Eilidh Whiteford
Encyclopedia
Eilidh Whiteford (born 24 April 1969 Aberdeen
) is the Scottish National Party
(SNP) Member of Parliament
(MP) for Banff and Buchan
.
She sits on the Scottish Affairs Select Committee and is the SNP's Westminster Spokesperson for Fishing, Food and Rural Affairs, and International Development.
and grew up in Macduff
, Banffshire
, where her parents still live. She went to Banff Academy. She has been active in the SNP
since joining her local branch in 1986 during the run up to Alex Salmond
's victorious 1987 election. She later served in the Peterhead
office working for Alex Salmond in 1992.
At Glasgow University she quickly got involved with the Federation of Student Nationalists
, first as National Organiser and then as President, sitting on the SNP National Executive and acting as party spokesperson on Higher Education
.
In between the politics, she graduated with First Class Honours in English
and Scottish Literature
, followed by postgraduate studies in Canada
and Scotland that led to a PhD in 1998.
She returned to the North East in early 1998 to work for Allan Macartney
MEP. Following Macartney's passing in 1998, she worked for Ian Hudghton
MEP until the 1999 elections, and later helped new MSP Irene McGugan
establish a constituency office in the first term of the Scottish Parliament
.
She returned to Glasgow University in 1999 to teach, lecturing in Scottish Literature
and developing access routes into higher education for mature students (in Glasgow University's adult and continuing education department).
In 2001, she moved into a campaigning role in the voluntary sector
as Co-ordinator of the Scottish Carers' Alliance, a network of carer, disability and children's organisations working for the rights of and to support people looking after elderly, sick or disabled relatives or friends at home.
In 2003 she moved to Oxfam
where she worked as a policy adviser and campaigns manager for over six years in a role that took her to many parts of the world. Closer to home, Whiteford was very actively involved in the Make Poverty History
campaign in 2005 and helped establish the Scottish Fair Trade Forum
. She also promoted development
issues with Scottish parliament
arians and, in the wake of the Make Poverty History
campaign in 2005, she became Oxfam's Scottish Campaigns Manager.
Whiteford maintains her interests in social policy
and global issues as a volunteer for several charities, sitting on the Boards of Turning Point Scotland, and Jubilee Scotland.
had threatened to inflict "a doing" upon Whiteford, in the event that details of the committee's discussions during a private session were leaked to the media. Following the allegations Dr Whiteford withdrew from the committee and a formal complaint was made by the SNP Parliamentary Leader, Angus Robertson
, to the Speaker of the House.
At the next session of the Scottish Affairs Select Committee on 26 October, Davidson made a public apology "for any offense that might have been caused" by his remarks; simultaneously denying that the remarks had been in any way threatening.
Committee members present had suggested that "Davidson may have apologised to Dr Whiteford for the other members of the committee “giving her a doing” over independence". However, the remarks were allegedly regarded by another committee member at the time as being sufficiently inappropriate to warrant a note, expressing such concerns, to be passed to Davidson.
However Liberal Democrat, Labour and Conservative committee members all stated that no threats were made. With fellow committee member Fiona Bruce
stating that she did not hear any threats, merely a political debate and Alan Reid stating that he also did not hear any threats being made and was surprised that the issue was raised six days later. After an investigation the Labour Party stated that it amounted to a "smear campaign" against Davidson due to the forthcoming investigations chaired by Davidson into the SNP's referendum proposal. Several equality campaigners and academics have criticised Davidson for using inappropriate language, although Sandra Osborne
, a Labour MP and former Womens Aid counsellor, criticised Whiteford for equating political debating with violence against women.
A member of the SNP politican Joan McAlpine
's staff, Gail Lythgoe, was found to have emailed a Women's equality group, supporting Whiteford and alleging that Davidson has a history of bullying Women and called on them to demonstrate against him whilst asking them not to reveal SNP involvement in it's instigation. The email was later leaked and Lythgoe publicly apologised for making unsubstantiated allegations, with the Labour Party alleging that this was a result of an SNP "dirty tricks campaign" against Davidson and called for an investigation.
In her spare time, she enjoys singing traditional and choral music, going to the theatre, cooking and reading.
Aberdeen
Aberdeen is Scotland's third most populous city, one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas and the United Kingdom's 25th most populous city, with an official population estimate of ....
) is the Scottish National Party
Scottish National Party
The Scottish National Party is a social-democratic political party in Scotland which campaigns for Scottish independence from the United Kingdom....
(SNP) Member of Parliament
Member of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
(MP) for Banff and Buchan
Banff and Buchan (UK Parliament constituency)
Banff and Buchan is a constituency of the British House of Commons, located in the north-east of Scotland within the Aberdeenshire council area...
.
She sits on the Scottish Affairs Select Committee and is the SNP's Westminster Spokesperson for Fishing, Food and Rural Affairs, and International Development.
Biography
Whiteford was born in 1969 in AberdeenAberdeen
Aberdeen is Scotland's third most populous city, one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas and the United Kingdom's 25th most populous city, with an official population estimate of ....
and grew up in Macduff
Macduff
Macduff may refer to:* Macduff , the character in Shakespeare's Macbeth* Macduff, Aberdeenshire, the former burgh which is now within the Aberdeenshire council area of Scotland* the Clan MacDuff, a Scottish clan...
