Michael Marra | |
|---|---|
 Swearing in, 2021 | |
| Member of the Scottish Parliament for North East Scotland (1 of 7 Regional MSPs) | |
| Assumed office 8 May 2021 | |
| Scottish Labour Portfolios | |
| May 2021 - April 2023 | Shadow Cabinet Secretary for Education and Skills |
| April 2023 - Present | Shadow Cabinet Secretary for Finance |
| Personal details | |
| Political party | Scottish Labour |
Michael James Marra is a Scottish Labour politician who has been a Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for North East Scotland since May 2021.
Michael Marra was born in Dundee in 1979. He joined the Labour Party as a teenager. [1]
Marra was educated at St John's High School,the University of Glasgow and the London School of Economics. [1]
Before becoming an MSP,Marra worked for Oxfam and the Leverhulme Research Centre for Forensic Science at the University of Dundee. [2]
Michael Marra was elected as a councillor in Dundee's Lochee ward in 2017. [3] He stood down at the 2022 Scottish Parliament election.
Marra previously worked for Scottish Labour Leader Iain Gray as an advisor prior to and during the 2011 Scottish Parliamentary election. [2]
In November 2020,Marra was confirmed as a candidate on Labour's regional list for the North East,coinciding with his sister Jenny Marra announcing that she would not seek re-election to the Scottish Parliament. [4]
On 8 May 2021 Marra was elected as a Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for North East Scotland. [5] He had been appointed as Education and Skills spokesperson in Scottish Labour's campaign cabinet just before the 2021 Scottish Parliament elections. [6] He was retained as Shadow Cabinet Secretary for Education and Skills after the election. [7]
He has described himself as being part of Labour's "soft left". [8]
In 2021 Michael Marra won the Holyrood magazine “One For The Watching”award,a newcomer award judged by a panel made up of senior MSPs,journalists,and Scotland’s two top pollsters. [8]
In April 2023 it was announced he would take on the role of Shadow Cabinet Secretary for Finance [9]
Since 2021,Marra has been campaigning for Alzheimer's disease in footballers to be classed as an industrial disease. A study carried out for the Football Association and the Professional Footballers’Association in 2019 discovered that there was a five-fold increase in Alzheimer’s disease among the former players. [10]
Marra had said:“The Scottish Government must recognise that these injuries are a form of industrial disease and allow these players to access the support they need,and deserve.”
Michael Marra is married and has three children. [1]
He is a lifelong Dundee United supporter. [11]
His uncle is the Dundonian folk singer Michael Marra, [8] who died in 2012.
Michael Marra has an interest in the history and writings of Abraham Lincoln. [12]
David John Stewart is a Scottish politician who served as convener of the Public Petitions Committee from 2011 to 2016. A member of the Scottish Labour Party and Co-operative Party,he was a Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for the Highlands and Islands region from 2007 to 2021 and was Member of Parliament (MP) for Inverness East,Nairn and Lochaber from 1997 to 2005.
Michael Stephen Matheson is a Scottish politician serving as Cabinet Secretary for NHS Recovery,Health and Social Care since 2023. He previously served in Nicola Sturgeon's cabinet as Cabinet Secretary for Justice from 2014 to 2018 and as Cabinet Secretary for Net Zero,Energy and Transport from 2018 to 2023.
Margaret Patricia Curran is a Scottish Labour Party politician. She served in the British House of Commons as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Glasgow East from 2010 to 2015 and was Shadow Secretary of State for Scotland from 2011 until 2015. She was previously the Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for Glasgow Baillieston from 1999 to 2011,and held a number of posts within the Scottish Executive,including Minister for Parliamentary Business,Minister for Social Justice and Minister for Communities.
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 a social democratic political party in Scotland. It is an autonomous section of the UK Labour Party. From their peak of holding 56 of the 129 seats at the first Scottish parliament election in 1999,the Party has lost seats at each Holyrood election,returning 22 MSPs at the 2021 election. The party currently holds one of 59 Scottish seats in the UK House of Commons,with Ian Murray having represented Edinburgh South continuously since 2010.
Rhoda Grant is a Scottish politician who has served as a Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for the Highlands and Islands region since 2007,having previously represented the same region from 1999 to 2003. A member of the Scottish Labour and Co-operative Party,she has been Shadow Cabinet Secretary for Rural Economy and Tourism since 2021.
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.
Neil James Bibby is a Scottish Labour co-operative politician who has served as a Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for the West Scotland region since 2011.
Jennifer Margaret Marra is a Scottish politician who served as convener of the Public Audit Committee. A member of the Scottish Labour Party,she was a Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for the North East Scotland region from 2011 to 2021.
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 for the Mid Scotland and Fife region since 2016. He has been described as being on the political left of the party.
The 2014 Scottish Labour Party leadership election was an internal party election to choose a new leader and deputy leader of the Scottish Labour Party,following the resignations of Johann Lamont as leader and Anas Sarwar as deputy. Lamont announced her decision in an interview with the Daily Record on 24 October,saying that she was stepping down effective immediately because the UK Labour Party treated the Scottish party as a "branch office of London". Lamont,who had won the 2011 leadership contest,thus becoming the first Scottish leader to have authority over Labour's Scottish MPs in the House of Commons as well as in the Scottish Parliament,was the second leader of a Scottish political party to resign in the wake of the 2014 independence referendum. Before her resignation,Alex Salmond announced his intention to relinquish the role of Scottish National Party (SNP) leader and First Minister. Sarwar announced his own resignation on 30 October,saying he felt it was right for the party to elect a new leadership team.
Daniel Guy Johnson is a Scottish Labour politician who has served as the Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for the Edinburgh Southern constituency since 2016.
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.
Colin Smyth is a Scottish politician who has been a Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for the South Scotland region since 2016. A member of Scottish Labour,he served as its general secretary from 2008 to 2012.
Craig William Hoy is a Scottish Conservative Party politician. He is Chairman of the Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party.
Mercedes Villalba is a Scottish Labour politician who has been a Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for North East Scotland since May 2021.
 | This article about a member of the Scottish Parliament is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |