Shona Morrison | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | |
| Nationality | Scottish |
| Education | Inverness school |
| Occupation | nurse then councillor |
| Employer | National Health Service |
| Known for | President of COSLA |
| Political party | Scottish National Party |
| Spouse | Simon [1] |
| Children | two daughters |
Shona Morrison is a Scottish former nurse who is a politician in Moray. She has led the Moray Council and she is the President of the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities.
Morrison was born in Kintyre and she went to an Inverness school. [1] She did not go to university and she became a psychiatric nurse. After she left nursing she studied to take the degree that she had missed. Both of her daughters went to Aberdeen university. She had initially gained an interest in politics serving on her daughters' school council. [1] In the 2017 Moray Council election she was elected as a councillor. She was a member of the Scottish National Party (SNP) and she represented the Fochabers Lhanbryde ward. She was elected to Moray Council and the following year the conservation-Independents coalition collapsed [1] and her party came to power and she was responsible for Health and Social care. The SNP did not have a majority but Morrison found that she was the council's deputy leader. [2]
She was re-elected in 2021. [3] She was the council's chair of Equalities and she supported Moray Schools when they decided to fly the rainbow flag that year during Pride month. The flag was also flown at the council's offices in Elgin. [4]
In June 2022 she began to lead the 32 councils of Scotland as the 16th President of the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities (COSLA). She was the fourth woman to take that position and the first from the SNP. [2] She took the position at a challenging time when there was a strike by refuse workers over pay. The dispute was settled. [1]
In 2023 the Scottish Council for Development and Industry (SCDI) decided to relaunch itself under the new name of "Prosper" and as COSLA President she was invited to its launch. Other VIPs were the then Scottish First Minister Humza Yousaf, RBS chair Judith Cruickshank, General Secretary of the Scottish Trades Union Congress Roz Foyer and the SCDI CEO Sara Thiam and the SCDI chair Joanna Boag-Thomson. [5]
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Fochabers Lhanbryde is one of the eight wards used to elect members of the Moray Council. It elects three Councillors. As of 2022, it has been represented by Marc Macrae (Conservative), Shona Morrison (SNP) and Ben Williams (Labour).
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