Callum McCaig (born 6 January 1985) is a

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) politician who was Member of Parliament for Aberdeen South from May

2015 2015 was designated by the United Nations as: * International Year of Light * International Year of Soil __TOC__ Events January * January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...

until

2017 2017 was designated as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development by the United Nations General Assembly. Events January * January 1 – Istanbul nightclub shooting: A gunman dressed as Santa Claus opens fire at the ...

. During his period in the Westminster parliament, he was the SNP's Energy and Climate Change spokesperson in the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the Bicameralism, bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of ...

. McCaig was elected as a

councillor A councillor, alternatively councilman, councilwoman, councilperson, or council member, is someone who sits on, votes in, or is a member of, a council. This is typically an elected representative of an electoral district in a municipal or re ...

Aberdeen City Council Aberdeen City Council is the Local government in Scotland, local authority for Aberdeen City, one of the 32 council areas of Scotland. In its modern form it was created in 1996. Aberdeen was formerly governed by a municipal corporation, corporat ...

in 2007, and was the Leader of Aberdeen City Council from 2011 until 2012.

Early life

Born in

Aberdeen Aberdeen ( ; ; ) is a port city in North East Scotland, and is the List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, third most populous Cities of Scotland, Scottish city. Historically, Aberdeen was within the historic county of Aberdeensh ...

, he was educated at

Cults Academy Cults Academy is an Aberdeen City Council secondary school in Cults, Aberdeen, Scotland. It was the recipient of The Sunday Times Scottish State Secondary School of the Year Award 2008 because of its outstanding exam results that year, having been ...

, before studying 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 ...

, where he graduated with an MA (Hons) in

Politics Politics () is the set of activities that are associated with decision-making, making decisions in social group, groups, or other forms of power (social and political), power relations among individuals, such as the distribution of Social sta ...

. He then worked for the SNP MSP

Maureen Watt Maureen Elizabeth Watt (born 23 June 1951) is a Scottish National Party (SNP) politician and former Minister for Mental Health (Scotland), Minister for Mental Health in the Scottish Government. She was the Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP ...

as a

Parliamentary Assistant In British politics and some Commonwealth nations, a parliamentary assistant is an unelected partisan staff member employed by a Member of Parliament (MP) to assist them with their parliamentary duties. Parliamentary assistants usually work ...

Political career

McCaig was first elected to

2007 2007 was designated as the International Heliophysical Year and the International Polar Year. Events January * January 1 **Bulgaria and Romania 2007 enlargement of the European Union, join the European Union, while Slovenia joins the Eur ...

, topping the polling in the Kincorth/Loirston ward with 1,883 first preferences and taking the first seat exceeding the quota. Following the election, the

Scottish Liberal Democrats The Scottish Liberal Democrats () is a liberal, federalist political party in Scotland, part of UK Liberal Democrats. The party holds 5 of the 129 seats in the Scottish Parliament, 6 of the 57 Scottish seats in the House of Commons and 86 of 1 ...

formed a coalition with the SNP to run the Council. On 23 May 2011, McCaig took over as leader of the SNP group on the council. After two by-election victories during 2011, the SNP became the largest party on the council, and in June 2011, their then Council leader stepped down to become Deputy Council leader. As a result, McCaig, who had been acting as Deputy Council leader, became leader of Aberdeen City Council on 28 June 2011. At the time, aged 26, he was one of the youngest council leaders in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

. He was re-elected as a councillor in

2012 2012 was designated as: *International Year of Cooperatives *International Year of Sustainable Energy for All Events January *January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins. * January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...

. After the elections, he remained the group leader of an enlarged SNP delegation, but was no longer the council leader, after the

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 ...

group formed an administration with the support of the

Conservatives Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilizati ...

and independents. McCaig was elected as the Member of Parliament for Aberdeen South at the 2015 general election, where he won the seat from Labour's

Anne Begg Dame Margaret Anne Begg DBE (born 6 December 1955) is a Scottish politician who served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Aberdeen South from 1997 to 2015. A member of the Labour Party, she was Chair of the Work and Pensions Select Committe ...

with a 20% swing. However, at the 2017 general election, he lost to Conservative candidate Ross Thomson. McCaig was subsequently appointed as a

special adviser Special adviser may refer to: *Special adviser (Norway), a high-ranking civil servant *Special adviser (UK) A Special Adviser, also known as a SpAd, is a temporary civil servant who advises and assists UK government ministers or ministers in th ...

to SNP leader and

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 ' ...

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 ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:McCaig, Callum 1985 births Alumni of the University of Edinburgh Councillors in Aberdeen Living people Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Aberdeen constituencies People educated at Cults Academy Scottish National Party councillors Scottish National Party MPs UK MPs 2015–2017