Patricia Ferguson

For the engineer, see Patricia Ann Ferguson.

Patricia Ferguson
MP
Official portrait, 2024
Chair of the Scottish Affairs Select Committee
Incumbent
Assumed office
12 September 2024
Preceded byPete Wishart
Minister for Tourism, Culture and Sport
In office
4 October 2004 – 17 May 2007
First MinisterJack McConnell
Preceded byFrank McAveety
Succeeded byLinda Fabiani
Minister for Parliamentary Business
In office
27 November 2001 – 4 October 2004
First MinisterJack McConnell
Preceded byTom McCabe
Succeeded byMargaret Curran
Deputy Presiding Officer of the Scottish Parliament
In office
12 May 1999 – 27 November 2001
Presiding OfficerDavid Steel
Preceded byOffice established
Succeeded byMurray Tosh
Member of Parliament
for Glasgow West
Incumbent
Assumed office
4 July 2024
Preceded byConstituency created
Majority6,446 (16.2%)
Member of the Scottish Parliament
for Glasgow Maryhill and Springburn
Glasgow Maryhill (1999–2011)
In office
6 May 1999 – 23 May 2016
Preceded byOffice established
Succeeded byBob Doris
Member of Glasgow City Council
for Drumchapel/Anniesland
In office
5 May 2022 – 2 September 2024
Personal details
Born
Patricia Josephine Ferguson

(1958-09-24) 24 September 1958 (age 66)
Glasgow, Scotland
Political partyScottish Labour
SpouseBill Butler
Alma materGlasgow College of Technology (HNC)

Patricia Josephine Ferguson (born 24 September 1958) is a British politician who has served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Glasgow West since the 2024 United Kingdom general election. Ferguson was also a Glasgow City Council Councillor, until her resignation on September 2nd 2024.[1]

Ferguson has previously been a Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for Glasgow Maryhill and Springburn, previously Glasgow Maryhill, from 1999 to 2016. A member of the Labour Party, she served in the Scottish Cabinet of First Minister Jack McConnell from 2001 to 2007.

Early life and career

Ferguson was educated at Garnethill Convent Secondary School in Glasgow between 1970 and 1976, and at Glasgow College of Technology, where she obtained an HNC in Public Administration in 1978.[2] She spent part of her childhood living in the city's Red Road Flats.[3]

Prior to entering the Scottish Parliament, she worked as a administrator in NHS Scotland between 1978 and 1990, with the Scottish Trades Union Congress between 1990 and 1994, and with the Scottish Labour Party between 1994 and 1999.[2]

Scottish Parliamentary career (1999–2016)

She was first elected as an MSP in 1999 for the newly created Glasgow Maryhill constituency,[4] a seat she held until 2011 when Glasgow Maryhill was merged with other constituencies to form the Glasgow Maryhill and Springburn constituency. She won the 2011 Glasgow Maryhill and Springburn election but lost her seat in 2016[5] to Scottish National Party(SNP) member Bob Doris.[6]

After being elected as MSP for Glasgow Maryhill in May 1999, she was Deputy Presiding Officer of the Scottish Parliament from 1999 until 2001 and as a member of several of the Parliament's Standards and Procedures Committees.[7]

She was first appointed to the Scottish Executive Cabinet in November 2001 as Minister for Parliament when Jack McConnell became First Minister. She became Minister for Tourism, Culture and Sport in October 2004.[5]

In 2006, her name was included on a variant of a Nigerian scam email after a high-profile trip to Malawi as part of her Scottish Executive brief.[8]

Local government (2022–2024)

In the 2022 Glasgow City Council election, Ferguson was one of four members (including Labour colleague Paul Carey) elected to represent the Drumchapel/Anniesland ward.[9]

UK Parliamentary career (2024–present)

Ferguson was elected to the United Kingdom Parliament at the 2024 general election, defeating SNP incumbent Carol Monaghan of predecessor seat Glasgow North West.[10] Before that, she was first runner-up to Monaghan in Glasgow North West in 2019.[11]

On 12 September 2024, she was elected chair of the Scottish Affairs Select Committee.[12]

Personal life

She is married to former Labour MSP and councillor colleague Bill Butler.[5]

References

  1. ^ "Bailie Patricia Ferguson". Glasgow City Council. Retrieved 6 July 2024.
  2. ^ a b "Patricia Ferguson – Personal Information". Scottish Parliament. 16 February 2012. Retrieved 5 August 2020.
  3. ^ "Red Road flats: Glasgow city officials apologise for botched demolition". The Guardian. 12 October 2015. Retrieved 17 February 2019.
  4. ^ "Labour a trailblazer for gender equality". Glasgow Times. 25 August 2015. Retrieved 5 August 2020.
  5. ^ a b c "Election 2016: Former Labour cabinet minister Patricia Ferguson loses seat to SNP". HeraldScotland. 6 May 2016. Retrieved 5 August 2020.
  6. ^ "Glasgow Maryhill and Springburn – Scottish Parliament constituency – Election 2016". BBC News. Retrieved 5 August 2020.
  7. ^ "Patricia Ferguson". Scottish Parliament. 25 July 2011. Retrieved 5 August 2020.
  8. ^ "E-mail scam uses minister's name". BBC News. 9 June 2006. Retrieved 5 August 2020.
  9. ^ "Declaration of Results (Ward 14 Drumchapel/Anniesland)". Glasgow City Council. Retrieved 6 May 2022.
  10. ^ Paterson, Stewart (5 July 2024). "Patricia Ferguson: Labour Glasgow win 'just the beginning'". Glasgow Times. Retrieved 6 July 2024.
  11. ^ "Glasgow North West parliamentary constituency – Election 2019". BBC News.
  12. ^ "Labour MP elected to chair key Scottish Westminster committee by just two votes". The National. 12 September 2024. Retrieved 30 October 2024.
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Patricia Ferguson.
Parliament of the United Kingdom
New constituency Member of Parliament for Glasgow West
2024–present 		Incumbent
Scottish Parliament
New constituency Member of the Scottish Parliament for Glasgow Maryhill and Springburn
2011–2016 		Succeeded by
New constituency Member of the Scottish Parliament for Glasgow Maryhill
1999–2011 		Constituency abolished
Political offices
Preceded by Minister for Tourism, Culture and Sport
2004–2007 		Office abolished
Preceded by Minister for Parliamentary Business
2001–2004 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Minister for Gaelic
2006–2007 		Succeeded by