Pauline McNeill (born September 12, 1962) is Labour Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for Glasgow Kelvin, Scotland, having been elected in the Scottish Parliament elections in 1999,2003 and 2007. Events 1213 - Albigensian Crusade: Simon de Montfort 5th Earl of Leicester, defeats Peter II of Aragon at the Year 1962 ( MCMLXII) was a Common year starting on Monday (the link is to a full 1962 calendar of the Gregorian calendar. The Labour Party is a Political party in the United Kingdom. Founded at the start of the 20th century it has been since the 1920s the principal party of the Glasgow Kelvin is a constituency of the Scottish Parliament ( Holyrood) The Scottish Parliament ( Scottish Gaelic: Pàrlamaid na h-Alba; Scots: Scottish Pairlament) is the devlolved national unicameral The Scottish Parliament election 1999 was the first General election of the Scottish Parliament, with voting taking place on May 6, 1999. The Scottish Parliament election 2003, was the second General election of the Scottish Parliament. The 2007 Scottish Parliament election was held on Thursday 3 May 2007 to elect members to the Scottish Parliament Following the elections in May 2007 Pauline McNeill was appointed Shadow Minister for Children and Early Years and is currently Shadow Cabinet Secretary for Justice.
Biography
She was educated at Our Lady's High School, Cumbernauld, before training as a graphic illustrator at Glasgow College of Building and Printing. Cumbernauld ( Gaelic: Comar nan Allt) is a New town in North Lanarkshire, Scotland. She was President of the National Union of Students in Scotland and was subsequently an organiser for the trades-union, GMB Scotland, representing NHS workers, hospitality and factory staff amongst many others.
An active member of the Labour Party since her time in the student movement, McNeill was also an executive committee member of the Campaign for a Scottish Assembly and a committed campaigner for devolution throughout the 1980s and 1990s. The Labour Party is a Political party in the United Kingdom. Founded at the start of the 20th century it has been since the 1920s the principal party of the The Campaign for a Scottish Assembly (CSA was formed in the aftermath of the 1979 referendum that failed to establish a devolved Scottish Assembly.
McNeill is married to Joseph Cahill, an advocate, who is a former police officer and Depute Procurator Fiscal. An advocate is one who speaks on behalf of another person especially in a legal context A procurator fiscal is the Public prosecutor in Scotland, also carrying out functions broadly equivalent to the Coroner in other Legal systems
During her first term as the MSP for Glasgow Kelvin, she graduated from Strathclyde Law School, after a period combining legislating and night school. Strathclyde Law School was established in 1964 and operates within the faculty of Law Arts and Social Sciences at the University of Strathclyde, in Glasgow,
In 2007 she won retained the Glasgow Kelvin seat despite fierce opposition to the UK Labour Government's invasion of Iraq, a policy she bitterly opposed.
McNeill has also received strong criticism from the organisation Scotland Against Crooked Lawyers for her refusal, as convenor of the Justice 1 Committee, to investigate doctored submissions and contradictory evidence given to the Parliamentary Inquiry investigating self-regulation in the Law Society of Scotland. Scotland Against Crooked Lawyers (SACL is a Pressure group, registered as a political party, dedicated to exposing corruption within the Scottish legal profession The Law Society of Scotland is the Professional governing body for Scottish Solicitors based in Edinburgh.
In politics
McNeill was elected as Glasgow Kelvin’s first-ever Member of the Scottish Parliament on 6 May 1999 and re-elected in 2003 and 2007. I
In the first term of the new Parliament, 1999-2003, she was elected as Vice Chair of the Parliamentary Labour Party before being appointed convener of two of Parliament’s busiest committees, Justice 2 and subsequently Justice 1. As a Justice Committee Convener, McNeill led Parliamentary consideration of:
- Land Reform (Scotland) Act 2003
- Civil Partnership Act 2004
- Rights of Relatives to Damages (Mesothelioma) (Scotland) Bill
- Scottish Criminal Record Office Inquiry
- Scottish Commission for Human Rights Act 2006
- Family Law (Scotland) Act 2006
McNeill’s committee also led consideration of reforms to the High Court amongst many other subjects and convened the first ever inquiry into the Crown and Procurator Fiscal Service, and was proud to help deliver justice for asbestos victims in the Court of Session. The Court of Session is the supreme civil court of Scotland. It is both a Court of first instance and a court of Appeal and sits exclusively Her Committee won Committee of the Year at the 2006 Scottish Politician of the Year Awards and in 2005 she received the Equality Network 'Friend for Life' Award for her work on civil partnerships and gender recognition.