, Banffshire
Banffshire
The County of Banff is a registration county for property, and Banffshire is a Lieutenancy area of Scotland.The County of Banff, also known as Banffshire, was a local government county of Scotland with its own county council between 1890 and 1975. The county town was Banff although the largest...
, where her parents still live. She went to Banff Academy. She has been active in the SNP
Scottish National Party
The Scottish National Party is a social-democratic political party in Scotland which campaigns for Scottish independence from the United Kingdom....
since joining her local branch in 1986 during the run up to Alex Salmond
Alex Salmond
Alexander Elliot Anderson "Alex" Salmond MSP is a Scottish politician and current First Minister of Scotland. He became Scotland's fourth First Minister in May 2007. He is the Leader of the Scottish National Party , having served as Member of the Scottish Parliament for Gordon...
's victorious 1987 election. She later served in the Peterhead
Peterhead
Peterhead is a town in Aberdeenshire, Scotland. It is Aberdeenshire's biggest settlement , with a population of 17,947 at the 2001 Census and estimated to have fallen to 17,330 by 2006....
office working for Alex Salmond in 1992.
At Glasgow University she quickly got involved with the Federation of Student Nationalists
Federation of Student Nationalists
The Federation of Student Nationalists is the student wing of the Scottish National Party , representing students in Scottish higher education...
, first as National Organiser and then as President, sitting on the SNP National Executive and acting as party spokesperson on Higher Education
Education in Scotland
Scotland has a long history of universal provision of public education, and the Scottish education system is distinctly different from the other countries of the United Kingdom...
.
In between the politics, she graduated with First Class Honours in English
English literature
English literature is the literature written in the English language, including literature composed in English by writers not necessarily from England; for example, Robert Burns was Scottish, James Joyce was Irish, Joseph Conrad was Polish, Dylan Thomas was Welsh, Edgar Allan Poe was American, J....
and Scottish Literature
Scottish literature
Scottish literature is literature written in Scotland or by Scottish writers. It includes literature written in English, Scottish Gaelic, Scots, Brythonic, French, Latin and any other language in which a piece of literature was ever written within the boundaries of modern Scotland.The earliest...
, followed by postgraduate studies in Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
and Scotland that led to a PhD in 1998.
She returned to the North East in early 1998 to work for Allan Macartney
Allan Macartney
Dr Allan Macartney was a Scottish National Party MEP for the North East Scotland constituency between the 1994 European Parliament election and his sudden death from a heart attack in 1998.Born in Africa, the son of a Church of Scotland minister, his family soon returned to Scotland and he was...
MEP. Following Macartney's passing in 1998, she worked for Ian Hudghton
Ian Hudghton
Ian Stewart Hudghton is a Scottish politician, and has been a Scottish National Party Member of the European Parliament for Scotland since 1998, when he won his seat in a rare European Parliamentary by-election, after the death of sitting SNP MEP Allan Macartney.Since the 2004 European elections,...
MEP until the 1999 elections, and later helped new MSP Irene McGugan
Irene McGugan
Irene McGugan is a Scottish politician. She was a Scottish National Party Member of the Scottish Parliament for North East Scotland region from 1999 to 2003....
establish a constituency office in the first term of the Scottish Parliament
Scottish Parliament
The Scottish Parliament is the devolved national, unicameral legislature of Scotland, located in the Holyrood area of the capital, Edinburgh. The Parliament, informally referred to as "Holyrood", is a democratically elected body comprising 129 members known as Members of the Scottish Parliament...
.
She returned to Glasgow University in 1999 to teach, lecturing in Scottish Literature
Scottish literature
Scottish literature is literature written in Scotland or by Scottish writers. It includes literature written in English, Scottish Gaelic, Scots, Brythonic, French, Latin and any other language in which a piece of literature was ever written within the boundaries of modern Scotland.The earliest...
and developing access routes into higher education for mature students (in Glasgow University's adult and continuing education department).
In 2001, she moved into a campaigning role in the voluntary sector
Voluntary sector
The voluntary sector or community sector is the sphere of social activity undertaken by organizations that are for non-profit and non-governmental. This sector is also called the third sector, in reference to the public sector and the private sector...
as Co-ordinator of the Scottish Carers' Alliance, a network of carer, disability and children's organisations working for the rights of and to support people looking after elderly, sick or disabled relatives or friends at home.
In 2003 she moved to Oxfam
Oxfam
Oxfam is an international confederation of 15 organizations working in 98 countries worldwide to find lasting solutions to poverty and related injustice around the world. In all Oxfam’s actions, the ultimate goal is to enable people to exercise their rights and manage their own lives...
where she worked as a policy adviser and campaigns manager for over six years in a role that took her to many parts of the world. Closer to home, Whiteford was very actively involved in the Make Poverty History
Make Poverty History
Make Poverty History is the name of a campaign that exists in a number of countries, including Australia, Canada, Denmark , Finland, New Zealand, Nigeria, Norway, Romania, the United Arab Emirates, Great Britain and Ireland...
campaign in 2005 and helped establish the Scottish Fair Trade Forum
Scottish Fair Trade Forum
The Scottish Fair Trade Forum is a Scottish charitable body that describes its mission as to gain Fair Trade Nation status for Scotland and build upon that achievement to embed the values of fairness in all aspects of Scottish society...
