Preceded by Ming Campbell Role Scottish Politician Name Stephen Gethins | Children 1 Majority 4,344 (9.59%) Party Scottish National Party | |
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Born 28 March 1976 (age 48)
Perth, Scotland ( 1976-03-28 ) Political party Scottish National Party Alma mater University of Dundee
University of Kent Education University of Antwerp, University of Dundee, University of Kent Profiles | ||
SNP's Stephen Gethins fails to get an answer from Boris Johnson - Daily Mail
Stephen Patrick Gethins (born 1976) is a Scottish National Party (SNP) politician who has served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for North East Fife since May 2015.
Contents
- SNPs Stephen Gethins fails to get an answer from Boris Johnson Daily Mail
- Background and education
- Political career
- UK Parliament
- Online Presence
- References
Background and education
Gethins was born in Glasgow and brought up in Perth. He was educated at Perth Academy. He graduated with a Bachelor of Laws degree from the University of Dundee in 1998, specialising in public international law. He also holds a Master of Research from the University of Kent. He worked in the NGO Sector specialising in peace-building, arms control and democracy in the Caucasus and the Balkans regions. He worked with NGO Links in Tbilisi focusing on the conflicts surrounding the breakaway entities in the South Caucasus such as South Ossetia, Abkhazia and Nagorno-Karabakh. He also worked for Saferworld on arms control, peace-building and democratisation in the former Soviet Union and Balkans.
Political career
Gethins was appointed a Special Adviser to Scotland’s First Minister, Alex Salmond, advising on European and International Affairs as well as Rural Affairs, Energy and Climate Change and subsequently advised Nicola Sturgeon. He was a Political Advisor with the Committee of the Regions in the European Union, a position which saw him working with local authorities from across Europe. He also worked at Scotland Europa, helping Scottish organisations gain influence and funding in the EU.
He was on the list of SNP candidates for the six Scottish seats in the 2014 European Parliament election, although only the first two SNP candidates were elected.
UK Parliament
In February 2015 he was selected by the local party members to contest the 2015 general election in the North East Fife constituency. He polled 18,523 (40.9% of the vote) and received a majority of 4,344 over the Liberal Democrats, whose outgoing MP, Sir Menzies Campbell, had retired. In May 2015 the SNP made him their Spokesperson on Europe at Westminster. In July he was appointed as a member of the House of Commons Foreign Affairs Select Committee, its first SNP member.
In the 2017 General Election, Gethins was re-elected as MP. He received 13,743 votes, giving him a majority of just two; the joint-third smallest majority in Westminster history. The result had to be re-counted three times before it was declared.
Online Presence
Gethins regularly makes use of Twitter and Facebook in an official capacity. In July 2016 he also took part in an "Ask Me Anything" style thread on Reddit.