Marion Fellows (née Fullarton, born 5 May 1949) 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. From

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 2024, she was the Member of Parliament for Motherwell and Wishaw. Between June 2017 and January 2020 she was the SNP spokesperson for Small Business, Enterprise and Innovations.

Early life and career

Fellows studied Accountancy and Finance at Heriot Watt University. For nineteen years, she taught

business studies Business studies, often simply called business, is a field of study that deals with the principles of business, management, and economics. It combines elements of accountancy, finance, marketing, organizational studies, human resource manageme ...

at West Lothian College, where she was an active member of the

Educational Institute of Scotland The Educational Institute of Scotland (EIS) is the oldest teachers' trade union in the world, having been founded in 1847 when dominies became concerned about the effect of changes to the system of education in Scotland on their professional s ...

(EIS) trade union.

Political career

Fellows was elected 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 ...

as a

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 ...

lor for

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 ...

, and was active in the "Yes Motherwell and Wishaw" campaign during the

2014 Scottish independence referendum A independence referendum, referendum on Scottish independence from the United Kingdom was held in Scotland on 18 September 2014. The referendum question was "Should Scotland be an independent country?", which voters answered with "Yes" or ...

, which managed to achieve a majority in

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 ...

for leaving the United Kingdom, which made North Lanarkshire one of only 4 (out of 32) Scottish council districts to vote for independence, despite a national majority voting to stay in the UK. In 2007, Fellows unsuccessfully contested the Motherwell and Wishaw Scottish Parliament constituency against the incumbent, then-First Minister of Scotland

Jack McConnell Jack Wilson McConnell, Baron McConnell of Glenscorrodale, (born 30 June 1960) is a Scottish politician who served as first minister of Scotland and leader of the Labour Party in Scotland from 2001 to 2007. McConnell served as the Minister f ...

, and then in 2010 unsuccessfully contested the Motherwell and Wishaw United Kingdom Parliament constituency, losing to the incumbent Frank Roy. At the 2015 UK general election, Fellows was elected as the MP for Motherwell and Wishaw, with a majority of 11,898 votes. After being elected, she was appointed as an SNP whip in May 2015 and was a member of the Education Committee between July 2015 and May 2017 and then again between September 2017 and November 2019. She was also a member of the Education, Skills and the Economy Sub-Committee between October 2016 and May 2017. Fellows was re-elected as MP for the seat at the 2017 UK General Election, with a significantly decreased majority of 318 votes. Between October 2018 and November 2019 she was a member of the Administration Committee. In June 2017, she was appointed the SNP spokesperson for Small Business, Enterprise and Innovation, a post she held until January 2020. Fellows was again re-elected at the 2019 UK general election as the MP for Motherwell and Wishaw, with an increased majority of 6,268 votes. In January 2020, she was appointed the SNP spokesperson for disabilities. In January 2020, Fellows became a member of the Speaker's Committee for the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority, and in March 2020 she became a member of the Administration Committee. In the 2024 UK general election, she contested the new seat of Motherwell, Wishaw and Carluke but was

unseated Unseating is a political term which refers to a legislator who loses their seat in an election. A legislator who is unseated loses the right to sit in a legislative chamber. A landslide victory results in many legislators being unseated. Austral ...

Pamela Nash Pamela Ann Catherine Nash (born 24 June 1984) is a British Labour Party politician who has served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Motherwell, Wishaw and Carluke since 2024. She previously served as Chief Executive of Scotland in Union, ...

Personal life

She has lived with her family in

and

Bellshill Bellshill (pronounced "Bells hill") is a town in North Lanarkshire in Scotland, southeast of Glasgow city centre and west of Edinburgh. Other nearby localities are Motherwell to the south, Hamilton, South Lanarkshire, Hamilton to the south ...

since the 1970s. Marion was married to her husband George, until his death in 2018 from

Sarcoma A sarcoma is a rare type of cancer that arises from cells of mesenchymal origin. Originating from mesenchymal cells means that sarcomas are cancers of connective tissues such as bone, cartilage, muscle, fat, or vascular tissues. Sarcom ...

References

External links

Profile
on SNP website * {{DEFAULTSORT:Fellows, Marion 1949 births Living people Female members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Scottish constituencies Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Scottish constituencies People educated at the Mary Erskine School People from Wishaw Place of birth missing (living people) Scottish National Party councillors Scottish National Party MPs Scottish trade unionists UK MPs 2015–2017 UK MPs 2017–2019 UK MPs 2019–2024 21st-century Scottish women politicians 21st-century Scottish politicians Alumni of Heriot-Watt University Councillors in North Lanarkshire People from Irvine, North Ayrshire Women councillors in Scotland People associated with West Lothian College