Kirsteen Sullivan | |
---|---|
Member of Parliament for Bathgate and Linlithgow | |
Assumed office 5 July 2024 | |
Preceded by | Constituency established |
Majority | 8,323 (19.8%) |
Personal details | |
Political party | Labour and Co-operative |
Kirsteen Ann Sullivan [1] is a British politician who has been the Member of Parliament for Bathgate and Linlithgow since 2024. A member of the Labour and Co-operative Party,she gained the seat from Martyn Day,a member of the Scottish National Party. [2] [3]
Sullivan studied at Glasgow University and Strathclyde Business School. [4]
Sullivan has worked as a business analyst for several private companies,including Scottish Widows. [4] Prior to becoming an MP,Sullivan served as a councillor for Whitburn and Blackburn in West Lothian. [4] Sullivan served as Labour depute leader of West Lothian Council from 2017 to 2024. [4] [3]
On 4 July 2024,she was elected as MP for Bathgate and Linlithgow. She received 19,774 votes (47%) in the general election in a new constituency formed as a result of the 2023 Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies. [5] On 26 July 2024,she made her maiden speech in the House of Commons during a debate on "Making Britain a Clean Energy Superpower". [6]
Sullivan lives in Bathgate and is originally from Glasgow. [4] She has three children. [4] As of 2024 [update] she owns a second home in Spain. [7]
Sir Thomas Dalyell,11th Baronet,known as Tam Dalyell,was a Scottish Labour Party politician who was a member of the House of Commons from 1962 to 2005. He represented West Lothian from 1962 to 1983,then Linlithgow from 1983 to 2005. He formulated what came to be known as the "West Lothian question",on whether non-English MPs should be able to vote upon English-only matters after political devolution. He was also known for his anti-war,anti-imperialist views,opposing the Falklands War,the Gulf War,the War in Afghanistan and the Iraq War.
West Lothian is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland,and was one of its historic counties. The county was called Linlithgowshire until 1925. The historic county was bounded geographically by the Avon to the west and the Almond to the east. The modern council area occupies a larger area than the historic county. It was reshaped following local government reforms in 1975:some areas in the west were transferred to Falkirk;some areas in the east were transferred to Edinburgh;and some areas that had formerly been part of Midlothian were added to West Lothian.
The West Lothian question,also known as the English question,is a political issue in the United Kingdom. It concerns the question of whether members of Parliament (MPs) from Northern Ireland,Scotland and Wales who sit in the House of Commons should be able to vote on matters that affect only England,while neither they nor MPs from England are able to vote on matters that have been devolved to the Northern Ireland Assembly,the Scottish Parliament and the Senedd. The term West Lothian question was coined by Enoch Powell MP in 1977 after Tam Dalyell,the Labour MP for the Scottish constituency of West Lothian,raised the matter repeatedly in House of Commons debates on devolution.
Livingston is a county constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom,to which it returns one Member of Parliament (MP). Elections are held using the first-past-the-post voting system.
Linlithgow is a constituency of the Scottish Parliament (Holyrood) covering part of the council area of West Lothian. It elects one Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) by the plurality method of election. It is also one of nine constituencies in the Lothian 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.
Linlithgow and East Falkirk was a county constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom,created for use in the 2005 general election. It replaced most of Falkirk East and Linlithgow.
Linlithgow was a county constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1983 to 2005. It elected one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post system of elections.
Scottish Westminster constituencies were Scottish constituencies of the House of Commons of the Parliament of Great Britain,normally at the Palace of Westminster,from 1708 to 1801,and have been constituencies of the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom,also at Westminster,since 1801. Constituency boundaries have changed on various occasions,and are now subject to both periodical and ad hoc reviews of the Boundary Commission for Scotland.
Michael Bruce Crockart is a Scottish Liberal Democrat politician. He was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Edinburgh West from 2010 to 2015.
Philippa Whitford is a Scottish National Party (SNP) politician and a breast surgeon. Originally from Northern Ireland,she was first elected as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Central Ayrshire in May 2015 and was re-elected in 2017 and 2019. Whitford stood down at the 2024 general election. She previously served as the SNP Spokesperson for Scotland from December 2022 to September 2023.
Martin John Docherty-Hughes is a Scottish National Party politician. He was previously the Member of Parliament (MP) for West Dunbartonshire from 2015 until his defeat in 2024. He has also served as SNP Defence Spokesperson from 2023 to 2024.
Carol Monaghan is a Scottish National Party (SNP) politician who served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Glasgow North West from 2015 until the seat's abolition in 2024. She is the SNP Science,Innovation,Technology and Education spokesperson in the House of Commons.
Hannah Mary Bardell is a Scottish politician who served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Livingston from 2015 until 2024. A member of the Scottish National Party (SNP),she served as its spokesperson for Digital,Culture,Media and Sport from 2018 to 2019.
Martyn Day is a Scottish National Party (SNP) politician,who served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Linlithgow and East Falkirk from 2015 until 2024. He served as SNP Spokesperson for Health from December 2021 to September 2023.
David Melvyn Linden is a Scottish National Party (SNP) politician who served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Glasgow East from the 2017 General Election until May 2024. He served as the SNP Spokesperson for Work and Pensions from 2021 to 2022 and the Spokesperson for Housing,Communities and Local Government in the House of Commons from 2020 to 2021.
Martin David Whitfield is a Scottish Labour politician and former lawyer and primary school teacher who has been a Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for the South Scotland region and the Convener of the Standards and Procedures and Public Appointments Committee since 2021.
Anum Qaisar,previously Anum Qaisar-Javed is a Scottish National Party (SNP) politician who served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Airdrie and Shotts from 2021 to 2024,when she lost the seat to Kenneth Stevenson of the Labour Party. She was also the SNP Spokesperson for Levelling Up from 2023 to 2024.
The 2022 West Lothian Council election took place on 5 May 2022. Elected positions in all 9 wards created as a result of the Local Governance (Scotland) Act 2004 were up for election,with each ward electing three or four Councillors using the single transferable vote (STV) system form of proportional representation,with 33 Councillors being elected in total.
Gregor Arthur Poynton is a Scottish Labour Party politician who has served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Livingston since 2024.