Alexander Neil is a Scottish politician who served as Cabinet Secretary for Health and Wellbeing from 2012 to 2014 and Cabinet Secretary for Social Justice,Communities and Pensioners' Rights from 2014 to 2016. A member of the Scottish National Party (SNP),he was the Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for the Airdrie and Shotts constituency from 2011 until his retirement in 2021.
Sarah Herriot Boyack is a Scottish Labour politician who has served as a Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for the Lothian region since 2019,and previously from 2011 to 2016. She formerly represented the Edinburgh Central constituency from 1999 to 2011.
Dame Jacqueline Marie Baillie is a Scottish politician who has served as Deputy Leader of the Scottish Labour Party since 2020. She has been Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for the Dumbarton constituency since 1999. She also served as acting Leader of the Scottish Labour Party in 2017 and again in 2021.
Scottish Labour is the part of the UK Labour Party active in Scotland. Ideologically social democratic and unionist,it currently holds 22 of the 129 seats in the Scottish Parliament and one of the 59 Scottish seats in the House of Commons. It is represented by 262 of the 1,227 local councillors across Scotland.
Elaine Kildare Murray is a retired Scottish Labour politician. She was leader of Dumfries and Galloway Council for the 2017–2022 term. She was also the Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for Dumfries from 1999 to 2011,and then for Dumfriesshire from 2011 to 2016. At the 1999,2003 and 2007 elections,Murray increased her percentage share of the vote. She was Shadow Minister for the Environment in the Scottish Parliament. She lost her seat in 2016.
Iain Cumming Gray is a Scottish politician who served as Leader of the Scottish Labour Party from 2008 to 2011. He was the Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for the East Lothian constituency from 2007 to 2021,having previously represented Edinburgh Pentlands from 1999 to 2003. A former aid worker and teacher of mathematics and physics,Gray was first elected to the Scottish Parliament in 1999 as MSP for the Edinburgh Pentlands constituency,which he lost to Leader of the Scottish Conservative Party David McLetchie in 2003. Gray was returned to Holyrood in 2007 as MSP for East Lothian. Following Wendy Alexander's resignation as Leader of the Scottish Labour Party in 2008,Gray stood at the subsequent leadership election,and was elected with a 57.8% share of the vote in the second round.
Claire Josephine Baker is a Scottish Labour politician who has served as a Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for the Mid Scotland and Fife region since 2007.
James Anthony Kelly is a Scottish politician who has served as General Secretary of the Scottish Labour Party since 2021. He was a Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for the Glasgow region between 2016 and 2021,having previously been MSP for Rutherglen from 2007 to 2016.
Unlike in the Parliament at Westminster where there is an Official Opposition to the government of the day,all parties in the Scottish Parliament that are not in government are all technically on the same footing as 'opposition parties'. With the Scottish National Party (SNP) currently in government,the Scottish Conservatives and Scottish Labour each have a Shadow Cabinet composed of Members of the Scottish Parliament (MSPs) and prospective parliamentary candidates.
Anas Sarwar is a Scottish politician who has served as Leader of the Scottish Labour Party since 2021. He has been a Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for the Glasgow region since 2016,having been Member of Parliament (MP) for Glasgow Central from 2010 to 2015.
Galloway and West Dumfries is a constituency of the Scottish Parliament (Holyrood) covering part of the council area of Dumfries and Galloway. It elects one Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) by the plurality method of election. It is also one of nine constituencies in the South Scotland electoral region,which elects seven additional members,in addition to the nine constituency MSPs,to produce a form of proportional representation for the region as a whole.
The 2021 Scottish Parliament election took place on 6 May 2021,under the provisions of the Scotland Act 1998. All 129 Members of the Scottish Parliament were elected in the sixth election since the parliament was re-established in 1999. The election was held alongside the Senedd election,English local elections,London Assembly and mayoral election and the Hartlepool by-election.
Alexander Andrew Penman Rowley is a Scottish politician who served as Deputy Leader of the Scottish Labour Party from 2015 to 2017 and acting leader of the party from August to November 2017. He has been a Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) since 2014,firstly for the Cowdenbeath constituency and the Mid Scotland and Fife region since 2016. He has been described as being on the political left of the party.
Finlay Hamilton Carson is a Scottish Conservative Party politician serving as Convener of the Rural Affairs,Islands and Natural Environment Committee since 2021. He has been the Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for the Galloway and West Dumfries since 2016.
Emma Harper is a Scottish National Party (SNP) politician. She has been a Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for the South Scotland region since the 2016 Scottish Parliament election.
Richard Leonard is a British politician who served as Leader of the Scottish Labour Party from 2017 to 2021. He has been a Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP),as one of the additional members for the Central Scotland region,since 2016. He ideologically identifies as a socialist,democrat and internationalist.
Monica Lennon is a Scottish politician who has served as a Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for the Central Scotland region since 2016. A member of the Scottish Labour Party,she has served in various roles on the Scottish Labour front bench. She was the Scottish Labour Spokesperson for Health and Sport from 2018 to 2021,Scottish Labour Spokesperson for Economy,Jobs and Fair Work from March 2021 to June 2021 and Scottish Labour Spokesperson for Net Zero,Energy and Transport from June 2021 to November 2021. She was a candidate in the 2021 Scottish Labour leadership election and currently serves on the Scottish Parliament's Net Zero,Energy and Transport Committee.
Mid Galloway and Wigtown West is one of the twelve wards used to elect members of the Dumfries and Galloway Council in Scotland. It elects four Councillors under the Single transferable vote system.
The 2021 Scottish Labour leadership election was triggered on 14 January 2021 by the resignation of Richard Leonard as leader of the Scottish Labour Party,who had led the party since 2017. Two candidates were nominated,Anas Sarwar and Monica Lennon.
The 2022 Dumfries and Galloway Council election took place on 5 May 2022 to elect members of Dumfries and Galloway Council representing the Local Authority area of Dumfries and Galloway. It resulted in a council composition with no party receiving a majority of seats. The election used the twelve wards created as a result of the Local Governance (Scotland) Act 2004,with each ward electing three or four councillors using the single transferable vote system form of proportional representation,with 43 councillors being elected.
