Margaret Ferrier
Margaret Ferrier | |
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Member of Parliament for Rutherglen and Hamilton West | |
In office 8 May 2015 – 3 May 2017 | |
Preceded by | Tom Greatrex |
Succeeded by | Ged Killen |
Personal details | |
Born |
Glasgow, Scotland, UK | 10 September 1960
Political party | Scottish National Party |
Margaret Ferrier[1] (born 10 September 1960)[2] is a Scottish National Party politician. She was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Rutherglen and Hamilton West from the 2015 general election, until she narrowly lost her seat to Ged Killen of the Labour Party at the 2017 general election.
Life and career
Ferrier was born and raised in the King's Park district of Glasgow, attending Holyrood Secondary School.[3] After living with her family in Mallorca for two years, she moved to Rutherglen from 1972 to 1990 and then resided in Darnley. She has lived in the Halfway district of Cambuslang since 2000, where she joined the Rutherglen branch of the SNP in 2011 (in her youth she had been a Scottish Labour Party member).[3]
Before her election to Parliament, she was a commercial sales supervisor for a manufacturing construction company in Motherwell.[1]
Prior to her successful election to Westminster, she had previously been a defeated candidate for the Rutherglen South ward of South Lanarkshire Council in a 2013 by-election (following the death of Cllr Anne Higgins). The councillor voted in ahead of her on that occasion was Gerard Killen.[4]
She was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Rutherglen and Hamilton West after winning the seat at the United Kingdom general election 2015;[5][6] she achieved 30,279 votes, 52% of the total cast and a 31% swing from the previous incumbent and their party. She was the first female MP, and the first for the SNP, to be elected in the Rutherglen/Cambuslang portion of the constituency or its predecessor;[3] Winnie Ewing had previously served a short spell as representative of the original Hamilton constituency for the same party.[7]
She claimed £43,000 in expenses during the 2015/16 financial year, a lower figure than several MPs in the neighbouring Glasgow and South Lanarkshire areas.[8]
In April 2017 Ferrier helped to ensure that the Broadband Internet access to the Newton Farm area of Cambuslang (which had been insufficient due to the large number of new homes built in a previously rural location) was upgraded as a priority matter, after correspondence with the Openreach operator.[9][10]
Ferrier lost the seat in the June 2017 election to Gerard Killen of the Scottish Labour Party after losing 15% of her vote total.[11][12]
References
- 1 2 Henshaw, William (5 February 2015). "SNP select Margaret Ferrier as candidate for Rutherglen and Hamilton West seat in the General Election". Daily Record / Rutherglen Reformer. Retrieved 1 June 2015.
- ↑ "Margaret Ferrier". myparliament.info. MyParliament. Retrieved 11 August 2017.
- 1 2 3 Dickie, Douglas (15 June 2015). "Margaret Ferrier opens up to the Reformer on politics, independence and Westminster". Daily Record / Rutherglen Reformer. Retrieved 11 August 2017.
- ↑ Dickie, Douglas (20 February 2013). "Killen wins Rutherglen South for Labour". Daily Record / Rutherglen Reformer. Trinity Mirror. Retrieved 13 June 2017.
- ↑ "Election 2015: Rutherglen & Hamilton West". BBC News. Retrieved 1 June 2015.
- ↑ Dickie, Douglas (8 May 2015). "Rutherglen and Hamilton West election results: SNP's Margaret Ferrier takes Labour hotspot with 52 per cent of the vote". Daily Record / Rutherglen Reformer. Trinity Mirror. Retrieved 8 May 2015.
- ↑ "No M.P. safe except me – Mrs Ewing". The Glasgow Herald. 4 November 1967. p. 1. Retrieved 11 August 2017.
- ↑ "Rutherglen MP Margaret Ferrier claimed over £43,000 in expenses last year". Daily Record / Rutherglen Reformer. 7 August 2016. Retrieved 14 August 2017.
- ↑ "Superfast web connection for Cambuslang's Newton Farm". Daily Record / Rutherglen Reformer. 21 April 2017. Retrieved 14 August 2017.
- ↑ "Ferrier welcomes Newton Farm broadband breakthrough". Margaret Ferrier website. 2 March 2017. Retrieved 14 August 2017.
- ↑ Kerr, Aiden (9 June 2017). "Labour gain first Scottish seat from SNP in election". STV Group. Retrieved 9 June 2017.
- ↑ Spooner, Murray (9 June 2017). "Labour takes Rutherglen and Hamilton West". Daily Record / Rutherglen Reformer. Trinity Mirror. Retrieved 9 June 2017.
External links
- Personal website
- profile on SNP website
- Profile at Parliament of the United Kingdom
- Contributions in Parliament at Hansard 2010–present
- Voting record at Public Whip
- Record in Parliament at TheyWorkForYou
- Margaret Ferrier on Twitter
- 'MP Costs' at IPSA
Parliament of the United Kingdom | ||
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Preceded by Tom Greatrex |
Member of Parliament for Rutherglen and Hamilton West 2015–2017 |
Succeeded by Ged Killen |