Majority 10,387 (24.5%) Name Natalie McGarry | Nationality Scottish | |
 | ||
Similar People Margaret Curran, Anne McLaughlin, Tasmina Ahmed‑Sheikh, Humza Yousaf, Pete Wishart Profiles | ||
Natalie McGarry - co-founder of Women for Independence - spoke to 5 News Tonight about the Scottish
Natalie McGarry (born 7 September 1981) is a Scottish politician who was Member of Parliament for Glasgow East 2015–2017. She was elected as a Scottish National Party (SNP) candidate in the 2015 Westminster general election but resigned the SNP whip after six months and sat as an independent until the end of the parliamentary session in May 2017.
Contents
- Natalie McGarry co founder of Women for Independence spoke to 5 News Tonight about the Scottish
- Natalie mcgarry snp maiden speech
- Early life and education
- Political career
- Charges
- Personal life
- References
Prior to her election, McGarry was a SNP activist and convener of the party's Glasgow Regional Association. McGarry was a co-founder of the Women for Independence group, In November 2015, following allegations of financial misconduct, McGarry withdrew from the SNP party whip while the matter was investigated. In September 2016, McGarry was charged with a number of fraud offences relating to apparent discrepancies in the finances of the SNP Glasgow Regional Association and Women for Independence.
Natalie mcgarry snp maiden speech
Early life and education
Born and raised in Inverkeithing in Fife, McGarry was educated at St. Columba's R.C. High School in Dunfermline, before studying law at the University of Aberdeen, and worked as a policy adviser for a voluntary sector organisation.
Political career
At the SNP's annual conference in 2012, McGarry argued on the anti-NATO side of the NATO debate in the Scottish National Party, stating that opposition "is not merely about nuclear weapons" and calling for the SNP to retain its opposition to NATO membership.
McGarry, was among activists who set up Women for Independence in 2012. She told the Glasgow Herald the group was created "over a glass of wine" with former SSP MSP Carolyn Leckie as its main driving force. Explaining the decision, she said: "We came together because a group of us arrived at the conclusion, individually, that women's voices were missing from both sides of the referendum debate."
Already a well-known activist, McGarry's profile in the SNP increased when she was selected as the party's candidate for the 2014 Cowdenbeath by-election. She had previously sought selection as an SNP candidate in the 2014 European Parliament election, but failed. McGarry failed to win the by-election, gaining 5,704 votes (28.4%). A year later, she was selected to contest Glasgow East in the 2015 General Election.
McGarry became the MP for the Glasgow East Constituency on 8 May 2015, taking the seat from former Labour MP Margaret Curran which was part of a historic election result that saw the SNP win 56 out of Scotland's 59 seats at Westminster. McGarry took the mandatory oath of allegiance to the monarch, despite having reservations.
In January 2016, McGarry and author J. K. Rowling were involved in a Twitter spat. McGarry had accused the author of supporting an anonymous Twitter user with "misogynistic views". McGarry later deleted some tweets and Rowling accepted her apology. In March, McGarry became embroiled in another row after she claimed on Twitter that the organisation Scotland in Union was "headed by an internet troll and a outed holocaust denier". The organisation said that this was false and offensive. McGarry deleted her tweet and tweeted an apology. The matter was later settled out of court with McGarry issuing a formal apology and paying around £10,000 in damages.
In February 2016, McGarry was briefly detained for questioning by Turkish security forces for using a mobile phone near a security checkpoint in the south-east Turkey. She stated she was "recording the sound of bombs" falling on a nearby Kurdish area.
She was not selected as the SNP candidate for her seat at the 2017 Westminster general election.
Charges
Women for Independence alerted police in September 2015 after noticing apparent discrepancies in its accounts, prompting an investigation into campaign funds, which was publicly reported for the first time in November 2015. On 24 November, it was announced that she had resigned the SNP whip and was automatically suspended from the party. She sat as an independent MP.
In September 2016, McGarry gave a voluntary interview with Police Scotland. Following this interview, McGarry was charged with a number of fraud offences (including embezzlement of funds, breach of trust and an offence under the Scottish Independence Referendum Act 2013) relating to apparent discrepancies in the finances of the SNP Glasgow Regional Association and Women for Independence. McGarry was initially represented by solicitor Aamer Anwar, but changed representation subsequently. She denies all wrongdoing.
Personal life
In May 2016, McGarry married David Meikle, a Conservative councillor on Glasgow City Council representing the Pollokshields ward. The couple had been together since 2011, and announced their engagement shortly after she was elected as a MP.
McGarry's mother, Alice McGarry, was the SNP candidate for Dunfermline East in 1987 and has been a SNP councillor on Fife Council, representing Inverkeithing and Dalgety Bay since 1986. Her aunt is Tricia Marwick, the former Presiding Officer of the Scottish Parliament and SNP MSP.
On 19 April 2017, McGarry fainted in the House of Commons. She later announced on Twitter that she was expecting a child.