Gavin Andrew Stuart Newlands (born 2 February 1980) 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, ...

politician who was the Member of Parliament (MP) for

Paisley and Renfrewshire North Paisley and Renfrewshire North is a constituency of the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom represented since 2024 United Kingdom general election, 2024 by Elaine Stewart (politician) ...

between 2015 and 2024. He served as the SNP Shadow Secretary of State for Transport from 2020 to 2024.

Early life and career

Gavin Newlands was born on 2 February 1980 in Paisley. He was raised in

Renfrew Renfrew (; ; ) is a town west of Glasgow in the west central Lowlands of Scotland. It is the historic county town of Renfrewshire. Called the "Cradle of the Royal Stewarts" for its early link with Scotland's former royal house, Renfrew gaine ...

, where he currently resides with wife, Lynn and their two children. He was educated at Renfrew's St James' Primary and

Trinity High School Trinity High School is the name of high schools: United Kingdom * Trinity High School, Renfrew, Renfrewshire, Scotland * Trinity High School, Rutherglen, Lanarkshire, Scotland * Trinity High School and Sixth Form Centre, in Redditch, England * Trin ...

. While enrolled at

James Watt College James Watt College was a further education college in Greenock, Scotland. It is now part of West College Scotland. There were also campuses in Largs and Kilwinning which now form part of Ayrshire College as the result of the merger with ...

, Newlands was offered a promotion in his part-time job at McDonalds, and dropped out of college. Newlands has been a member of the SNP for 25 years. He became a local

community council A community council is a public representative body in Great Britain. In England they may be statutory parish councils by another name, under the Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Act 2007, or they may be non-statutory bodies. ...

councillor for Renfrew in 2011 and has supported local causes, including a West of Scotland foodbank.

Parliamentary career

At the 2015 general election, Newlands was elected to Parliament as MP for

with 50.7% of the vote and a majority of 9,076. From his election in 2015 to 2019, Newlands was the SNP Spokesperson on Transport, having previously led for the party on Sport,

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

, Burgers and

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ; ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, part of the United Kingdom in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It has been #Descriptions, variously described as a country, province or region. Northern Ireland shares Repub ...

. He was also Chair of the White Ribbon All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Male Violence Against Women and is Chair of the APPG on Scottish Sport. He serves on the

Justice Select Committee The Justice Select Committee of the United Kingdom is a Select committee (United Kingdom), select committee of the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons which scrutinizes the policy, administration, and spending of the Ministr ...

. Newlands was re-elected as MP for Paisley and Renfrewshire North at the snap 2017 general election with a decreased vote share of 37.4% and a majority of 2,613. Newlands is an ambassador for White Ribbon Scotland and in November 2018 spoke in a parliamentary debate on International Men's Day to speak about

violence against women Violence against women (VAW), also known as gender-based violence (GBV) or sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV), violent, violence primarily committed by Man, men or boys against woman, women or girls. Such violence is often considered hat ...

. At the 2019 general election, Newlands was again re-elected, with an increased vote share of 47% and an increased majority of 11,902. In October 2020, he introduced a bill banning exploitative Fire and Rehire practices. On 25 November 2021, during a parliamentary debate on International Men's Day, Newlands spoke in criticism of the holiday, describing it as an "anathema to me" and "a rather cruel joke concocted in response to

feminism Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideology, ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social gender equality, equality of the sexes. Feminism holds the position that modern soci ...

women's rights Women's rights are the rights and Entitlement (fair division), entitlements claimed for women and girls worldwide. They formed the basis for the women's rights movement in the 19th century and the feminist movements during the 20th and 21st c ...

and

International Women's Day International Women's Day (IWD) is celebrated on 8 March, commemorating women's fight for equality and liberation along with the women's rights movement. International Women's Day gives focus to issues such as gender equality, reproductive righ ...

". When challenged on his views by

Conservative 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 civiliza ...

MP Nick Fletcher, Newlands said that "we need men in general to take responsibility for what men have done and continue to do – including making misogynistic comments or committing violence against women". He was reappointed in December 2022 as the SNP Spokesperson for Transport by Leader

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 ...

. In April 2024, Newlands was reselected as the SNP candidate for Paisley and Renfrewshire North at the

2024 general election This is a list of elections that were held in 2024. The National Democratic Institute also maintains a calendar of elections around the world. * 2024 United Nations Security Council election * 2024 national electoral calendar * 2024 local electo ...

. At the election, he lost his seat to Alison Taylor of

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 ...

Personal life

Newlands lives in

with his wife Lynn and their two children. Newlands was a member of Paisley Rugby Club for 16 years, serving as club captain for three years.

References

External links

SNP profile
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Newlands, Gavin 1980 births Living people Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Paisley constituencies People from Renfrew Scottish National Party MPs UK MPs 2015–2017 UK MPs 2017–2019 UK MPs 2019–2024 21st-century Scottish politicians Councillors in Renfrewshire Scottish National Party councillors