Aileen Campbell
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Aileen Elizabeth Campbell (born 18 May 1980) is a Scottish football administrator and former politician who has served as the chief executive of Scottish Women's Football since 2021. A member of the
Scottish National Party The Scottish National Party (SNP; ) is a Scottish nationalist and social democratic party. The party holds 61 of the 129 seats in the Scottish Parliament, and holds 9 out of the 57 Scottish seats in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, ...
, she was a
Member of the Scottish Parliament Member of the Scottish Parliament (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 ...
(MSP) for fourteen years and was a
Scottish Government The Scottish Government (, ) is the executive arm of the devolved government of Scotland. It was formed in 1999 as the Scottish Executive following the 1997 referendum on Scottish devolution, and is headquartered at St Andrew's House in ...
minister for ten, having served on the Scottish Cabinet as Cabinet Secretary for Communities and Local Government, from 2018 to 2021. Born and raised in
Perth Perth () is the list of Australian capital cities, capital city of Western Australia. It is the list of cities in Australia by population, fourth-most-populous city in Australia, with a population of over 2.3 million within Greater Perth . The ...
, Campbell is a politics and history graduate of the
University of Glasgow The University of Glasgow (abbreviated as ''Glas.'' in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals; ) is a Public university, public research university in Glasgow, Scotland. Founded by papal bull in , it is the List of oldest universities in continuous ...
. She served as the National Convenor of the SNP's youth wing from 2005 to 2006, and was an editor for the ''Keystone'' magazine. Before becoming an elected official, she worked for politicians like
Nicola Sturgeon Nicola Ferguson Sturgeon (born 19 July 1970) is a Scottish politician who served as First Minister of Scotland and Leader of the Scottish National Party (SNP) from 2014 to 2023. She has served as a member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) sin ...
,
Shona Robison Shona McRory Robison (born 26 May 1966) is a Scottish politician who has served as Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Local Government since 2023. A member of the Scottish National Party (SNP), she previously served as Deputy First Minister of Sc ...
and Stewart Hosie. In the
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. 2007 Scottish local elections, ...
, she stood as the SNP's candidate for the Clydesdale constituency, but came second. Although she failed to win, Campbell was elected as an additional member for the South of Scotland region. In the 2011 election, she successfully defeated
Scottish Labour Scottish Labour (), is the part of the UK Labour Party (UK), Labour Party active in Scotland. Ideologically social democratic and Unionism in the United Kingdom, unionist, it holds 23 of 129 seats in the Scottish Parliament and 37 of 57 Sco ...
's Karen Gillon in Clydesdale. After Campbell's re-election to the
Scottish Parliament The Scottish Parliament ( ; ) is the Devolution in the United Kingdom, devolved, unicameral legislature of Scotland. It is located in the Holyrood, Edinburgh, Holyrood area of Edinburgh, and is frequently referred to by the metonym 'Holyrood'. ...
, she was appointed a junior minister in the
Scottish Government The Scottish Government (, ) is the executive arm of the devolved government of Scotland. It was formed in 1999 as the Scottish Executive following the 1997 referendum on Scottish devolution, and is headquartered at St Andrew's House in ...
as Minister for Local Government and Planning, a post she held for seven months. From 2011 to 2016, she served as Minister for Children and Young People. In December 2014, she became the first person to take maternity leave while serving as a minister in government. After being re-elected in 2016, Campbell was appointed the role of Minister for Public Health and Sport. In 2018, following a cabinet reshuffle, Campbell was promoted to Cabinet and served as Cabinet Secretary for Communities and Local Government. In March 2020, she announced her intention to step down as an MSP, therefore relinquishing her role in government.


Early life

Campbell was born on 18 May 1980 in
Perth Perth () is the list of Australian capital cities, capital city of Western Australia. It is the list of cities in Australia by population, fourth-most-populous city in Australia, with a population of over 2.3 million within Greater Perth . The ...
, Scotland. She grew up on her parents' tenant farm in Perthshire and was educated at Collace Primary School and Perth Academy. She studied Politics and History at the
University of Glasgow The University of Glasgow (abbreviated as ''Glas.'' in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals; ) is a Public university, public research university in Glasgow, Scotland. Founded by papal bull in , it is the List of oldest universities in continuous ...
. From 2005−06 Campbell was national convener of the SNP youth wing, the Young Scots for Independence. Since graduating, she has worked as editor of construction magazine ''Keystone'' and was editorial assistant on a short-lived pro-
independence Independence is a condition of a nation, country, or state, in which residents and population, or some portion thereof, exercise self-government, and usually sovereignty, over its territory. The opposite of independence is the status of ...
newspaper, the '' Scottish Standard''. Before her election to Parliament, Campbell also worked for
Nicola Sturgeon Nicola Ferguson Sturgeon (born 19 July 1970) is a Scottish politician who served as First Minister of Scotland and Leader of the Scottish National Party (SNP) from 2014 to 2023. She has served as a member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) sin ...
and as a researcher for
Shona Robison Shona McRory Robison (born 26 May 1966) is a Scottish politician who has served as Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Local Government since 2023. A member of the Scottish National Party (SNP), she previously served as Deputy First Minister of Sc ...
and Stewart Hosie.


