Meghan Gallacher (born 17 January 1992) is a British politician who served as Deputy Leader of the Scottish Conservatives from 2022 to 2024. She has been a

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 Central Scotland region since

2021 Like the year 2020, 2021 was also heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, due to the emergence of multiple Variants of SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19 variants. The major global rollout of COVID-19 vaccines, which began at the end of 2020, continued ...

. Gallacher was a councillor for the Motherwell West ward from

2017 2017 was designated as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development by the United Nations General Assembly. Events January * January 1 – Istanbul nightclub shooting: A gunman dressed as Santa Claus opens fire at the ...

to 2022, serving as the

Conservatives 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 civilizati ...

party's group leader in 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 ...

. Gallacher was a candidate in the

2024 Scottish Conservatives leadership election The 2024 Scottish Conservatives leadership election took place on 27 September 2024 after Douglas Ross announced his resignation on 10 June. Russell Findlay won the election and became Leader of the Scottish Conservative Party. Background Th ...

, finishing 3rd.

Early life

Education

Meghan Gallacher was born on 17 January 1992 in

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 ...

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 ...

and was brought up in nearby

Holytown Holytown is a village situated to the east of Bellshill and north of Motherwell in North Lanarkshire, Scotland. Most local amenities are shared with the adjacent villages of Carfin, Newarthill and New Stevenston which have a combined population ...

. She studied political science and government at the

Hamilton Hamilton may refer to: * Alexander Hamilton (1755/1757–1804), first U.S. Secretary of the Treasury and one of the Founding Fathers of the United States * ''Hamilton'' (musical), a 2015 Broadway musical by Lin-Manuel Miranda ** ''Hamilton'' (al ...

Campus (now New Lanarkshire Campus) of the

University of the West of Scotland The University of the West of Scotland (), formerly the University of Paisley, is a public university with four campuses in south-western Scotland, in the towns of Paisley, Blantyre, Dumfries and Ayr, as well as a campus in London, England. T ...

from 2010 to 2014. In her final year of university, she wrote her dissertation on the "decline of the Conservative Party from

Margaret Thatcher Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher (; 13 October 19258 April 2013), was a British stateswoman who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990 and Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of th ...

to the present day and the impact f then Scottish Conservatives leader

Ruth Davidson Ruth Elizabeth Davidson, Baroness Davidson of Lundin Links, (born 10 November 1978), is a Scottish politician. A member of the House of Lords since 2021, she was Leader of the Scottish Conservative Party from 2011 to 2019 and Leader of the S ...

". She graduated with a BA.

Early career

While studying at university, Gallacher worked part-time at John Lewis and Partners in

customer service Customer service is the assistance and advice provided by a company to those who buy or use its products or services, either in person or remotely. Customer service is often practiced in a way that reflects the strategies and values of a firm, and ...

. In 2014, after graduating, she worked full-time at the company for two years. She served as a Customer Relations Case Manager, dealing with customer concerns at CEO level. In September 2016, she left John Lewis to work as a Parliamentary Researcher for Edward Mountain, the MSP for the Highlands and Islands region.

Early political involvement

Gallacher grew up in a predominantly left-wing community. Her grandmother, Elizabeth McLeod, stood unsuccessfully in various elections to the

. After attending an association meeting with her grandmother, Gallacher joined the Scottish Conservatives. Gallacher first stood for election in 2015 at Thorniewood ward by-election for

, she was eliminated at Stage 5 of the count. The following year, she stood for the Motherwell and Wishaw constituency at the

2016 Scottish Parliament election The 2016 Scottish parliament election was held on Thursday, 5 May 2016 to elect 129 members to the Scottish Parliament. It was the fifth Next Scottish Parliament election, election held since the devolved parliament was established in 1999. It ...

, finishing in third place. She was also the fifth placed Conservative list candidate for the Central Scotland region, but was not elected.

Political career

North Lanarkshire Council (2017–2022)

Gallacher was elected to North Lanarkshire Council for the Motherwell West ward in

, she subsequently became the party's group leader. At the

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 ...

and

2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

UK general elections, she stood for the Motherwell and Wishaw constituency, finishing third on all three occasions.

Election to Holyrood

She was elected to the Scottish Parliament in

for the Central Scotland region, elected through the regional list vote. She had also stood for the Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse constituency. On 12 January 2022, Gallacher called for

Boris Johnson Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson (born 19 June 1964) is a British politician and writer who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of the Conservative Party from 2019 to 2022. He wa ...

to resign as Conservative party leader and Prime Minister over the

Westminster lockdown parties controversy Partygate was a political scandal in the United Kingdom about gatherings of government and Conservative Party staff during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 and 2021, when public health restrictions prohibited most gatherings. The scandal contr ...

along with a majority of Scottish Conservative MSPs.

Deputy Leader of the Scottish Conservatives (2022–2024)

On 9 May 2022, she was announced as the new deputy leader of the Scottish Conservatives, following on from the

2022 Scottish local elections The 2022 Scottish local elections were held on 5 May 2022, as part of the 2022 United Kingdom local elections. All 1,226 seats across all 32 Scottish local government, Scottish local authorities were up for election and voter turnout was 44.8%. ...

. Gallacher resigned as deputy leader on 16 August 2024, writing in a letter to outgoing leader Douglas Ross that it would be inappropriate for her to continue in the role due to her standing in the

leadership election A leadership election is a political contest held in various countries by which the members of a political party determine who will be the leader of their party. Generally, any political party can determine its own rules governing how and when a ...

to succeed him and due to reported allegations he had sought to stand down the year earlier and install

Russell Findlay Russell Findlay is a Scottish politician and journalist who has served as Leader of the Opposition in the Scottish Parliament as well as Leader of the Scottish Conservative Party since September 2024. He has been the Member of the Scottish Pa ...

as leader.

Personal life

Gallacher is married to Graeme McGinnigle, a former

East Dunbartonshire East Dunbartonshire (; , ) is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland. It borders Glasgow City Council Area to the south, North Lanarkshire to the east, Stirling (council area), Stirling to the north, and West Dunbartonshire to the west. East ...

councillor who she met at a Conservative Party reception. She gave birth to their first child, a daughter called Charlotte, on 10 July 2022.

Notes

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Gallacher, Meghan 1992 births Living people Politicians from North Lanarkshire Alumni of the University of the West of Scotland Conservative MSPs Members of the Scottish Parliament 2021–2026 Female members of the Scottish Parliament Scottish Conservative councillors Councillors in North Lanarkshire Women councillors in Scotland