Majority 13,589 (26.8%) Name Philippa Whitford | Spouse(s) Hans Pieper Role Surgeon Children 1 | |
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Political party Scottish National Party Profiles | ||
Philippa whitford at visionforscotland yes vote will save scotland s nhs from westminster
Philippa Whitford MP (born 24 December 1958) is a Scottish National Party politician and surgeon. She was first elected as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Central Ayrshire in May 2015 and was re-elected at the 2017 general election. She is the SNP Health spokesperson in the House of Commons.
Contents
- Philippa whitford at visionforscotland yes vote will save scotland s nhs from westminster
- Dr philippa whitford no vote will end free nhs for scots
- Early life
- Surgical career
- Political career
- House of Commons
- Personal life
- Titles
- References
Dr philippa whitford no vote will end free nhs for scots
Early life
Whitford was born in Belfast, Northern Ireland and moved to Scotland at the age of ten. She was educated at Wood Green: St. Angela's Providence Convent Secondary School in London and Douglas Academy in Milngavie, before studying at the University of Glasgow, where she graduated with medical degrees.
Surgical career
Whitford worked as a consultant breast surgeon at Crosshouse Hospital for more than eighteen years.
Just after the First Gulf War and during the First Palestinian Intifada at the age of thirty, Whitford served for a year and a half as a medical volunteer in a UN hospital in Gaza. She spent the 2016 parliamentary recess travelling to the West Bank to operate on four women suffering from breast cancer, and visited the Gaza Strip to advise local hospitals on how to improve healthcare.
Political career
Whitford joined the Scottish National Party in 2012. She became involved with the campaign preceding the 2014 Scottish independence referendum. She advocated independence as a way of protecting NHS Scotland from the same kind of "creeping privatisation agenda undermining services in England". An online video of her predicting the NHS in England would be privatised within five years and in Scotland within ten went viral at this time.
“In five years, England will not have an NHS and in 10 years, if we vote no, neither will we," she said.
House of Commons
Whitford was selected to contest Central Ayrshire for the SNP at the 2015 general election. She polled 26,999 votes and 53.2% of the vote and defeated the incumbent Labour MP, Brian Donohoe by 13,589 votes. She made her maiden speech in the House of Commons on 2 June 2015.
Personal life
Whitford is married to Hans Pieper, a German citizen who works as a general practitioner; the couple have a son together.