Evelyn Tweed 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

Stirling Stirling (; ; ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city in Central Belt, central Scotland, northeast of Glasgow and north-west of Edinburgh. The market town#Scotland, market town, surrounded by rich farmland, grew up connecting the roya ...

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, ...

(SNP), she was a councillor in

for Trossachs and Teith ward from 2017 to 2022.

Early life and career

Tweed was born in

Ayr Ayr ( ; ; , meaning "confluence of the River Àir"), is a town situated on the southwest coast of Scotland. A former royal burgh, today it is the administrative centre of South Ayrshire Council, and the historic county town of Ayrshire. With ...

, in the west of Scotland. She obtained her first degree at the Paisley College of Technology (now the University of the West of Scotland) and then gained a post graduate housing qualification from

Heriot-Watt University Heriot-Watt University () is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. It was established in 1821 as the School of Arts of Edinburgh, the world's first mechanics' institute, and was subsequently granted university status by roya ...

. She then worked for various housing associations, gaining senior roles mainly involving building social housing. Tweed was a member of the Board of the Chartered Institute of Housing Scotland from 2007 to 2009.

Political career

In the

2017 Scottish local elections The 2017 Scottish local elections were held on Thursday 4 May, in all 32 local authorities. The SNP retained its position as the largest party in terms of votes and councillors, despite suffering minor losses. The Conservatives made gains and d ...

, Tweed was elected to the

Stirling council Stirling (; ; ) is a city in central Scotland, northeast of Glasgow and north-west of Edinburgh. The market town, surrounded by rich farmland, grew up connecting the royal citadel, the medieval old town with its merchants and tradesmen, the ...

, representing the Trossachs and Teith ward. She became the council's public safety commission convener following the resignation of Maureen Bennison. In June 2022 she apologised after being photographed holding the flag of the ultra-nationalist group Siol nan Gaidheal.

Member of the Scottish Parliament

Tweed was selected as the SNP's candidate for the

constituency in 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, ...

. After a successful campaign, she succeeded retiring MSP

Bruce Crawford Robert Hardie Bruce Crawford (born 16 February 1955) is a Scottish National Party (SNP) politician who served as Cabinet Secretary for Parliamentary Business and Government Strategy from 2011 to 2012, having held the junior ministerial positio ...

, as the MSP for Stirling. She is the Deputy Convener of the Education, Children and Young People Committee. In February 2025, Tweed was reported to be on an all-female "hit list" of SNP MSPs that were to be asked to stand down from the Scottish Parliament to make room for ex-MPs who had lost their seats in the 2024 general election. The alleged list was reported to have been drawn up at

Stephen Flynn Stephen Mark Flynn (born 13 October 1988) is a Scottish politician who has served as the leader of the Scottish National Party (SNP) in the House of Commons since December 2022. He has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Aberdeen South si ...

's direction by Aberdeenshire North and Moray East MP

Seamus Logan Seamus Logan (born 4 January 1958) is a British politician who has served as a Member of Parliament (MP) for Aberdeenshire North and Moray East since July 2024. Born in Northern Ireland, Logan became active in Scottish politics in 2022. Ear ...

. On 13 February, Tweed announced that she would not stand again for re-election.

Personal life

Tweed lives in

with her husband, and their children. She enjoys running and reading in her spare time.

References

External links

* Living people Scottish National Party MSPs Members of the Scottish Parliament 2021–2026 Scottish National Party councillors Female members of the Scottish Parliament 1967 births Alumni of the University of the West of Scotland {{MSP-stub