McNeill is also convener of the Cross Party Group on Contemporary Music, which last year launched the Scottish Live Music Manifesto, and published the UK’s first Live Music Code of Conduct and Live Music Agreement, the purpose of these documents is to improve protection for bands and particularly young musicians from unscrupulous venues, agents and promoters. This work reflects Pauline’s past employment as a band manager and has been unique in uniting many of the key figures in the Scottish live music industry.
Since her student days, McNeill has had a strong interest in international issues. She is the Convener of the Cross Party Group on Palestine, and was a United Nations observer at the 2006 Palestinian Authority elections, later in 2006 she visited Lebanon in the aftermath of the war there, and continues to speak out, both in the Parliament, and at demonstrations, public meetings and protests on the need for a peaceful and just solution in the Middle East. Palestine is a name which has been widely used since Roman times to refer to the region between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River. The United Nations ( UN) is an International organization whose stated aims are to facilitate cooperation in International law, International security Lebanon (ˈlɛbənɒn Arabic: ar لبنان Lubnān) officially the Republic of Lebanon or Lebanese Republic (ar الجمهورية اللبنانية
McNeill was a strident opponent of the war in Iraq and campaigned for the right of protesters to picket the Labour Party’s 2003 Spring Conference, which took place at the SECC in her own constituency. For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Iraq topics.
She was instrumental in the granting of Fair Trade status to the City of Glasgow and walked in the Edinburgh Make Poverty History March when the G8 came to Gleneagles.
She opposes the replacement of the UK’s Trident nuclear weapons system, and has made her opposition clear in Parliament and outside. A trident (ˈtrаɪdənt also called a leister or gig, is a three- pronged Spear.
She opposes the holding of prisoners at Guantanamo Bay and has spoken out in favour of the rights of asylum seekers and new migrants. The Guantanamo Bay Detention Camp is a controversial United States Detention center operated by Joint Task Force Guantanamo since 2002 in Guantanamo She remains a supporter of many student campaigns, including the successful campaign to elect Israeli dissident, Mordechai Vanunu, as Rector of Glasgow University and takes a keen interest in the welfare of students across the many further and higher institutions located in Glasgow Kelvin. Mordechai Vanunu (מרדכי ואנונו born in Marrakech, Morocco on October 13 1954 is an Israeli former nuclear The position of Lord Rector of the University of Glasgow is elected every three years by the students at the University of Glasgow.
Since her election she has corresponded with almost 15,000 local people and has attended countless meeting across the constituency. Locally, she campaigns on the need for more affordable and social housing, more effective steps to increase recycling take-up and reduce energy usage, better regulation of public transport – specifically the bus industry, improvements to the Glasgow Subway, a more locally accountable planning system, safeguarding the unique gold standard service currently provided by the Queen Mother’s Maternity Hospital and the Royal Hospital for Sick Children, standing up for and improving local sports facilities, creating a safer city centre and the extension of community protections to the West End, better regulation of housing in multiple occupation and supports the campaign to save and restore the Kelvingrove Park Bandstand. The Royal Hospital for Sick Children Yorkhill, Glasgow ( is a Hospital specialising in Pediatric healthcare The Royal Hospital for Sick Children Yorkhill, Glasgow ( is a Hospital specialising in Pediatric healthcare
She was awarded the Equality Network 'Friend for Life' award for her work in ensuring that the Civil Partnership Act 2004 and Gender Recognition Act 2004 legislation passed at the UK Government level was compliant with existing Scottish legislation. The Equality Network is an Edinburgh based organisation which campaigns for the rights of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender See Civil partnerships in the United Kingdom for a detailed discussion of the Act and its implementation. The Gender Recognition Act 2004 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that allows Transsexual or Transgender people to change their
McNeill is a member of the following cross-party groups in the Scottish Parliament: Affordable Housing, Cuba, Human Rights, the Scottish Economy, Tobacco Control, Visual Impairment, Refugees and Asylum Seekers and Gaelic (Buidheann Thar Phartaidh na Gàidhlig). The Republic of Cuba (ˈkjuːbə or) consists of the island of Cuba (the largest and second-most populous island of the Greater Antilles) Isla de la Human rights refers to the "basic Rights and freedoms to which all humans are entitled Visual impairment or vision impairment is Vision loss that constitutes a significant limitation of visual capability resulting from Disease, According to the 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees, a refugee is a person who owing to a well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race According to the 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees, a refugee is a person who owing to a well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race Scottish Gaelic ( Gàidhlig) is a member of the Goidelic branch of Celtic languages.
External links
Pauline's Blog and Kelvin Labour Party Wesbsite
| Scottish Parliament | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Constituency Created |
Member of the Scottish Parliament for Glasgow Kelvin 1999 – present |
Incumbent |
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