All smiles, the First Minister and her new young team
NICOLA Sturgeon yesterday drafted nine MSPs into her junior ministerial team – including seven who were elected for the first time only two years ago. Here, MICHAEL BLACKLEY introduces the new blood.
ASH DENHAM (1), the Edinburgh Eastern MSP who defeated then Scottish Labour leader Kezia Dugdale in the 2016 Holyrood election, has been handed the Community Safety remit.
Raised in Biggar, Lanarkshire, she moved to England as a child and attended Keele University, before moving back to the Borders with her husband.
She has previously been criticised by some on the Left for opting to send her twin boys to a private school. Despite that, she used her maiden Holyrood speech to tell the chamber she believes in ‘educational opportunity’ for all.
Miss Denham defended her decision over her sons’ education, saying: ‘When I started working in Edinburgh, as a working mother, without the wraparound care that I needed, because I was living at that time in the Borders... I just couldn’t make it work. As a family, we decided to look at other alternatives.’
MAIRI GOUGEON (2), has been selected as Rural Affairs and Natural Environment Minister. She was elected in Angus North and Mearns in 2016.
She has previously talked of her concerns her French husband Baptiste may not be able to remain in the UK after Brexit. She previously acted as parliamentary liaison officer to Angela Constance when she was Secretary for Communities, Social Security and Equalities.
BEN MACPHERSON (3), who has acted as the parliamentary aide to Nicola Sturgeon since he was elected in 2016, has been rewarded with the role of Minister for Europe, Migration and International Development.
He has been credited with
building links with MSPs of all parties since he won the election in Edinburgh Northern and Leith two years ago.
CLARE HAUGHEY (4), MSP for Rutherglen, has been appointed Minister for Mental Health, having previously worked as a mental health nurse.
She was previously the standards committee convener, where one of her last acts was to announce the decision to suspend former minister Mark
McDonald from parliament without wages for a month after he was accused of sexual harassment.
KATE FORBES (5), MSP for Skye, Lochaber and Badenoch, has been appointed Minister for Public Finance and Digital Economy, where she will operate under Derek Mackay, who she previously worked with as his parliamentary liaison officer.
She successfully campaigned for a ban on plastic straws and also became the first MSP to give a full speech in Gaelic.
GILLIAN MARTIN (6), who represents Aberdeenshire East, has been made the new Minister for Further and Higher Education, replacing Shirley-Anne Somerville, who was promoted.
She replaced Alex Salmond in the Aberdeenshire East seat when he moved to Westminster in 2016. GRAEME DEY (7), has been appointed Minister for Parlia-
mentary Business and Veterans.
He is a former regional sports editor for newspaper publisher DC Thomson, where he worked for 30 years before becoming MSP for Angus South in 2011.
CHRISTINA McKELVIE (8), MSP for Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse since 2011, has been appointed Minister for Older People and Equalities.
Her promotion came the day after her partner, Keith Brown, lost his role as Economy Secretary. On Twitter yesterday, Mr Brown said: ‘Ah! The pick of an excellent bunch (I know, I’m biased!) Sail on silver girl... your time has come to shine.’
IVAN McKEE (9), was with proindependence group Business for Scotland before becoming Glasgow Provan MSP in 2016.
Earlier this year he was hailed a hero after rescuing an 81-yearold cyclist who toppled into a Glasgow canal.