Michael Matheson (politician)
Michael Stephen Matheson (born 8 September 1970) is a Scottish politician serving as Cabinet Secretary for Net Zero, Energy and Transport since 2018. He previously served as Cabinet Secretary for Justice from 2014 to 2018 and Minister for Public Health from 2011 to 2014. A member of the Scottish National Party (SNP), he has been a Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) since 1999, first representing the Central Scotland region and, since 2007, the Falkirk West constituency. A graduate of the Queen Margaret University and Open University, Matheson worked as an occupational therapist in local government, before his election to Holyrood in the 1999 Scottish Parliament election. He served successively as the SNP's shadow deputy minister for justice and rural development and shadow minister for culture and sport. Matheson ran unsuccessfully, twice, for the Falkirk West constituency, however, remained as an additional member for the Central Scotland region until the 2007 ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Member Of The Scottish Parliament
Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP; gd, Ball Pàrlamaid na h-Alba, BPA; sco, Memmer o the Scots Pairliament, MSP) is the title given to any one of the 129 individuals elected to serve in the Scottish Parliament. Electoral system The additional member system produces a form of proportional representation, where each constituency has its own representative, and each region has seats given to political parties to reflect as closely as possible its level of support among voters. Each registered voter is asked to cast 2 votes, resulting in MSPs being elected in one of two ways: * 73 are elected as First past the post constituency MSPs and; * 56 are elected as Regional additional member MSPs. Seven are elected from each of eight regional groups of constituencies. Types of candidates With the additional members system, there are 3 ways in which a person can stand to be a MSP: * a constituency candidate * a candidate named on a party list at the regional election * an individu ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Occupational Therapist
Occupational therapists (OTs) are health care professionals specializing in occupational therapy and occupational science. OTs and occupational therapy assistants (OTAs) use scientific bases and a holistic perspective to promote a person's ability to fulfill their daily routines and roles. OTs have immense training in the physical, psychological, and social aspects of human functioning deriving from an education grounded in anatomical and physiological concepts, and psychological perspectives. They enable individuals across the lifespan by optimizing their abilities to perform activities that are meaningful to them ("occupations"). Human occupations include activities of daily living, work/vocation, play, education, leisure, rest and sleep, and social participation. OTs work in a variety of fields, including pediatrics, orthopedics, neurology, low vision therapy, physical rehabilitation, mental health, assistive technology, oncological rehabilitation, and geriatrics. OTs are em ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Alex Neil (politician)
Alexander Neil (born 22 August 1951) is a Scottish politician who served as Cabinet Secretary for Health and Wellbeing from 2012 to 2014 and Cabinet Secretary for Social Justice, Communities and Pensioners' Rights from 2014 to 2016. A member of the Scottish National Party (SNP), he was the Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for the Airdrie and Shotts constituency from 2011 until his retirement in 2021. Early life and education Neil was born in Ayrshire Central Hospital, Irvine, the son of Margaret (née Gunning) and Alexander Neil snr, a coalminer. He was brought up in Patna, Ayrshire, and became involved in Labour politics, joining the Labour Party in 1967, aged 16. He was educated at Ayr Academy, before attending the University of Dundee, where he studied economics. He served as chairman of the Scottish Organisation of Labour Students and later the UK-wide National Organisation of Labour Students. Political career Early years After graduating with an MA (Hons) ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Second Salmond Government
Alex Salmond formed the second Salmond government on 19 May 2011 following his Scottish National Party's landslide victory in the 2011 election to the 4th Scottish Parliament. This was the first single-party majority government in the history of the devolved parliament. Salmond's second administration ended on 19 November 2014 in the aftermath of his resignation as First Minister of Scotland. History 2011 to 2012 On 18 May 2011, after Salmond was re-elected as first minister, his cabinet was increased in size, from five cabinet secretaries to eight. Nicola Sturgeon was re-appointed as Deputy First Minister and Health Secretary. John Swinney, Kenny McAskill and Richard Lochhead all remained in cabinet, with Fiona Hyslop returning, having served as Education Secretary from 2007 to 2009. Bruce Crawford and Alex Neil were promoted to cabinet. 2012 to 2013 In September 2012, Salmond made a snap reshuffle in light of the 2014 Scottish independence referendum. Nicola Stu ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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First Minister Of Scotland
The first minister of Scotland ( sco, heid meinister o Scotland; gd, prìomh mhinistear na h-Alba ) is the head of the Scottish Government and keeper of the Great Seal of Scotland. The first minister chairs the Scottish Cabinet and is primarily responsible for the formulation, development and presentation of Scottish Government policy. Additional functions of the first minister include promoting and representing Scotland in an official capacity, at home and abroad. The first minister is nominated by the Scottish Parliament by fellow MSPs, and is formally appointed by the monarch. Members of the Scottish Cabinet and junior ministers of the Scottish Government as well as the Scottish law officers, are appointed by the first minister. As head of the Scottish Government, the first minister is directly accountable to the Scottish Parliament for their actions and the actions of the wider government. Nicola Sturgeon of the Scottish National Pa ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Backbencher
