Shirley-Anne Somerville

Shirley-Anne Somerville
Member of the Scottish Parliament
for Lothians
In office
31 August 2007 – 22 March 2011
Preceded by Stefan Tymkewycz
Personal details
Born 2 September 1974
Kirkcaldy, Scotland
Political party Scottish National Party
Alma mater University of Strathclyde
University of Stirling
Queen Margaret University

Shirley-Anne Somerville (born 2 September 1974) is a Scottish politician and was SNP MSP for the Lothians region from 2007 to 2011. She was also a director of Yes Scotland between May 2012 and November 2013.

Early life

Somerville was born on 2 September 1974 in Kirkcaldy[1] and attended Kirkcaldy High School, followed by the University of Strathclyde, where she took a B.A. (Hons.) in Economics and Politics (1996), the University of Stirling, where she took a Diploma in Housing Studies (1999), and Queen Margaret University College, where she took a Diploma in Public Relations. She worked as a parliamentary researcher for Duncan Hamilton MSP from 1999–2001, then as a Policy and Public Affairs Officer at the Chartered Institute of Housing from 2001 to 2004, and as a Media and Campaigns Officer at the Royal College of Nursing from 2004 to 2007.[2]

Political career

Somerville had stood as the SNP's candidate for Kirkcaldy at the 2001 UK general election, where she came in 2nd place with 22.2% of the vote, and for the Edinburgh Central constituency in the 2007 Scottish Parliament election, where she came in 3rd place with 25.5% of the vote. On 31 August 2007, Stefan Tymkewycz resigned his seat in the Scottish Parliament representing the Lothians region in order to concentrate on serving as a City of Edinburgh councillor,[3] and Somerville was selected by the party to succeed him.

On the launch of the cross-party Yes Scotland campaign in 2012, Somerville was announced as its director of communities.[4] She later stood as the SNP candidate in the Dunfermline by-election, 24th October 2013, coming second behind Cara Hilton of Scottish Labour. She did not return to her position in Yes Scotland after the by-election.[4]

See also

References

  1. ↑ The Scottish Parliament - Current Members - Shirley-Anne Somerville
  2. ↑ SOMERVILLE, Shirley-Anne, Who's Who 2009, A & C Black, 2008; online edn, Oxford University Press, Dec 2008
  3. ↑ MSP announces move to step down
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 "Losing SNP by-election candidate leaves Yes job". The Herald. 3 November 2013. Retrieved 10 July 2014.

External links