Michelle Rhonda Thomson (née Perks; born 11 March 1965) is a Scottish businesswoman and
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
A politician is a person who participates in Public policy, policy-making processes, usually holding an elective position in government. Politicians represent the people, make decisions, and influence the formulation of public policy. The roles ...
. She 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
Falkirk East since
May 2021.
Thomson is the co-founder of Momentous Change Ltd, a consultancy she set up with Professor
Roger Mullin
William Arthur Roger Mullin (born 12 March 1948) is a former Scottish National Party (SNP) politician. He was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath from May 2015, until being defeated at the 2017 snap general election.
E ...
in 2017 to help organisations manage change. In 2018, Momentous Change published its first report, Brexit and Scottish Business.
Prior to this, Thomson was the
Member of Parliament for
Edinburgh West from May 2015 until May 2017. She served as the SNP Business, Innovation and Skills spokesperson 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 ...
until her resignation of the party whip in September 2015.
She was also a member of the Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) Committee from 2015 to 2017.
Since stepping down from the House of Commons in 2017, she has been appointed as Ambassador for the All Party Parliamentary Group for Fair Business Banking. She has also been appointed to the advisory panel to the Northern Ireland Assembly's All-Party Group on Fair Banking and Finance.
Early life and career
Thomson graduated from the
Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama in 1985.
Thomson initially worked as a professional musician and then completed a post graduate diploma in
Information technology
Information technology (IT) is a set of related fields within information and communications technology (ICT), that encompass computer systems, software, programming languages, data processing, data and information processing, and storage. Inf ...
(IT).
She worked in Financial Services for
Standard Life and the
Royal Bank of Scotland
The Royal Bank of Scotland Public Limited Company () is a major retail banking, retail and commercial bank in Scotland. It is one of the retail banking subsidiaries of NatWest Group, together with NatWest and Ulster Bank. The Royal Bank of Sco ...
for over 23 years in a variety of senior roles delivering IT and business change. In 2009 she set up her own small business in property.
Momentous Change Ltd
Thomson established Momentous Change Ltd in 2017 with co-founder Professor Roger Mullin. Momentous Change is a niche consultancy providing support to businesses through economic management and operational change. The firm self-funded research involving 236 senior Scottish business leaders across industry to establish their concerns over Brexit. The final report was published in February 2018. Its principal findings and recommendations included the need for a new skills strategy and greater financial and practical support from government.
In November 2018, Thomson was a co-author of a Momentous Change Ltd report into the prospects for establishing a Scottish Stock Exchange. In 2020 she was co-author of a report into the Scottish Business Diaspora.
Political career
Edinburgh West MP (2015–2017)
Thomson joined the Scottish National Party at the age of sixteen in 1981.
She became prominent politically during the
Scottish independence referendum campaign, with the "Yes" campaign. She was elected as the Member of Parliament for Edinburgh West in 2015 with a majority of 3,210 votes and a 39% share of the vote; with a swing of 25.8% from Liberal Democrat to SNP. ''
The Sunday Post
''The Sunday Post'' is a weekly newspaper published in Dundee, Scotland, by DC Thomson, and characterised by a mix of news, human interest stories and short features. The paper was founded in 1914 and has a wide circulation across Scotland, U ...
'' described her as one of the SNP MPs to watch in the new parliament.
''The National'' described Thomson as "a breath of fresh air" in light of her broad-based life experience.
As part of her role on the BEIS committee, Thomson was one of the members of the joint committee inquiries into the collapse of
BHS, into the working practices of Sports Direct.
In September 2015, Thomson was accused by an article in ''
The Sunday Times
''The Sunday Times'' is a British Sunday newspaper whose circulation makes it the largest in Britain's quality press market category. It was founded in 1821 as ''The New Observer''. It is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of N ...
'' of having built her buy-to-let property portfolio by buying homes for below-market prices. In late-September 2015,
Police Scotland
Police Scotland (), officially the Police Service of Scotland (), is the national police force of Scotland. It was formed in 2013, through the merging of eight regional police forces in Scotland, as well as the specialist services of the Scottis ...
announced it had launched an inquiry into "alleged irregularities" related to the property transactions which had seen her solicitor struck off. The same day the SNP issued a statement on behalf of Thomson, announcing that she had decided to withdraw herself from the party whip whilst the investigation was ongoing. In resigning the whip, Thomson also lost her SNP membership and her role as the SNP's Business, Innovation and Skills spokesperson at Westminster.
Thomson subsequently claimed she had been forced to resign the whip. Eight months after the story broke, Thomson issued a press statement noting that there had been no contact with her from
Police Scotland
Police Scotland (), officially the Police Service of Scotland (), is the national police force of Scotland. It was formed in 2013, through the merging of eight regional police forces in Scotland, as well as the specialist services of the Scottis ...
.
In December 2016, in a
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 ...
debate focused on
UN International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, Thomson described the impact of having been raped at the age of fourteen years old, highlighting the conditions of silence and shame that prevent rape from being discussed or reported.
Thomson was sitting as an independent MP when the
2017 snap general election was called on 18 April 2017. The SNP's national executive met four days later and ruled that they would not endorse her as an SNP candidate. She did not stand as an independent at that election, issuing a statement that noted, "even in political parties the concept of natural justice must apply, as must the need for defined processes that are applied fairly, rigorously and transparently. I would advise the SNP to employ the services of an external body to help them develop a process as soon as possible."
In August 2017, the police investigation was dropped. Former Scottish Government Minister Kenny MacAskill said the SNP had lessons to learn over their handling of her case. Former First Minister Alex Salmond was also quoted as saying how badly Thomson had been treated by the media and the SNP.
Falkirk East MSP (2021–present)
Thomson re-joined the SNP in October 2018. She was then selected as the SNP parliamentary candidate for the
Falkirk East constituency in the
Scottish parliamentary elections of May 2021, and she was elected to Holyrood with 47.4% of the vote. She endorsed
Kate Forbes in the
2023 Scottish National Party leadership election, taking over running her campaign after
Ivan McKee
Ivan Paul McKee (born September 1963) is a Scottish politician who has served as Minister for Public Finance since May 2024. He previously served as Minister for Business, Trade, Tourism and Enterprise from 2021 to 2023. A member of the Sco ...
stepped back.
On 29 January 2025, Thomson announced she would stand down at the
2026 Scottish Parliament election.
Publications
* "Scottish Business and International Trade – Perceptions of the Scottish Business Diaspora", Momentous Change Ltd, January 2020.
* "Why Banks Must Change" International Banker, 5 September 2018. Retrieved 7 September 2018
Why Banks Must Change* "A Stock Exchange for Scotland: Early background research", Momentous Change Ltd, November 2018.
* "The Illusion Of Stability Gives Way To The Reality Of Change In Capital Markets – Introducing Scotland's New Stock Exchange"
International Banker, 11 June 2019. Retrieved 30 July 2019
The Illusion of Stability Gives Way to the Reality of Change in Capital Markets: Introducing Scotland’s New Stock Exchange
References
External links
*
Profileon
SNP website
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Thomson, Michelle
1965 births
Living people
Scottish women in business
21st-century Scottish businesspeople
Alumni of the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland
Female members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Scottish constituencies
Independent members of the House of Commons of the United Kingdom
Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Edinburgh constituencies
People from Bearsden
Rape in Scotland
NatWest Group people
Scottish National Party MPs
UK MPs 2015–2017
Members of the Scottish Parliament 2021–2026
Scottish National Party MSPs
Female members of the Scottish Parliament
21st-century Scottish businesswomen
21st-century Scottish women politicians