Margaret Ferrier

Margaret Ferrier is a former commercial sales supervisor. She was one of several SNP MPs to return to Westminster after losing their seats in 2017. Born in Glasgow, in her youth she was a member of the Scottish Labour Party and did not join the SNP until 2011. She first stood for elected office in 2013 when she unsuccessfully stood for South Lanarkshire Council. After her election as MP in 2015, she became her party’s spokesperson on the Scotland Office and joined the Scottish Affairs Committee. At the 2017 general election, Ferrier was narrowly defeated by Labour. In the end, Ferrier was only out of Westminster for two and a half years, taking the seat back from Killen on a 5.1 per cent swing. In 2020, she was suspended from the SNP for breaching lockdown rules after she attended the House of Commons despite being symptomatic, and travelled to Glasgow after receiving a positive test result for Covid-19. SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon then called for Ferrier to resign her parliamentary seat, but Ferrier did not do so. She has apologised but received heavy criticism: speaker Lindsey Hoyle described her actions as “reckless”.