John Mason (Scottish politician)

Background

Originally from Rutherglen, Mason has lived in the East End of Glasgow for 20 years. His father was an electrical engineer, and his mother a teacher. After attending Hutchesons' Grammar School, he studied Accounting at the University of Glasgow, becoming an ICAS Chartered Accountant.

He worked for housing associations, nursing homes, and with a charity in London. He also spent three years in Kathmandu, Nepal, with an NGO (United Mission to Nepal) representing churches from across the world.

Councillor

Mason has lived in the East End of Glasgow for the past 20 years, and was elected as the councillor for the Garrowhill ward in Glasgow City Council at a by-election in 1998, and was re-elected in 1999 and 2003.

He rose to become the Leader of the Opposition in Glasgow City Council, and led the SNP Council Group on the majority Labour-run Council between 1999 and 2008. He was the SNP's longest serving Glasgow councillor, and during his term, he led many protests against Labour's moves to weaken effective opposition by altering the council committee system.

In his ward, he attended a wide variety of community groups, including Garrowhill and Swinton Community Councils, local school boards, tenants association, and Garrowhill Action Partnership. He was also on the management committee of Tenant Controlled Housing, which aims to give local tenants control of their housing, in place of Glasgow Housing Association (GHA).

Member of Parliament

On 30 June 2008, David Marshall, Labour MP for Glasgow East, resigned from the UK Parliament on the grounds of ill-health, thereby triggering a by-election. The decision by Labour to call a quick by-election (set for 24 July 2008) was partly attributed to Labour's troubled finances and fears of an SNP campaign building up enough momentum. John Mason was selected as SNP candidate for Glasgow East on 3 July. During the by-election, the candidate stance on abortion was displayed on noticeboards in catholic churches; Mason was reported to be opposed to abortion occurring for social reasons.

Mason won the by-election in a surprise victory, defeating the Labour candidate Margaret Curran, MSP for Glasgow Baillieston. He overturned a Labour majority of more than 13,500 to win the seat on a swing of more than 22%. It was Labour's third-safest seat in Scotland.

As promised during the by-election, Mason resigned his council seat immediately after his election as MP. The subsequent by-election was won by the SNP. Mason served as the SNP's Westminster spokesperson on Work and Pensions during his tenure as an MP. From 2009 until losing his seat in 2010, he also sat on the House of Commons' Select Committee on Administration. In an interview with the Guardian newspaper in April 2010, when questioned about his Protestant religious beliefs, and how that could conflict with the rights of others in the UK, Mason acknowledged the difficulty that this issue raised with him, informing the newspaper that he had been warned to leave this issue alone by his party,

Member of the Scottish Parliament

In the 2011 Scottish parliamentary election, he defeated his main rival, Labour's Frank McAveety, to win the Glasgow Shettleston constituency with a majority of 586 votes. The turnout was 37.7%. During his time in Holyrood so far, Mason has called on the Scottish Government to make housing investment its top priority. During the debate on same-sex marriage in Scotland, Mason was widely condemned for raising a motion stating that no person or organisation should be forced to be involved or to approve of same-sex marriage. In January 2015 he spoke in parliament in favour of young Earth creationism. In February 2016, he publicly asked "How is national debt different from national deficit?" on Twitter, prompting the Spectator to say that he "appears to lack a basic understanding of finance".

He was re-elected in 2016.

Personal interests

Mason is a supporter of the Scottish football club Clyde. His other interests include involvement in Easterhouse Baptist Church, hill-walking, camping, and reading Scottish history.