Màiri McAllan
MSP
Official portrait, 2023
Cabinet Secretary for Transport, Net Zero and Just Transition[lower-alpha 1]
Assumed office
29 March 2023
First MinisterHumza Yousaf
Preceded byMichael Matheson
Minister for Environment, Biodiversity and Land Reform
In office
20 May 2021 – 29 March 2023
First MinisterNicola Sturgeon
Preceded byBen Macpherson
Succeeded byVacant
Member of the Scottish Parliament for Clydesdale
Assumed office
6 May 2021
Preceded byAileen Campbell
Majority4,578 (7.5%)[1]
Personal details
Born (1993-02-14) 14 February 1993
Glasgow, Scotland
Political partyScottish National Party
Alma materUniversity of Glasgow

Mairi Louise McAllan (born 14 February 1993) is a Scottish politician serving as Cabinet Secretary for Net Zero and Just Transition since 2023, having previously served as Minister for Environment, Biodiversity and Land Reform from 2021 to 2023. A member of the Scottish National Party (SNP), she has been the Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for Clydesdale since 2021. McAllan is a former solicitor, who served as a special advisor to First Minister Nicola Sturgeon prior to her election to the Scottish Parliament.[2]

Early life

McAllan grew up and was educated in Biggar, South Lanarkshire, then studied Scots law at the University of Glasgow, also spending time at the University of Ghent in Belgium.[3]

Her father Ian is also a politician who has served as a local councillor for South Lanarkshire's Clydesdale East ward (which covers Biggar) since 2017.[3]

Before entering politics, McAllan co-founded human rights organisation RebLaw Scotland, which aims to use the law as a tool in the fight for social justice and held its first conference in 2017, worked as a lawyer and was director of East Ayrshire's Women's Aid.[4][5]

Political career

She stood unsuccessfully in Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale and Tweeddale at the 2017 United Kingdom general election, where she came second to Conservative incumbent David Mundell.[6]

McAllan served as a special advisor in the Scottish Government on environmental matters. First to then Environment Secretary Roseanna Cunningham and then to then First Minister Nicola Sturgeon.[7][8]

On 6 May 2021 she was elected as Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for Clydesdale.[1]

On 19 May 2021, McAllan was appointed to the new government as Minister for Environment, Biodiversity and Land Reform.[9][10]

Notes

  1. ↑ Cabinet Secretary for Net Zero and Just Transition (March 2023–June 2023)

References

  1. 1 2 "Scotland Election 2021 > Clydesdale". BBC News. Retrieved 8 May 2021.
  2. ↑ "Mairi McAllan: A lifelong local, a lawyer and an adviser to the First Minister". The National. Retrieved 20 May 2021.
  3. 1 2 "SNP choose Mairi to fight Mundell for rural Clydesdale". carlukegazette.co.uk. 15 May 2017. Retrieved 8 May 2021.
  4. ↑ "Mairi McAllan: Meet the SNP Holyrood candidate for Clydesdale". national.scot. 14 November 2020. Retrieved 17 December 2023.
  5. ↑ "Are you a rebel lawyer? Insight into the RebLaw Scotland social justice movement". benchmarkadvocates.co.uk. 14 February 2020. Retrieved 17 December 2023.
  6. ↑ Bark, Stephen (11 July 2021). "Political calling came early for Clydesdale MSP Màiri McAllan". Daily Record. Retrieved 20 January 2022.
  7. ↑ "Mairi McAllan: A lifelong local, a lawyer and an adviser to the First Minister". The National. Retrieved 17 December 2023.
  8. ↑ "The minister in charge of saving the world defends Scotland's record on climate chang". Sunday Post. Retrieved 17 December 2023.
  9. ↑ "Nicola Sturgeon appoints new health and education secretaries". BBC News. 19 May 2021. Archived from the original on 19 May 2021.
  10. ↑ "New Scottish Cabinet - gov.scot". www.gov.scot. Retrieved 19 May 2021.


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