baker, and became SNP Spokesperson on the House of Lords.[9] In April 2016, she drew attention to the plight of unaccompanied refugee children during a Commons debate.[10] She was elected to the Scottish Affairs Committee in 2015. In July 2016, she spoke out on the importance of making Parliament more family-friendly after being censured by clerks for holding her sleeping two-year-old daughter in a committee hearing.[11]

She was the only SNP MP outside of Dundee to retain their seat in North East Scotland, formerly a nationalist stronghold, at the 2017 general election. Following the election, she became Deputy Leader of the SNP Westminster Group and SNP Westminster Spokesperson on the Economy. She was the first woman to lead for her party in the House of Commons on the Economy.[12]

References

  1. ↑ "Cllr Kirsty Blackman". Scottish National Party. Archived from the original on 8 May 2015. Retrieved 11 May 2015.
  2. ↑ Birth certificate of Kirsty Ann West, 20 March 1986, Aberdeen District 571/02 0053 – National Records of Scotland
  3. ↑ Scott, Kirsty (13 June 2007). "Fresh-faced challenge". The Guardian. UK: Guardian Media Group. Retrieved 4 February 2015.
  4. ↑ "Kirsty Blackman". www.huffingtonpost.co.uk. Retrieved 20 August 2016.
  5. ↑ "Scottish National Party Spokespersons". UK Parliament. Retrieved 5 October 2017.
  6. ↑ "Analysis: SNP bucks trend for privately educated MPs (From Herald Scotland)". Heraldscotland.com. Retrieved 4 February 2016.
  7. ↑ Staff (8 May 2015). "Blackman wins Aberdeen North seat for SNP". UK: BBC News. Retrieved 27 October 2015.
  8. ↑ Staff (19 October 2013). "Labour MP Frank Doran to step down at 2015 general election". BBC News. UK.
  9. ↑ Clark, Andrew (8 May 2015). "SNP candidate Kirsty Blackman wins Aberdeen North seat". The Press and Journal. UK.
  10. ↑ "Unaccompanied Children". Parliamentary Debates (Hansard). 608. United Kingdom: Westminster Hall. 19 April 2016. col. 276WH–279WH.
  11. ↑ "SNP MP censured for bringing her children to Commons Committee". The Guardian. UK. 26 July 2016.
  12. ↑ @ParlyApp (29 Jun 2017). "So @KirstySNP was correct to say she is the first woman to lead in the Commons for her party on the economy" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  • profile at the Scottish National Party website
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by
Frank Doran		 Member of Parliament for
Aberdeen North
2015–present		 Incumbent
Party political offices
Preceded by
Stewart Hosie		 Deputy Leader of the Scottish National Party in the House of Commons
2017–present		 Incumbent
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