Dr. Jean McGivern Turner (born 23 December 1939 in Glasgow

Glasgow

Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom. The city is situated on the River Clyde in the country's west central lowlands...

) is a former Independent

Independent (politician)

In politics, an independent or non-party politician is an individual not affiliated to any political party. Independents may hold a centrist viewpoint between those of major political parties, a viewpoint more extreme than any major party, or they may have a viewpoint based on issues that they do...

 Member of the Scottish Parliament

Member of the Scottish Parliament

Member of the Scottish Parliament is the title given to any one of the 129 individuals elected to serve in the Scottish Parliament.-Methods of Election:MSPs are elected in one of two ways:...

 for Strathkelvin and Bearsden

Strathkelvin and Bearsden (Scottish Parliament constituency)

Strathkelvin and Bearsden is a constituency of the Scottish Parliament . It elects one Member of the Scottish Parliament by the first past the post method of election...

.

Prior to her election, Turner was a General practitioner

General practitioner

A general practitioner is a medical practitioner who treats acute and chronic illnesses and provides preventive care and health education for all ages and both sexes. They have particular skills in treating people with multiple health issues and comorbidities...

 in the Springburn

Springburn

Springburn is an inner city district in the north of the Scottish city of Glasgow, home to various working and middle-class households.Springburn developed from a small rural hamlet at the beginning of the nineteenth century. Its industrial expansion began with the establishment of a chemical...

 area in Glasgow for 25 years. Before that, she was an anaesthetist for ten years. She was lured to seek political office due to an alleged cut in services at Stobhill Hospital

Stobhill Hospital

Stobhill Hospital is an Ambulatory Care and Diagnostic Hospital, located in the district of Springburn in the north of Glasgow, Scotland. It serves the population of North Glasgow and part of East Dunbartonshire.-History:...

. Turner also campaigned against Labour

Scottish Labour Party

The Scottish Labour Party is the section of the British Labour Party which operates in Scotland....

's treatment of the NHS

NHS Scotland

NHS Scotland is the publicly funded healthcare system of Scotland. Although they are separate bodies the organisational separation between NHS Scotland and the other three healthcare organisations each commonly called the National Health Service in the United Kingdom tends to be hidden from its...

. Because of this, she stood as a candidate in the Strathkelvin and Bearsden Holyrood by-election of 2001

Strathkelvin and Bearsden by-election, 2001

The Strathkelvin and Bearsden by-election, 2001 was a by-election held for the Scottish Parliament constituency of Strathkelvin and Bearsden on 7 June 2001, the same day as the UK general election and also a Scottish Parliament by-election in Banff and Buchan...

. In that race, she finished second with 7,572 votes or 18%. In the 2003 Scottish parliamentary elections, she stood again in Strathkelvin and Bearsden on the same platform she used in 2001. This time, Turner won the seat with 10,988 votes or 31%. This win prompted her opponent, Labour MSP

Member of the Scottish Parliament

Member of the Scottish Parliament is the title given to any one of the 129 individuals elected to serve in the Scottish Parliament.-Methods of Election:MSPs are elected in one of two ways:...

 Brian Fitzpatrick

Brian Fitzpatrick (Scottish politician)

Brian Fitzpatrick is a Scottish Labour Party politician. He attended St. Robert Bellarmine Catholic school in Glasgow before studying law at Glasgow University...

, to remark:

"Narrow win, big win, whatever, it is still a disappointment, but we are coming back for this seat."

Jean Turner stood for re-election at the Scottish Parliament election, 2007

Scottish Parliament election, 2007

The 2007 Scottish Parliament election was held on Thursday 3 May 2007 to elect members to the Scottish Parliament. It was the third general election to the devolved Scottish Parliament since it was created in 1999...

 in May, but lost her seat to the Labour

Scottish Labour Party

The Scottish Labour Party is the section of the British Labour Party which operates in Scotland....

 candidate, David Whitton

David Whitton

David Whitton is a British journalist, Labour party politician and former MSP. He was elected to the Scottish Parliament for Strathkelvin and Bearsden in 2007, defeating the incumbent Independent MSP Jean Turner, and losing the seat at the 2011 election to Fiona McLeod of the Scottish National...

.

See also

Other doctors elected on similar platforms:

• Richard Taylor
  Richard Taylor (UK politician)
  Richard Thomas Taylor FRCP is an English doctor and former politician. He served as an Independent Member of Parliament for Wyre Forest between 2001 and 2010...
  
  
• Kieran Deeny
  Kieran Deeny
  Kieran Deeny is a medical doctor turned politician from Northern Ireland. Deeny was a Designated Other Member of the Northern Ireland Assembly for West Tyrone from 2003–11, having run on a single issue ticket of retaining the Tyrone County Hospital in Omagh.Born in Downpatrick, Deeny was educated...
  
  

Other references

• Hospital campaign shakes by-election - BBC News (8 June 2001)
• GP in hospitals election fight - BBC News (7 October 2002)
• Independents head to Holyrood - BBC News (2 May 2003)