. She also promoted development
International development
International development or global development is a concept that lacks a universally accepted definition, but it is most used in a holistic and multi-disciplinary context of human development — the development of greater quality of life for humans...
issues with Scottish parliament
Scottish Parliament
The Scottish Parliament is the devolved national, unicameral legislature of Scotland, located in the Holyrood area of the capital, Edinburgh. The Parliament, informally referred to as "Holyrood", is a democratically elected body comprising 129 members known as Members of the Scottish Parliament...
arians and, in the wake of the Make Poverty History
Make Poverty History
Make Poverty History is the name of a campaign that exists in a number of countries, including Australia, Canada, Denmark , Finland, New Zealand, Nigeria, Norway, Romania, the United Arab Emirates, Great Britain and Ireland...
campaign in 2005, she became Oxfam's Scottish Campaigns Manager.
Whiteford maintains her interests in social policy
Social policy
Social policy primarily refers to guidelines, principles, legislation and activities that affect the living conditions conducive to human welfare. Thus, social policy is that part of public policy that has to do with social issues...
and global issues as a volunteer for several charities, sitting on the Boards of Turning Point Scotland, and Jubilee Scotland.
Member of Parliament
She made her maiden speech at 20:47 on 7 June 2010 on Constitution and Home Affairs stating that ... a very great deal is at stake in our constitutional arrangements. Banff and Buchan’s local economy depends heavily on agriculture, fisheries and energy and the manufacturing industries associated with them ...Controversy
On 25 October 2011 it emerged that Clerks appointed to the Scottish Affairs Select Committee had raised concerns with the Clerk of Committees, the most senior official responsible for House of Commons Select Committees, alleging that Ian DavidsonIan Davidson (Scottish politician)
Ian Graham Davidson is a Scottish Labour Co-operative politician, who has been the Member of Parliament for Glasgow South West since 2005...
had threatened to inflict "a doing" upon Whiteford, in the event that details of the committee's discussions during a private session were leaked to the media. Following the allegations Dr Whiteford withdrew from the committee and a formal complaint was made by the SNP Parliamentary Leader, Angus Robertson
Angus Robertson
Angus Struan Carolus Robertson is the Scottish National Party Member of Parliament for Moray and is the SNP's Parliamentary Group Leader and spokesperson for foreign affairs and defence.Robertson was the Election Co-ordinator for the Scottish National party's successful 2007 and 2011 Scottish...
, to the Speaker of the House.
At the next session of the Scottish Affairs Select Committee on 26 October, Davidson made a public apology "for any offense that might have been caused" by his remarks; simultaneously denying that the remarks had been in any way threatening.
Committee members present had suggested that "Davidson may have apologised to Dr Whiteford for the other members of the committee “giving her a doing” over independence". However, the remarks were allegedly regarded by another committee member at the time as being sufficiently inappropriate to warrant a note, expressing such concerns, to be passed to Davidson.
However Liberal Democrat, Labour and Conservative committee members all stated that no threats were made. With fellow committee member Fiona Bruce
Fiona Bruce (politician)
Fiona Claire Bruce is a British Conservative Party politician who is the Member of Parliament for Congleton, elected at the 2010 general election....
stating that she did not hear any threats, merely a political debate and Alan Reid stating that he also did not hear any threats being made and was surprised that the issue was raised six days later. After an investigation the Labour Party stated that it amounted to a "smear campaign" against Davidson due to the forthcoming investigations chaired by Davidson into the SNP's referendum proposal. Several equality campaigners and academics have criticised Davidson for using inappropriate language, although Sandra Osborne
Sandra Osborne
Sandra Currie Osborne is a Scottish Labour politician, who has been the Member of Parliament for Ayr, Carrick and Cumnock since 2005. She was first elected in 1997, and resigned from a government job in 2003 over the Iraq War. She was a member of the Foreign Affairs Select Committee from 2005–10...
, a Labour MP and former Womens Aid counsellor, criticised Whiteford for equating political debating with violence against women.
A member of the SNP politican Joan McAlpine
Joan McAlpine
Joan McAlpine MSP is a Scottish journalist and Scottish National Party Member of the Scottish Parliament for the South of Scotland...
's staff, Gail Lythgoe, was found to have emailed a Women's equality group, supporting Whiteford and alleging that Davidson has a history of bullying Women and called on them to demonstrate against him whilst asking them not to reveal SNP involvement in it's instigation. The email was later leaked and Lythgoe publicly apologised for making unsubstantiated allegations, with the Labour Party alleging that this was a result of an SNP "dirty tricks campaign" against Davidson and called for an investigation.
Personal life
Dr Whiteford is married to SNP Councillor, Stephen Smith who represents Peterhead South and Cruden on Aberdeenshire Council.In her spare time, she enjoys singing traditional and choral music, going to the theatre, cooking and reading.