Stephen Gethins

Stephen Gethins
MP
Member of Parliament
for North East Fife
Assumed office
7 May 2015
Preceded by Menzies Campbell
Majority 2 (0.005%)
Personal details
Born (1976-03-28) 28 March 1976
Glasgow, Scotland
Political party Scottish National Party
Children 2
Alma mater University of Dundee
University of Kent

Stephen Patrick Gethins MP (born 1976) is a Scottish National Party (SNP) politician who has served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for North East Fife since May 2015.

Background and education

Gethins was born in Glasgow and brought up in Perth.[1] He was educated at Perth Academy. He graduated with a Bachelor of Laws degree from the University of Dundee in 1998, specialising in public international law. He also holds a Master of Research from the University of Kent. He worked in the NGO Sector specialising in peace-building, arms control and democracy in the Caucasus and the Balkans regions. He worked with NGO Links in Tbilisi focusing on the conflicts surrounding the breakaway entities in the South Caucasus such as South Ossetia, Abkhazia and Nagorno-Karabakh. He also worked for Saferworld on arms control, peace-building and democratisation in the former Soviet Union and Balkans.[1]

Political career

Gethins was appointed a Special Adviser to Scotland’s First Minister, Alex Salmond, advising on European and International Affairs as well as Rural Affairs, Energy and Climate Change[2] and subsequently advised Nicola Sturgeon. He was a Political Advisor with the Committee of the Regions in the European Union, a position which saw him working with local authorities from across Europe. He also worked at Scotland Europa.[3]

He was on the list of SNP candidates for the six Scottish seats in the 2014 European Parliament election,[4] although only the first two SNP candidates were elected.

UK Parliament

In February 2015 he was selected by the local party members to contest the 2015 general election in the North East Fife constituency.[2] He polled 18,523 (40.9% of the vote) and received a majority of 4,344 over the Liberal Democrats, whose outgoing MP, Sir Menzies Campbell, had retired.[5][6] In May 2015 the SNP made him their Spokesperson on Europe at Westminster.[7] In July he was appointed as a member of the House of Commons Foreign Affairs Select Committee,[8] its first SNP member.

In the 2017 General Election, Gethins was re-elected as MP. He received 13,743 votes, giving him a majority of two; the joint-third smallest majority in Westminster history. This was confirmed after three re-counts before being declared.[9] After the election, Gethins was promoted to the SNP Westminster frontbench team of Ian Blackford as the party's Spokesperson for International Affairs and Europe.[10][11]

References

  1. 1 2 Demianyk, Graeme (28 July 2015). "Stephen Gethins Interview: Kalashnikovs, Kylie And Cans Of Irn-Bru". Huffington Post. Retrieved 19 April 2017.
  2. 1 2 "SNP selects Gethins as candidate". Fife Today. 7 February 2015. Retrieved 11 May 2015.
  3. ↑ "Tiny majority sees Stephen Gethins again keep Lib Dems out". The Herald. 9 June 2017. Retrieved 11 March 2018.
  4. ↑ "Hudghton and Smith to stand for SNP at European Parliament elections". STV News. 29 July 2013. Retrieved 11 May 2015.
  5. ↑ Alexander, Michael (8 May 2015). "General Election 2015: SNP's 'positive ambition' rewarded with victory in North East Fife". The Courier. Retrieved 11 May 2015.
  6. ↑ "Election 2015: Fife North East". bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 8 May 2015.
  7. ↑ Alexander, Lindsey (21 May 2015). "Prestigious role for North East Fife's new MP Gethins". Fife Today. Retrieved 19 April 2017.
  8. ↑ Cormack, Lori (10 July 2015). "North east Fife MP Gethins apppointed to foreign affairs committee". Fife Today. Retrieved 19 April 2017.
  9. ↑ "General election 2017: SNP wins Fife North East seat by just two votes". BBC News. 9 June 2017. Retrieved 9 June 2017.
  10. ↑ "SNP announces Westminster front bench team". Retrieved 2018-03-20.
  11. ↑ "Stephen Gethins MP". UK Parliament. Retrieved 2018-03-20.
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by
Ming Campbell		 Member of Parliament
for North East Fife
2015–present		 Incumbent
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