The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
Perthshire MSP one of two SNP stalwarts quitting Holyrood
Cunningham will continue to fight for independence
Veteran Perthshire MSP Roseanna Cunningham has announced she is stepping down from the Scottish Parliament.
The environment secretary’s announcement on Saturday that she would not be seeking re-election was followed by a similar statement from former health secretary Alex Neil yesterday.
The growing list of SNP representatives planning to leave Holyrood already included External Affairs Secretary Michael Russell, Local Government Secretary Aileen Campbell, as well as former transport minister Stewart Stevenson, Highland MSP Gail Ross, former government strategy minister Bruce Crawford, and Uddingston and Bellshill MSP Richard Lyle.
In her announcement on Saturday, Ms Cunningham, MSP for Perthshire South and Kinross-shire, noted next year’s Scottish Parliament election was two months before her 70th birthday and pledged she would continue “to fight for independence”.
The former solicitor has been an MP and then an MSP in Perth and Kinross since 1995.
She has held three different Cabinet positions – covering the environment, fair work and community safety portfolios.
She was SNP deputy leader between 2000 and 2004, and ran against Alex Salmond when he was elected party leader that year.
She said it had been a massive honour to represent her constituents at Westminster and Holyrood but that after a quarter of a century as an elected politician, she had had to do some hard thinking.
“By the time of the next election I will be less than two months away from my 70th birthday and, further, by the end of that parliamentary term I would be nearly 75,” she said.
“This year, of all years, has made age a rather more relevant factor than it may otherwise have been.
“I have, accordingly, taken the very difficult decision to inform my local constituency association that I will not be seeking nomination as an SNP candidate for the 2021 Scottish Parliament elections.”
Airdrie and Shotts MSP Mr Neil served as health secretary from 2012 to 2014, and subsequently as Cabinet secretary for social justice, communities and pensioners rights, until 2016.
In a statement, Mr Neil said: “After much soul searching, I have decided that to commit to another five years as an MSP would mean not having the time to pursue all the other things in life I want to do.
“I also owe it to my wife and family to spend more time with them.
‘‘I have two beautiful granddaughters who miss me when I am away so often on parliamentary and constituency business. I want to spend more time with them.”
He said that his priorities in the remaining eight months would include helping to tackle the fallout from the coronavirus pandemic in his constituency.