Johanna Baxter is a

Scottish Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including: *Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland *Scottish English *Scottish national identity, the Scottish ide ...

Labour Party politician who has served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for

Paisley and Renfrewshire South Paisley and Renfrewshire South is a constituency of the House of Commons, located in Renfrewshire, Scotland to the southwest of Glasgow. It elects one member of Parliament at least once every five years using the first-past-the-post system o ...

since 2024.

Early life and education

Born in Saltcoats, Baxter became a union representative at 18. Baxter funded her way through university by working at a call centre.

Career

Baxter served as head of local government for Unison Scotland. She was Chair of the

National Executive Committee of the Labour Party The National Executive Committee (NEC) is the governing body of the UK Labour Party, setting the overall strategic direction of the party and policy development. Its composition has changed over the years, and includes representatives of affil ...

in 2022-2023. She contested the seat of

Renfrewshire North and West Renfrewshire North and West is a constituency of the Scottish Parliament ( Holyrood). It elects one Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) by the first past the post method of election. It is one of ten constituencies in the West Scotland e ...

in the 2021 Holyrood election and the seat of Cunninghame North in the 2016 Holyrood election. Baxter was a member of Labour's NEC, and in 2016 criticised the lack of a secret ballot for a decision on whether to allow then Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn on to the leadership ballot, saying that it led to intimidation by Corbyn supporters against NEC members who voted against allowing him to stand for the Labour leadership: "The only reason to vote against that is so the intimidation can continue. It’s the most shameful act I have ever seen. He showed his true colours in that vote. I have had people tweet and post my personal mobile online, directing people to me, directing their mob at me," Baxter said.

House of Commons

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 ...

, Baxter was elected as the Member of Parliament for

, with 19,583 votes (a share of 47.4%) and a majority of 6,527 votes over second-placed Jacqueline Cameron of the SNP. On 24 July 2024, Baxter made her

maiden speech A maiden speech is the first speech given by a newly elected or appointed member of a legislature or parliament. Traditions surrounding maiden speeches vary from country to country. In many Westminster system governments, there is a convention th ...

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 ...

during a debate on education and opportunity.

Personal Life

Baxter is married to Mark Glover, Executive Chairman of SEC Newgate UK.

References

External links

* Living people UK MPs 2024–present Scottish Labour MPs People from Saltcoats Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Paisley constituencies Female members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Scottish constituencies Scottish women trade unionists Labour Party (UK) officials 1979 births {{Labour-UK-MP-stub