Rhoda Grant

Rhoda Grant (born 26 June 1963) is a Scottish Labour and Co-operative Party politician, and Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for the Highlands and Islands region from 1999 to 2003 and since 2007.

Rhoda Grant

MSP
Grant in 2011
Scottish Labour Spokesperson for Finance, Jobs and Fair Work
In office
2 September 2019 – 28 April 2020
LeaderRichard Leonard
Preceded byJames Kelly
Succeeded byJackie Baillie
Scottish Labour Spokesperson for Women and Equality
In office
19 December 2017 – 2 September 2019
LeaderRichard Leonard
Preceded byMary Fee
Succeeded byPauline McNeill
Scottish Labour Parliamentary Business Manager
In office
19 December 2017 – 4 October 2018
LeaderRichard Leonard
Preceded byJames Kelly
Succeeded byNeil Findlay
Member of the Scottish Parliament
for Highlands and Islands
(1 of 7 Regional MSPs)
Assumed office
3 May 2007
In office
6 May 1999 – 1 May 2003
Personal details
Born (1963-06-26) 26 June 1963
Stornoway, Outer Hebrides, Scotland
Political partyScottish Labour and Co-operative Party
Alma materOpen University

Early life and career

Grant was born in 1963 in Stornoway, Outer Hebrides and studied for a degree in social sciences from the Open University. Prior to her election, Grant worked for the trade union UNISON and Highland Regional Council.

Political career
Official parliamentary portrait, 2011

In the 1999 Scottish Parliament election, Grant was elected to a list seat for the Highlands and Islands region.[1] In the 2003 election, she fought the Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber constituency but came second to Fergus Ewing of the Scottish National Party, who held the seat by 1,000 votes. In that election, she also lost her regional list seat.

In the 2007 election, Grant was again elected as a regional list MSP for Highlands and Islands,[2] as the Scottish Green Party's vote share collapsed and Labour won three list seats, and she was re-elected in the 2011 election.

Grant was appointed Scottish Labour's Women and Equality Spokesperson by new leader Richard Leonard on 19 November 2017, and was also its Business Manager between 19 November 2017 and 4 October 2018, when she was succeeded by Neil Findlay.[3][4] She became Deputy Finance Spokesperson on 2 September 2019.[5]

Political positions and views

Grant thinks that there is a significant connection between pornography and the sex industry and "abuse and violence against women". "We have to ask if more should be done to make the viewing or downloading of porn from the internet more difficult. I think there should be filters in place to help that process."[6]

References
  1. "Previous MSPs: Session 1 (1999-2003): Rhoda Grant". Scottish Parliament. Retrieved 11 October 2014.
  2. "Previous MSPs: Session 3 (2007-2011): Rhoda Grant". Scottish Parliament. Retrieved 11 October 2014.
  3. "New Scottish shadow cabinet in full". LabourList. 19 December 2017. Retrieved 14 July 2019.
  4. "Richard Leonard stamps his authority on Scottish Labour with high-stakes reshuffle". www.newstatesman.com. Retrieved 14 July 2019.
  5. "Scottish Labour reshuffle as Sarah Boyack returns to frontline politics". www.scotsman.com. Retrieved 4 September 2019.
  6. Loxton, Rachel (23 June 2013). "Campaigners: 'We need more controls to back up Scottish anti-porn laws'". Sunday Herald. Retrieved 11 October 2014.


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