Ben Macpherson is a Scottish politician who served as Minister for Social Security and Local Government in the Scottish Government from May 2021 to March 2023, having previously served as Minister for Europe, Migration and International Development (June 2018-February 2020), Minister for Public Finance and Migration (February 2020-December 2020) and Minister for Rural Affairs and the Natural Environment (December 2020-May 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, ...

(SNP), he has been the

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 the Edinburgh Northern and Leith constituency since

2016 2016 was designated as: * International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly. * International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...

Early life and education

Macpherson attended Flora Stevenson Primary School and then George Heriot's School. He then graduated from the

University of York The University of York (abbreviated as or ''York'' for Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a public Collegiate university, collegiate research university in York, England. Established in 1963, the university has expanded to more than thir ...

with a degree in philosophy and politics. He later studied law at the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh (, ; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a Public university, public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Founded by the City of Edinburgh Council, town council under th ...

. As a youth, Macpherson was involved in the local Labour Party. When he was sixteen, in 2002 he did work experience with his local MSP Malcolm Chisholm, whose constituency he later represented. He became a member of the SNP in 2005, having left Labour in 2003 due to the

Iraq War The Iraq War (), also referred to as the Second Gulf War, was a prolonged conflict in Iraq lasting from 2003 to 2011. It began with 2003 invasion of Iraq, the invasion by a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition, which ...

and lack of sufficient progress on social justice. He worked in a number of different roles and sectors, including time as a

bartender A bartender (also known as a barkeep or barman or barmaid or a mixologist) is a person who formulates and serves alcoholic or soft drink beverages behind the Bar (establishment), bar, usually in a licensed bar (establishment), establishment as ...

, for a wave energy company and as a clerical assistant at James Gillespie's High School. He then trained as a

lawyer A lawyer is a person who is qualified to offer advice about the law, draft legal documents, or represent individuals in legal matters. The exact nature of a lawyer's work varies depending on the legal jurisdiction and the legal system, as w ...

, working for the firm Brodies. In the summer of 2004 he walked from Edinburgh to London to raise awareness of the annual International Day of Peace. Growing up he was a keen footballer and played for several teams in Edinburgh and the University of York's 1st Team. In 2003, he lived briefly in China, working as a volunteer English teacher in Wujiang.

Political career

In August 2015, Macpherson was selected from a field of ten contenders as the SNP candidate for the Edinburgh Northern and Leith constituency, having been supported by former SNP leader Alex Salmond and Edinburgh Southern MSP Jim Eadie. Tipped as "one of the SNP’s rising stars", at the May 2016 Scottish Parliament election Macpherson won the seat with a 10% swing from Labour. He succeeded Malcolm Chisholm, who had retired. As a

backbencher In Westminster system, Westminster and other parliamentary systems, a backbencher is a member of parliament (MP) or a legislator who occupies no Minister (government), governmental office and is not a Frontbencher, frontbench spokesperson ...

, he served on the Justice

Committee A committee or commission is a body of one or more persons subordinate to a deliberative assembly or other form of organization. A committee may not itself be considered to be a form of assembly or a decision-making body. Usually, an assembly o ...

and the Social Security Committee, and was a Parliamentary Liaison Officer to the

First Minister A first minister is any of a variety of leaders of government cabinets. The term literally has the same meaning as "prime minister" but is typically chosen to distinguish the office-holder from a superior prime minister. Currently the title of ' ...

. On 27 June 2018, he was appointed as Minister for Europe, Migration and International Development 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 ...

. He served in this role until February 2020, when he became Minister for Public Finance and Migration. In December 2020, he was appointed Minister for Rural Affairs and the Natural Environment. Macpherson was re-elected at the

2021 Scottish Parliament election The 2021 Scottish Parliament election took place on 6 May 2021 under the provisions of the Scotland Act 1998. It was the sixth Scottish Parliament election since the parliament was re-established in 1999. 129 Member of the Scottish Parliament, ...

, when his constituency was the last to declare a result. In the subsequent ministerial reshuffle, Macpherson was appointed on 19 May as Minister for Social Security and Local Government. He left the role on 29 March 2023, after declining to serve in the Yousaf Government.

References

External links

*
Ben Macpherson profile
on SNP website
personal website
{{DEFAULTSORT:MacPherson, Ben Year of birth missing (living people) 1980s births Living people Place of birth missing (living people) Scottish politicians Politicians from Edinburgh Scottish solicitors People educated at George Heriot's School Alumni of the University of Edinburgh Alumni of the University of York Scottish National Party MSPs Members of the Scottish Parliament 2016–2021 Members of the Scottish Parliament 2021–2026 Members of the Scottish Parliament for Edinburgh constituencies Ministers of the Scottish Government