Member of the Scottish Parliament

At the
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. 2007 Scottish local elections, ...
, Campbell was the SNP candidate for the Clydesdale constituency where she finished second but was subsequently elected as an additional member for the South of Scotland region due to her being fifth on the SNP's regional list. Campbell suffered a minor injury on 23 January 2008, receiving medical treatment at
Edinburgh Royal Infirmary The Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh (RIE) was established in 1729, and is the oldest voluntary hospital in Scotland. The new buildings of 1879 were claimed to be the largest voluntary hospital in the United Kingdom, and later on, the Empire."In Comi ...
before returning to the parliament for a vote. The vote was won by 64 votes to 62. In early 2009, Campbell launched the "Play it again" scheme with the
Scottish Arts Council The Scottish Arts Council (), was a Scottish public body responsible for the funding, development and promotion of the arts in Scotland. The Council primarily distributed funding from the Scottish Government as well as National Lottery funds ...
and others to encourage people across Scotland to donate their unwanted and unloved musical instruments to be passed on to children across the country to give them the opportunity to enjoy the benefits of music. Campbell was nominated for
Real Radio Real Radio was a network of five regional radio stations broadcasting to North East England, North West England, Scotland, Wales and Yorkshire. Each station broadcasts a mix of local and networked programming. On Tuesday 6 May 2014, the statio ...
's "Best New Scottish Politician 2009 Award". Campbell was elected as MSP for Clydesdale on 5 May 2011 after receiving an 8.9% swing from Labour, giving her a majority of 4,216. She served as Minister for Local Government and Planning from 25 May 2011 until 6 December 2011. when she was moved to the position of Minister for Children and Young People. On 18 December 2014, Campbell began maternity leave and Fiona McLeod acted as Minister for Children and Young People until Campbell returned on 1 September 2015. This was the first time that a Minister of the Scottish Government had taken maternity leave. In the 2016 election she was re-elected as the MSP for Clydesdale with an increased majority. On 18 May 2016 she was moved to the post of Minister for Public Health and Sport in a reshuffle; as part of her role as Public Health Minister she oversaw a 22% cut in government funding to drug and alcohol rehabilitation programmes from £69.2 million to £53.8 million. At the time, Scottish Drugs Forum Chief Executive David Liddell said he was concerned that the cuts had "the potential to increase harm and drug-related deaths." That year 867 Scots lost their lives to drugs – an increase of 23% on the previous year's figures – and the SNP insisted it was part of a trend seen across much Europe. In December 2020 figures were released revealing that 1,264 people in Scotland had died from drug overdoses in 2019 – the highest number in Europe per head and more than double the number in 2014. Sturgeon sacked Campbell's successor as Public Health Minister Joe FitzPatrick and in April 2021 said of the crisis: "I think we he Scottish Governmenttook our eye off the ball." She was made Cabinet Secretary for Communities and Local Government on 26 June 2018. Following her elevation to the cabinet ''The Times'' reported that her promotion, "has bemused many. It was on her watch that the named person legislation, which has caused the SNP so much trouble, was introduced, while her record on drugs policy is regarded by many inside the party as deplorable." In February 2020 Campbell wrote to MSPs voicing concerns about a Labour party proposal to provide women and trans men in Scotland with free sanitary products. Campbell said the Scottish Government had “grave concerns” over the plans' “deliverability” and cost. She also said she was worried about "people outside Scotland seeking access to the products". On 8 March 2020, she announced that she would step down at the next election to spend more time with her family.


Football

After leaving politics, Campbell was appointed as chief executive of Scottish Women's Football, the governing body of women's football in Scotland, in August 2021. On her first day in the role, she had to deal with the withdrawal of Forfar Farmington F.C. from the Scottish Women's Premier League.


Personal life

Campbell married Graham Fraser White in Collace Kirk,
Perthshire Perthshire (Scottish English, locally: ; ), officially the County of Perth, is a Shires of Scotland, historic county and registration county in central Scotland. Geographically it extends from Strathmore, Angus and Perth & Kinross, Strathmore ...
, on 15 August 2009.


See also

* Government of the 3rd Scottish Parliament * Government of the 4th Scottish Parliament


References


External links

*
Personal websiteDaily Record Coverage of Play it AgainScotsman Coverage of Play it Again
{{DEFAULTSORT:Campbell, Aileen 1980 births Living people People from Perthshire People educated at Perth Academy Alumni of the University of Glasgow Scottish National Party MSPs Members of the Scottish Parliament 2007–2011 Members of the Scottish Parliament 2011–2016 Members of the Scottish Parliament 2016–2021 Ministers of the Scottish Government Women members of the Scottish Government Women association football executives