Clare Anne Adamson (

née The birth name is the name of the person given upon their birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name or to the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a births registe ...

Pickering; born 1 August 1967) is a Scottish politician who 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 Motherwell and Wishaw 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 ...

. 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), she was previously an additional MSP for the Central Scotland region from

2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...

to 2016. A graduate of the

Glasgow Caledonian University Glasgow Caledonian University, informally GCU, Caledonian or Caley (), is a public university in Glasgow, Scotland. It was formed in 1993 by the merger of The Queen's College, Glasgow (founded in 1875) and Glasgow Polytechnic (originally Glasg ...

, before entering politics Adamson was a

computer scientist A computer scientist is a scientist who specializes in the academic study of computer science. Computer scientists typically work on the theoretical side of computation. Although computer scientists can also focus their work and research on ...

. In

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 ...

, she was elected to the

North Lanarkshire Council North Lanarkshire Council is one of the 32 local authorities of Scotland, covering the North Lanarkshire council area. The council is the second largest Scottish council by number of councillors, having 77 members. Political control The counci ...

for the

Wishaw Wishaw (; ; ) is a large town in North Lanarkshire, Scotland, on the edge of the River Clyde, Clyde Valley, south-east of Glasgow city centre. The town is part of the Motherwell and Wishaw (UK Parliament constituency), Motherwell and Wishaw c ...

ward Ward may refer to: Division or unit * Hospital ward, a hospital division, floor, or room set aside for a particular class or group of patients, for example the psychiatric ward * Prison ward, a division of a penal institution such as a pris ...

. She ran unsuccessfully as a candidate for the Motherwell and Wishaw constituency, but was elected as an additional member for the Central Scotland region in

. Adamson was elected as the MSP for Motherwell and Wishaw in 2016 and was re-elected for a third term in the 2021 election. She has since served as the

Convener The chair, also chairman, chairwoman, or chairperson, is the presiding officer of an organized group such as a Board of directors, board, committee, or deliberative assembly. The person holding the office, who is typically elected or appointed by ...

of 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'. ...

's Constitution, Europe, External Affairs and Culture Committee.

Early life and career

Clare Anne Pickering was born on 1 August 1967 in

Motherwell Motherwell (, ) is a List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, town and former burgh in North Lanarkshire, Scotland, United Kingdom, south east of Glasgow. It has a population of around 32,120. Shires of Scotland, Historically in the p ...

North Lanarkshire North Lanarkshire (; ) is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland. It borders the north-east of the Glasgow City council area and contains many of Glasgow's suburbs, commuter towns, and villages. It also borders East Dunbartonshire, Falkirk (co ...

, to Eileen and George Pickering. She moved to grow up in Wishaw at the age of seven and she studied

Computer Information Systems An information system (IS) is a formal, sociotechnical, organizational system designed to collect, process, store, and distribute information. From a sociotechnical perspective, information systems comprise four components: task, people, structu ...

, graduating with the degree of BSc ( with distinction). In 1984 Adamson joined the

and she worked at the SNP HQ Campaign Unit as Project Manager of the

Party A party is a gathering of people who have been invited by a Hospitality, host for the purposes of socializing, conversation, recreation, or as part of a festival or other commemoration or celebration of a special occasion. A party will oft ...

's ''Activate Project'' from 2003 to 2007. She was previously a

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

an Development Manager ( IT) at a

Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...

-based software house. She belongs to the

National Union of Journalists The National Union of Journalists (NUJ) is a trade union supporting journalists in the United Kingdom and Ireland. The NUJ was founded in 1907 and has 20,693 members. It is a member of the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ), Trades ...

and is a Fellow of the British Computer Society. Adamson ran as a candidate for the SNP in various elections, but was unsuccessful. She ran for election to the

2003 2003 was designated by the United Nations as the International Year of Fresh water, Freshwater. In 2003, a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition 2003 invasion of Iraq, invaded Iraq, starting the Iraq War. Demographic ...

and contested Lanark & Hamilton East in the 2010 UK General Election. In the 2007 Scottish local elections, she was elected to the North Lanarkshire Council, representing her home town of the Wishaw ward. She stood down from the council in the 2012 election following her election to the

Member of the Scottish Parliament

In the

2011 Scottish Parliament election The 2011 Scottish Parliament election was held on Thursday, 5 May 2011 to elect 129 members to the Scottish Parliament. The election delivered the first majority government since the opening of Holyrood, a remarkable feat as the Additional M ...

, Adamson was the SNP's candidate for the Motherwell and Wishaw constituency. She was defeated by

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 John Pentland and was elected as an additional member of the

for the Central Scotland region. After being elected to the parliament, she served as the Parliamentary Liaison Officer to Culture Secretary

Fiona Hyslop Fiona Jane Hyslop (born 1 August 1964) is a Scotland, Scottish politician who has served as Cabinet Secretary for Transport, Net Zero and Just Transition, Cabinet Secretary for Transport since 2024. Hyslop has served in various offices under fir ...

. Adamson has continued to be actively involved with the Scottish Accident Prevention Council, as Vice Chairperson, and the Lanarkshire International Children's Games Organising Committee. Adamson ran again as candidate for the

constituency An electoral (congressional, legislative, etc.) district, sometimes called a constituency, riding, or ward, is a geographical portion of a political unit, such as a country, state or province, city, or administrative region, created to provi ...

of Motherwell and Wishaw. She successfully defeated John Pentland and was elected to represent the constituency in the Scottish Parliament. She was returned 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, ...

. She has served as

of the Constitution, Europe, External Affairs and Culture Committee since 2021.

Personal life

Adamson married John Adamson, a headteacher, in 2002. They both have one son, with her husband also having his own three children. She had a dog called Coco and enjoys reading and listening to music.

References

External links

*
Clare Adamson's Party Website

Lanarkshire International Children's Games 2011

Scottish Accident Prevention Council

STV 2010 General Election profile

''Wishaw Press'' councillors' expenses review 2008–2009

''Wishaw Press'' councillors' expenses review 2009–2010

STV Local
{{DEFAULTSORT:Adamson, Clare 1967 births Living people People from Motherwell Councillors in North Lanarkshire Alumni of Glasgow Caledonian University Scottish National Party councillors Scottish National Party MSPs Members of the Scottish Parliament 2011–2016 Members of the Scottish Parliament 2016–2021 Members of the Scottish Parliament 2021–2026 Female members of the Scottish Parliament Fellows of the British Computer Society Politicians from North Lanarkshire Women councillors in Scotland