Mid Fife and Glenrothes MSP Jenny Gilruth’s rapid rise through ranks of the SNP

Meet the SNP minister being talked about as a potential party leader.

Jenny Gilruth is the Scottish Government education secretary.

A former teacher, she taught at Royal High School in Edinburgh and was head of social subjects at St Columba’s RC High School in Dunfermline.

Jennifer Gilruth was born in Aberdeen in 1984. She was raised in Banff before her family moved to Ceres in Fife.

She attended Aberchirder primary in Aberdeenshire, Ceres primary, then Madras College in St Andrews. She went on to study politics and sociology at Glasgow University.

While a student she became a member of the SNP’s student wing and served on the national executive of Young Scots for Independence.

After her undergraduate degree she studied for a PDGE to teach modern studies at Strathclyde University and worked at the Scottish Executive as a graduate researcher in the justice department.

She joined the SNP officially at the age of 22 in 2007 and worked for ex Fife MSP Tricia Marwick in her constituency office and Kenny MacAskill MSP in Holyrood. She also had a spell as a parliamentary liaison officer for John Swinney.

She was elected as an MSP, for Mid Fife and Glenrothes, in 2016.

In January 2020, under Nicola Sturgeon, she become minister for Europe, migration and international development.

At the 2021 Holyrood election she was re-elected by Mid Fife and Glenrothes with a majority of 10,234 – one of the biggest majorities in the country.

She became minister for transport in the reshuffle of January 2022.

In 2016, she campaigned on the need to improve transport links in Fife and was vocal in her support for the Levenmouth Rail link.

In her ministerial role, she had to deal with ScotRail’s pay dispute which led to 700 services being axed, putting her in the firing line of frustrated travellers.

In one memorable exchange over rail problems, she told parliament: “I don’t drive the trains.”

She was made education secretary in March 2023, working under Humza Yousaf as first minister.

In her year in the job, she has been tested on the response to school violence, including high profile bullying claims in Fife.

She also had to field angry responses when reports showed Scotland slipping back in global ranking.

Jenny Gilruth was asked about the issue in Fife as she visited a nursery to launch the government’s latest independence paper.

Before becoming a government minister, Ms Gilruth began a relationship with fellow MSP Kezia Dugdale.

At the time, Ms Dugdale, a Courier columnist, was leader of Scottish Labour.

A close friend of the couple said that they “share much in common” but they will always “differ over politics”.

At the time Ms Sturgeon congratulated the couple by saying: “love really does conquer all”.

Ms Gilruth became an MSP in 2016 and then a minister four years later.