Mhairi Black

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Mhairi Black
MP
Mhairi Black.jpg
Member of Parliament
for Paisley and Renfrewshire South
Assumed office
8 May 2015
Preceded by Douglas Alexander
Majority 5,684 (12.3%)
Personal details
Born (1994-09-12) 12 September 1994 (age 30)
Paisley, Scotland
Political party Scottish National Party
Alma mater University of Glasgow
Website Official website

Mhairi Black (/ˈmaːre/,[i] born 12 September 1994) is a Scottish politician. She has been the Member of Parliament for Paisley and Renfrewshire South since 2015, when she defeated Labour Shadow Foreign Secretary Douglas Alexander.[1]

Black is the current Baby of the House as the youngest member in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom.[2] When elected in May 2015, she was 20 years and 237 days old, making her the youngest MP elected to the House of Commons of the United Kingdom since at least the Reform Act of 1832, replacing James Dickson who was 21 years and 67 days old when elected in 1880.[3]

Early life and views

Born in Paisley in 1994, Black was educated at Lourdes Secondary School, Glasgow, and the University of Glasgow, where she was awarded a First-class honours degree in Politics and Public Policy in June 2015.[2][4][5] At the time of her election, she was still to complete her undergraduate degree with a final exam on Scottish Politics still to be undertaken.[6]

Black has been an active Twitter user since she was 14. Several of her tweets were brought up after her election these included; swearing, tweets about her drinking and partying experiences and an incident where she complained about the behaviour of Celtic Football Club fans.[6][7]

Along with other LGBT MPs from the SNP, she expressed her support for marriage equality prior to the referendum in Ireland. Asked about her decision to "come out", she replied "I've never been in".[8][9]

Black "is not religious but reads her Bible", and describes herself as a "traditional socialist" citing Tony Benn as her enduring political hero.[10] Her other political inspirations include Keir Hardie and Margo MacDonald.[11]

She is a supporter and season-ticket holder of Partick Thistle.[12] She plays the piano, as was revealed in a Channel 4 News interview with Jon Snow, on 18 September 2015, during which she played theme music from the film Titanic.[13]

Political career

Black became a Member of Parliament for Paisley and Renfrewshire South in the 2015 general election while still a final year undergraduate student at the University of Glasgow.[14]

Although she was reported to be the youngest MP since Christopher Monck, Earl of Torrington, who entered the House of Commons at the age of 13 in 1667, Monck was followed by other teenagers until the Parliamentary Elections Act 1695 established 21 as the minimum age of candidacy.[15] Furthermore, until the Reform Act 1832, underage MPs were seldom unseated, with Viscount Jocelyn being 18 when elected in 1806.[16][17] Since the Electoral Administration Act 2006 reduced the age of candidacy from 21 to 18 years, Black is the first person to be elected under its provisions.[18]

On 1 July 2015, it was announced that Black had been appointed to the Work and Pensions Select Committee.[19] She made her maiden speech on 14 July 2015 and this included some criticism of the government's approach to unemployment in her constituency and the growing need for food banks. She said, “Food banks are not part of the Welfare State. They are a symbol that the Welfare State is failing.”[20] Black also criticised the government over cuts to housing benefit.[21] Her speech was praised by SNP Parliamentary Group Leader, Angus Robertson, who described it as outstanding, principled and passionate.[22] Within five days of her giving this speech, it had been viewed over 10 million times on various media.[22]

Note

^ Black's forename is a Scottish Gaelic form of 'Mary'. In Gaelic, this name is Màiri [maːɾʲɪ] in the nominative case but a Mhàiri [ə'vaːɾʲɪ] in the vocative case, of which Mhairi is a borrowing (similar to the borrowing of Seumas (James) as Hamish via the Gaelic vocative a Sheumais [ə'heːmɪʃ]). However, Black suggests says that her name is a homophone of the word "marry".[23] /ˈmɑːri/ was the pronunciation chosen by Deputy Speaker Eleanor Laing on the occasion of her maiden speech.[24]

References

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External links

Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Member of Parliament
for Paisley and Renfrewshire South
2015–present		 Incumbent
Preceded by Baby of the House
2015–present
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