In Westminster and other parliamentary systems, a backbencher is a member of parliament (MP) or a legislator who occupies no governmental office and is not a frontbench spokesperson in the Opposition, being instead simply a member of the " rank and file". The term dates from 1855. The term derives from the fact that they sit physically behind the frontbench in the House of Commons. A backbencher may be a new parliamentary member yet to receive high office, a senior figure dropped from government, someone who for whatever reason is not chosen to sit in the government or an opposition spokesperson (such as a shadow cabinet if one exists), or someone who prefers to be a background influence, not in the spotlight. By extension, those who are not reliable supporters of all of their party's goals and policies and have resigned or been forced to resign may be relegated to the back benches. For example, in British political events, Clive Lewis became a backbencher after resign ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Scottish Parliament
The Scottish Parliament ( gd, Pàrlamaid na h-Alba ; sco, Scots Pairlament) is the devolved, unicameral legislature of Scotland. Located in the Holyrood area of the capital city, Edinburgh, it is frequently referred to by the metonym Holyrood. The Parliament is a democratically elected body comprising 129 members known as Members of the Scottish Parliament (MSPs), elected for five-year terms under the additional member system: 73 MSPs represent individual geographical constituencies elected by the plurality (first-past-the-post) system, while a further 56 are returned as list members from eight additional member regions. Each region elects seven party-list MSPs. Each region elects 15 to 17 MSPs in total. The most recent general election to the Parliament was held on 6 May 2021, with the Scottish National Party winning a plurality. The original Parliament of Scotland was the national legislature of the independent Kingdom of Scotland and existed from the early 13th ce ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Local Government In Scotland
Local government in Scotland comprises thirty-two local authorities, commonly referred to as councils. Each council provides public services, including education, social care, waste management, libraries and planning. Councils receive the majority of their funding from the Scottish Government, but operate independently and are accountable to their local electorates. Councils raise additional income via the Council Tax, a locally variable domestic property tax, and Business rates, a non-domestic property tax. Councils are made up of councillors who are directly elected by the residents of the area they represent. Each council area is divided into a number of wards, and three or four councillors are elected for each ward. There are currently 1,227 elected councillors in Scotland. Local elections are normally held every five years and use the single transferable vote electoral system. The most recent election was the 2022 Scottish local elections and the next election wi ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Occupational Therapist
Occupational therapists (OTs) are health care professionals specializing in occupational therapy and occupational science. OTs and occupational therapy assistants (OTAs) use scientific bases and a holistic perspective to promote a person's ability to fulfill their daily routines and roles. OTs have immense training in the physical, psychological, and social aspects of human functioning deriving from an education grounded in anatomical and physiological concepts, and psychological perspectives. They enable individuals across the lifespan by optimizing their abilities to perform activities that are meaningful to them ("occupations"). Human occupations include activities of daily living, work/vocation, play, education, leisure, rest and sleep, and social participation. OTs work in a variety of fields, including pediatrics, orthopedics, neurology, low vision therapy, physical rehabilitation, mental health, assistive technology, oncological rehabilitation, and geriatrics. OTs are em ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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2007 Scottish Parliament Election
The 2007 Scottish Parliament election was held on Thursday 3 May 2007 to elect members to the Scottish Parliament. It was the third general election to the devolved Scottish Parliament since it was created in 1999. Local elections in Scotland fell on the same day. The Scottish National Party emerged as the largest party with 47 seats, closely followed by the incumbent Scottish Labour Party with 46 seats. The Scottish Conservatives won 17 seats, the Scottish Liberal Democrats 16 seats, the Scottish Greens 2 seats and one Independent ( Margo MacDonald) was also elected. The SNP initially approached the Liberal Democrats for a coalition government, but the Lib Dems turned them down. Ultimately, the Greens agreed to provide the numbers to vote in an SNP minority government, with SNP leader Alex Salmond as First Minister. The Scottish Socialist Party and the Scottish Senior Citizens Unity Party, which won seats in the 2003 election, lost all of their seats. Former MSP Tom ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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1999 Scottish Parliament Election
The first election to the devolved Scottish Parliament, to fill 129 seats, took place on 6 May 1999. Following the election, the Labour Party and the Liberal Democrats formed the Scottish Executive, with Labour Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) Donald Dewar becoming First Minister. The Scottish Parliament was created after a referendum on devolution took place on 11 September 1997 in which 74.3% of those who voted approved the idea. The Scotland Act (1998) was then passed by the UK Parliament which established the devolved Scottish Parliament and Scottish Executive. The parliament was elected using Mixed-member proportional representation, combining 73 (First-past-the-post) constituenciesThe same constituency boundaries were used as in the 1997 United Kingdom general election with the exception of Orkney and Shetland, which were made into separate constituencies. and proportional representation with the 73 constituencies being grouped together to make eight regio ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |