Died: January 4, 2021. KAY Ullrich – lifelong nationalist and former SNP MSP, who has died aged 77 – revelled in her reputation as a glamorous raconteur who would hold court with a glass in one hand and a cigarette in the other. Innately flamboyant, she loved to recall how she walked down Edinburgh’s Royal Mile with Sean Connery at the opening of the Scottish Parliament. But no-one who knew her ever mistook her conviviality for frivolousness, or her penchant for stylish clothes for a lack of substance. Ullrich was a woman whose political convictions were at her core; a woman who, having escaped an abusive marriage, went on to forge a career as a social worker, specialising in child protection.
Kay Ullrich, Scottish Nationalist MSP and mentor to Nicola Sturgeon – obituary
She joined the SNP out of anger at nuclear submarines on the Clyde and served as chief whip in the Scottish Parliament
Kay Ullrich
Credit: UPPA/Photoshot/Avalon
Kay Ullrich, who has died aged 77, was a prominent figure in the Scottish National Party either side of devolution in 1999, and a mentor of Scotland’s current First Minister, Nicola Sturgeon.
Rated by Ms Sturgeon as “one of the most influential figures in my life”, she tried four times for a seat at Westminster, and was SNP health spokesman and then chief whip during the first four years of the revived Scottish Parliament.