Rhona Brankin

Rhona Brankin
Member of the Scottish Parliament for Midlothian
In office 6 May 1999 – 22 March 2011
Preceded by	new constituency
Succeeded by	constituency abolished
Personal details
Born	(1950-01-19) 19 January 1950 Glasgow, Scotland
Political party	Labour Co-operative
Alma mater	University of Aberdeen

Rhona Brankin (born 19 January 1950) is a former Labour Co-operative Member of the Scottish Parliament for the Midlothian constituency. She was first elected in 1999 and was re-elected in 2003 and 2007. She was one of six female Labour MSPs to stand down in 2011.

Background

Brankin is a graduate of the University of Aberdeen and before entering the Scottish Parliament she was a teacher and a lecturer on special educational needs. She was former Chair of the Scottish Labour Party. She is married with two grown-up daughters.

Scottish Parliament

Brankin was Deputy Minister for Culture and Sport in the Scottish Executive from 1999–2000 and Deputy Minister for Environment and Rural Development from 2000-2001.^[1] In October 2004 she was appointed Deputy Minister for Health and Community care, returning to the Environment and Rural Development portfolio in June 2005.^[2] In January 2007 she was promoted to Minister for Communities after the resignation of Malcolm Chisholm.^[3] Following Labour's defeat at the hands of the SNP at the May 2007 election, Brankin became shadow Minister for Education and Lifelong Learning.^[4] She was convener of the Public Petitions Committee from June 2010.^[5]

Prior to the 2011 elections, Brankin announced her decision not to stand for re-election, retiring from Holyrood after 12 years.^[6] The Midlothian constituency underwent boundary changes, and the two new constituencies created, Midlothian North and Musselburgh, and Midlothian South, Tweeddale and Lauderdale, were won by the SNP.

References

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