There are 15 MSPs representing the city eight SNP, four Labour, two Conservative and one Green. Only one of the original 1999 intake of MSPs remains in Glasgow. Nicola Sturgeon has been an ever present since the first parliament session. Six other SNP MSPs have been re-elected for another term, Bill Kidd, James Dornan, Bob Doris, Humza Yousaf, Ivan McKee and John Mason. Two Labour MSPs return on the list Anas Sarwar and Pauline McNeill, while Annie wells has been re-elected for the Conservatives and Patrick Harvie for the Greens. The history makers are Kaukab Stewart, who became the first woman of colour to be elected to Holyrood, winning Glasgow Kelvin, with her result being declared before tory MSP Pam Gosal was elected in the West of Scotland list.
Scotland’s public land is being sold off to housing developers building luxury homes and sidelining local people, we can reveal. Several communities told The Ferret they were misled or ignored by housebuilders and public bodies on development plans. Developers also allegedly breached planning rules without consequence, while councils scrapped local plans – including a healthcare hub for the elderly – to allow for new developments, sometimes on greenbelt land. Nearly £70 million of land was bought from Scotland’s councils, universities and NHS boards by CALA homes between 2014 and 2019, according to data obtained by The Ferret through freedom of information law. This amounts to 12 per cent of the £500m of public land sold in recent years.
Nicola Sturgeon applauded Stewart as she arrived at the count to congratulate her new parliamentary colleague. She said: “I have never wanted to hug someone so much in my life,” the First Minister said, adding she was “thrilled beyond words” at the result. “It has taken us far too long, more than 20 years, but today she becomes the first woman of colour to be elected to our national Parliament,” she said. “Party politics aside this is a really special and a very significant moment for Scotland and I could not be prouder right now.” Glasgow Kelvin had been a key seat for the SNP to hold – and Stewart comfortably saw off a challenge from the Green’s co-leader Patrick Harvie who was bidding to become the first from his party to win a constituency seat in Scotland.
BBC News
Published
image captionFirst Minister Nicola Sturgeon and Scotland s first female Muslim MSP Kaukab Stewart
A record number of women have been elected to the Scottish Parliament, with 58 female MSPs winning seats in the Holyrood election.
Women now represent 45% of Scotland s 129 MSPs.
There were 45 women in the last Scottish Parliament, with several parties fielding female candidates to replace MSPs standing down.
The SNP now has 34 women, Labour have 10, the Conservatives have eight, the Scottish Greens have five and the Lib Dems have one female MSP.
Labour sought to promote women by zipping candidates, alternating men and women on their regional lists.
John Mason, Shettleston [Picture by Colin Mearns Mason said after his win: “I’m not going to claim everyone who voted SNP voted because they support independence but because they support Nicola sturgeon leading through the pandemic. “But I’m here to represent every person whether you voted for me or not. “Shettleston has a number of challenges but the SNP has been delivering. There has been investment in housing, the community hub has been build and a personal pleasure is the closure of the Bellgrove Hotel. “But whie these issues are important, I joined the SNP for one main reason, so Scotland can be free again.