Tricia Marwick

The Right Honourable Tricia Marwick MSP
4th Presiding Officer of the Scottish Parliament
Incumbent
Assumed office 11 May 2011
Preceded by	Alex Fergusson
Member of the Scottish Parliament for Mid Fife and Glenrothes
Incumbent
Assumed office 5 May 2011
Preceded by	Constituency established
Majority	4,188 (15.9%)
Member of the Scottish Parliament for Central Fife
In office 3 May 2007 – 23 March 2011
Preceded by	Christine May
Succeeded by	Constituency abolished
Majority	1,166 (4.3%)
Member of the Scottish Parliament for Mid Scotland and Fife
In office 6 May 1999 – March 2007
Preceded by	List established
Personal details
Born	(1953-11-05) 5 November 1953 Cowdenbeath, Fife, Scotland
Nationality	Scottish
Political party	None (2011–present, SNP membership suspended while PO) Scottish National Party (1999-2011)
Spouse(s)	Frank Marwick
Relations	Natalie McGarry MP (niece)
Occupation	Charity Public Affairs Officer
Religion	Christian

Tricia Marwick (born 5 November 1953) is the Presiding Officer of the Scottish Parliament, the first woman to hold the post. In that capacity, she is the Convener of the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body. She has been the Member of the Scottish Parliament for Mid Fife and Glenrothes since 2003 (previously known as Central Fife from 2003 to 2007). Elected as a member of the Scottish National Party, she suspended her membership upon her election as Presiding Officer, per the tradition that the Presiding Officer is nonpartisan.

Background

Marwick was born in Cowdenbeath^[1] and brought up in Fife. She worked as Public Affairs Officer for Shelter Scotland, a charity for homeless people, from 1992 to 1999. Her niece is Natalie McGarry MP.^[2]

Member of the Scottish Parliament

In the 1999 Scottish Parliamentary election, Marwick was elected as a member for the Mid Scotland and Fife region. She served on the SNP opposition frontbench team as Deputy Business Manager 1999-2000, Shadow Minister for Local Government 2004, Business Manager and Chief Whip 2004-2005 and Shadow Minister for Housing 2005-2007. Marwick has also served as a member of the Scottish Parliament’s Standards, Justice and Home Affairs, Equal Opportunities, Local Government and Communities committees and as convenor of the Waverly Railway (Scotland) Bill committee from 2004-2006.

At the 2003 Scottish Parliamentary election she contested the Central Fife seat and, although she narrowly failed to win the seat, she was re-elected to serve as a member for Mid Scotland and Fife. Marwick contested Central Fife again in 2007 and was elected as the constituencies MSP after defeating the Labour incumbent, Christine May, with a majority of 1,166 votes.

Following the 2007 election Marwick was appointed as the SNP's representative on the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body, and oversaw parliamentary access and information issues.

Presiding Officer of the Scottish Parliament

In the 2011 election, Marwick was elected for Mid Fife and Glenrothes, essentially a redrawing of her old Central Fife seat. On 11 May 2011 following the election Marwick was elected to serve as the 4th Presiding Officer of the Scottish Parliament, and won support from the majority of members in the second round of voting. She is the first woman and second SNP member to serve in the position. In October 2012, Marwick accepted a nomination to join the Privy Council, meaning that she is titled the Rt Hon. Tricia Marwick MSP.^[3] Each of the previous Presiding Officers were also appointed to the Privy Council.

On 29 May 2015, it was announced that Marwick would step down as Presiding Officer after the 2016 election.^[4]

References

External links

• Scottish Parliament webpage