Preceded by New constituency Name Karen Gillon Succeeded by Aileen Campbell Role Politician | Full Name Karen Turnbull Party Scottish Labour Party | |
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Born 18 August 1967 (age 56)
Jedburgh, Scotland, UK ( 1967-08-18 ) | ||
Education Jedburgh Grammar School Political party Scottish Labour Party | ||
Central Scotland Green Network
Karen Gillon, née Turnbull (born 18 August 1967, Edinburgh) is a Scottish Labour politician, and was Member of the Scottish Parliament for Clydesdale from 1999 to 2011. She had previously served as personal assistant to Helen Liddell MP since 1997.
Gillon was elected in 1999, taking 16,755 votes (43.02%). She was re-elected in 2003 with 14,800 votes (46.62%) and in 2007 with 13,835 votes (41.5%). She served as Labour's spokesperson on rural development until her defeat in 2011. She was co-chairperson of the Cross Party Group on Malawi and worked with civic society across Scotland and in the Clydesdale constituency to develop better links between the two countries. She was defeated in the 2011 election by SNP candidate Aileen Campbell by 10,715 votes (35.8%) to 14,931 votes (49.9%).
Gillon studied at Birmingham University and worked in community education before entering politics.