Prior to her election, she worked as a primary school teacher for nearly 30 years,[9][10] alongside pursuing a political career, which she earlier admitted as challenging even with a "sympathetic headteacher....you have a duty to the kids, who must come first."[11]
She married Richard Stewart[12] on 14 September 1989.[13] They have two children.[8]
Political career
Stewart joined the Scottish National Party in 1994. "For me it is all about the fact that I was always a supporter of equal rights and self-determination," she explained. "I always wanted control over my own affairs and it was a natural progression to put that into a Scotland context. To be able to do what you want to do, when you want to do it and how you want to do it is very important to me."[7]
She stood unsuccessfully as a SNP candidate in the first Scottish Parliament election since devolution, against Donald Dewar for Glasgow Anniesland at the 1999 Scottish Parliament election.[14][15] Eleven years later, she stood unsuccessfully against former Chancellor of the ExchequerAlistair Darling at the 2010 general election.[16][17] Speaking about these experiences in September 2020, Stewart said: "In these elections I knew my chances of being elected were close to zero but it was that dream of a better nation which inspired me to carry on... It's thanks to the hard work of the activists I worked with then that we are where we are today."[18]
Stewart was appointed in June 2021 as deputy convenor of the Holyrood education committee which scrutinises Scottish education policy and its lead bodies.[23] In the same year she was interviewed for Channel 4The Political Slot on her party's vision for equality in Scotland.[6]
In January 2023, she was one of a number of Scottish politicians who drew media attention and criticism after being photographed smiling in front of a sign reading 'Decapitate TERFs' and a drawing of a guillotine at a Glasgow rally.[24] She subsequently claimed that she had not seen the sign in question and commented that "Violent hate speech is totally unacceptable and has absolutely no place in our public discourse."[25] This explanation met with some ridicule, including from the author J.K. Rowling, who commented, "I too beam with delight when having my photograph taken with things of which I am entirely unaware".[26] The sign was reported to Police Scotland.[27] Fellow MSP Murdo Fraser described the sign as "clearly a hate crime and a public order offence".[28]
