Tricia Marwick

Patricia Marwick (née Lee; born 5 November 1953)[2], commonly known as Tricia Marwick, is a Scottish politician, known for being the 4th Presiding Officer of the Scottish Parliament, and the first woman to hold the post. She served as a Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) in the first four sessions of the Parliament (1999−2016). She was initially elected from the Mid Scotland and Fife regional list 1999−2007, then as the constituency MSP for Central Fife 2007−11, which was renamed Mid Fife and Glenrothes 2011−16. She was elected to Parliament as a member of the Scottish National Party (SNP), but she suspended her membership in 2011 upon her election as the 4th Presiding Officer, following the tradition that the Presiding Officer is nonpartisan. She did not rejoin the SNP when she stepped down as an MSP.

The Right Honourable

Tricia Marwick
4th Presiding Officer of the Scottish Parliament
In office
11 May 2011 – 12 May 2016
Preceded byAlex Fergusson
Succeeded byKen Macintosh
Member of the Scottish Parliament
for Mid Fife and Glenrothes
In office
5 May 2011 – 24 March 2016
Preceded byConstituency established
Succeeded byJenny Gilruth
Member of the Scottish Parliament
for Central Fife
In office
3 May 2007 – 23 March 2011
Preceded byChristine May
Succeeded byConstituency abolished
Member of the Scottish Parliament
for Mid Scotland and Fife
In office
6 May 1999 – March 2007
Preceded byList established
Personal details
Born
Patricia Lee

(1953-11-05) 5 November 1953
Cowdenbeath, Fife, Scotland
NationalityScottish
Political partyScottish National Party (1999–2011)
Independent (2011-)
Spouse(s)
Frank Marwick (m. 1975)
[1]
RelationsNatalie McGarry MP (niece)
Children2
OccupationCharity Public Affairs Officer

Background

Marwick was born on 5 November 1953 in Cowdenbeath[3][4] and was brought up in Fife, one of seven siblings.[5] She worked as Public Affairs Officer for Shelter Scotland, a charity for homeless people, from 1992 to 1999. Her niece is Natalie McGarry (the former MP for Glasgow East).[6]

Member of the Scottish Parliament

In the 1999 Scottish Parliamentary election, Marwick was elected as a member for the Mid Scotland and Fife region. She served on the SNP opposition frontbench team as Deputy Business Manager 1999–2000, Shadow Minister for Local Government 2004, Business Manager and Chief Whip 2004–2005 and Shadow Minister for Housing 2005–2007. Marwick has also served as a member of the Scottish Parliament’s Standards, Justice and Home Affairs, Equal Opportunities, Local Government and Communities committees and as convenor of the Waverly Railway (Scotland) Bill committee from 2004–2006.

At the 2003 Scottish Parliamentary election she contested the Central Fife seat and, although she narrowly failed to win the seat, she was re-elected to serve as a member for Mid Scotland and Fife. Marwick contested Central Fife again in 2007 and was elected as the constituencies MSP after defeating the Labour incumbent, Christine May, with a majority of 1,166 votes.

Following the 2007 election Marwick was appointed as the SNP's representative on the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body, and oversaw parliamentary access and information issues.

Presiding Officer of the Scottish Parliament

In the 2011 election, Marwick was elected for the Mid Fife and Glenrothes constituency, essentially a redrawing of her old Central Fife seat. On 11 May 2011, when Parliament reconvened, Marwick was elected to serve as the 4th Presiding Officer of the Scottish Parliament, having won support from the majority of members in the second round of voting.[7] She became the first woman and second SNP member to serve in the position. In October 2012, Marwick accepted a nomination to join the Privy Council, meaning that she is styled the Rt Hon. Tricia Marwick MSP.[8] Each of the previous Presiding Officers were also appointed to the Privy Council.

On 29 May 2015, it was announced that Marwick would step down as Presiding Officer after the 2016 election.[9]

After Parliament

In June 2016 Marwick revealed that she had turned down an offer to put her name forward for an honour from the Queen.[10]

Marwick was announced as the new chair for the NHS Fife board in November 2016, replacing Allan Burns who resigned from the post in August 2016.[11] Her appointment as chair will run from 1 January 2017 until 31 December 2020.[12]

References
  1. Marriage certificate of Francis Leonard Marwick and Patricia Lee, 1975, Cowdenbeath District 430/00 0036410/01 0055 – National Records of Scotland
  2. Birth certificate of Patricia Lee, 5 November 1953, Cowdenbeath District 410/01 0055 – National Records of Scotland
  3. "People of today: Tricia Marwick". Debrett's. Archived from the original on 19 April 2016. Retrieved 3 April 2016.
  4. "Tricia Marwick: Keeping MSPs in check, living with cancer and being a geek". BBC News. 30 May 2014. Archived from the original on 31 May 2014.
  5. Rhodes, Mandy (12 July 2016). "Interview: Tricia Marwick on her reform agenda". Holyrood. Archived from the original on 8 January 2017. Retrieved 8 January 2017.
  6. "Nat for Europe!". Dunfermline Press. 31 January 2013. Archived from the original on 7 February 2015.
  7. Carrell, Severin (11 May 2011). "Alex Salmond faces row as SNP chooses one of its own as presiding officer". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 2 December 2016.
  8. "MSP 'honoured' by Privy Council role". Fife Today. 11 October 2012. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 12 November 2015.
  9. "Presiding Officer Tricia Marwick to step down as MSP". BBC News. 29 May 2015. Archived from the original on 29 May 2015.
  10. Andrews, Kieran (11 June 2016). "Tricia Marwick turns down Queen's birthday honour". The Courier. Archived from the original on 21 October 2016. Retrieved 3 December 2016.
  11. Andrews, Kieran (29 November 2016). "Tricia Marwick appointed new chair of NHS Fife". The Courier. Archived from the original on 30 November 2016. Retrieved 3 December 2016.
  12. "Chair Appointed to Fife NHS Board". nhsfife.org (Press release). NHS Fife. Archived from the original on 20 December 2016. Retrieved 3 December 2016.
Political offices
Preceded by
Alex Fergusson		 Presiding Officer of the Scottish Parliament
2011–2016		 Succeeded by
Ken Macintosh
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