Patricia Ferguson

{{Infobox officeholder

| name = Patricia Ferguson

| image = Official portrait of Patricia Ferguson MP crop 2.jpg

| caption = Official portrait, 2024

| office = Chair of the Scottish Affairs Select Committee

| term_start = 12 September 2024

| term_end =

| predecessor = Pete Wishart

| successor =

| office1 = Minister for Tourism, Culture and Sport

| firstminister1 = Jack McConnell

| term_start1 = 4 October 2004

| term_end1 = 17 May 2007

| predecessor1 = Frank McAveety

| successor1 = Linda Fabiani

| office2 = Minister for Parliamentary Business

| firstminister2 = Jack McConnell

| term_start2 = 27 November 2001

| term_end2 = 4 October 2004

| predecessor2 = Tom McCabe

| successor2 = Margaret Curran

| office3 = Deputy Presiding Officer of the Scottish Parliament

| 1blankname3 = {{nowrap|Presiding Officer}}

| 1namedata3 = David Steel

| term_start3 = 12 May 1999

| term_end3 = 27 November 2001

| predecessor3 = Office established

| successor3 = Murray Tosh

| office4 = Member of Parliament
for Glasgow West

| term_start4 = 4 July 2024

| term_end4 =

| predecessor4 = Constituency created

| successor4 =

| majority4 = 6,446 (16.2%)

| office5 = Member of the Scottish Parliament
for Glasgow Maryhill and Springburn
{{nobold|Glasgow Maryhill (1999–2011)}}

| term_start5 = 6 May 1999

| term_end5 = 23 May 2016

| predecessor5 = Office established

| successor5 = Bob Doris

| office6 = Member of Glasgow City Council
for Drumchapel/Anniesland

| term_start6 = 5 May 2022

| term_end6 = 2 September 2024

| birthname = Patricia Josephine Ferguson

| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1958|9|24|df=y}}

| birth_place = Glasgow, Scotland

| party = Scottish Labour

| spouse = Bill Butler

| alma_mater = Glasgow College of Technology (HNC)

| honorific_prefix =

| honorific_suffix = MP

}}

Patricia Josephine Ferguson (born 24 September 1958) is a British politician who has served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Glasgow West since 2024. Ferguson previously served as a Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for Glasgow Maryhill and Springburn, previously Glasgow Maryhill, from 1999 to 2016. A member of the Labour Party, she was in the Scottish Cabinet of First Minister Jack McConnell from 2001 to 2007.

Ferguson was also a Glasgow City Council Councillor, until her resignation on 2 September 2024.{{cite web |title=Bailie Patricia Ferguson |url=https://www.glasgow.gov.uk/article/1718/Bailie-Patricia-Ferguson |access-date=6 July 2024 |publisher=Glasgow City Council}} She currently chairs the Scottish Affairs Select Committee in the House of Commons.

Early life and career

Ferguson was educated at Garnethill Convent Secondary School in Glasgow between 1970 and 1976, and at Glasgow College of Technology, where she obtained an HNC in Public Administration in 1978.{{cite web |title=Patricia Ferguson – Personal Information |url=http://www.parliament.scot/gd/msps/currentmsps/27596.aspx |website=Scottish Parliament |accessdate=5 August 2020 |date=16 February 2012}} She spent part of her childhood living in the city's Red Road Flats.{{cite web |url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2015/oct/12/glasgow-city-officials-apologise-for-towers-botched-demolition|title=Red Road flats: Glasgow city officials apologise for botched demolition |work=The Guardian|date=12 October 2015|accessdate=17 February 2019 }}

Prior to entering the Scottish Parliament, she worked as a administrator in NHS Scotland between 1978 and 1990, with the Scottish Trades Union Congress between 1990 and 1994, and with the Scottish Labour Party between 1994 and 1999.

Scottish Parliamentary career (1999–2016)

She was first elected as an MSP in 1999 for the newly created Glasgow Maryhill constituency,{{cite web |title=Labour a trailblazer for gender equality |url=https://www.glasgowtimes.co.uk/news/13623728.labour-a-trailblazer-for-gender-equality/ |website=Glasgow Times |date=25 August 2015 |accessdate=5 August 2020 |language=en}} a seat she held until 2011 when Glasgow Maryhill was merged with other constituencies to form the Glasgow Maryhill and Springburn constituency. She won the 2011 Glasgow Maryhill and Springburn election but lost her seat in 2016{{cite web |title=Election 2016: Former Labour cabinet minister Patricia Ferguson loses seat to SNP |url=https://www.heraldscotland.com/news/14476318.election-2016-former-labour-cabinet-minister-patricia-ferguson-loses-seat-to-snp/ |website=HeraldScotland |date=6 May 2016 |accessdate=5 August 2020 |language=en}} to Scottish National Party(SNP) member Bob Doris.{{cite news |title=Glasgow Maryhill and Springburn – Scottish Parliament constituency – Election 2016 |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/politics/scotland-constituencies/S16000118 |website=BBC News |accessdate=5 August 2020}}

After being elected as MSP for Glasgow Maryhill in May 1999, she was Deputy Presiding Officer of the Scottish Parliament from 1999 until 2001 and as a member of several of the Parliament's Standards and Procedures Committees.{{cite web |title=Patricia Ferguson |url=https://www.parliament.scot/msps/31405.aspx |website=Scottish Parliament |accessdate=5 August 2020 |date=25 July 2011}}

She was first appointed to the Scottish Executive Cabinet in November 2001 as Minister for Parliament when Jack McConnell became First Minister. She became Minister for Tourism, Culture and Sport in October 2004.

In 2006, her name was included on a variant of a Nigerian scam email after a high-profile trip to Malawi as part of her Scottish Executive brief.{{cite web |title=E-mail scam uses minister's name |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/5062128.stm |website=BBC News |accessdate=5 August 2020 |date=9 June 2006}}

Local government (2022–2024)

In the 2022 Glasgow City Council election, Ferguson was one of four members (including Labour colleague Paul Carey) elected to represent the Drumchapel/Anniesland ward.{{cite web |url=https://glasgow.gov.uk/CHttpHandler.ashx?id=57042&p=0 | title=Declaration of Results (Ward 14 Drumchapel/Anniesland) | publisher=Glasgow City Council |access-date=6 May 2022}}

UK Parliamentary career (2024–present)

Ferguson was elected to the United Kingdom Parliament at the 2024 general election, defeating SNP incumbent Carol Monaghan of predecessor seat Glasgow North West.{{cite news |last=Paterson |first=Stewart |title=Patricia Ferguson: Labour Glasgow win 'just the beginning' |url=https://www.glasgowtimes.co.uk/news/24432638.patricia-ferguson-labour-glasgow-win-just-beginning/ |access-date=6 July 2024 |work=Glasgow Times |date=5 July 2024}} Before that, she was first runner-up to Monaghan in Glasgow North West in 2019.{{Cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/politics/constituencies/S14000033|title=Glasgow North West parliamentary constituency – Election 2019 |work=BBC News|language=en-GB}}

On 12 September 2024, she was elected chair of the Scottish Affairs Select Committee.{{Cite web |date=2024-09-12 |title=Labour MP elected to chair key Scottish Westminster committee by just two votes |url=https://www.thenational.scot/news/24580683.labour-mp-elected-chair-key-scottish-committee-westminster/ |access-date=2024-10-30 |website=The National |language=en}}

Personal life

She is married to former Labour MSP and councillor colleague Bill Butler.

References

External links

{{UK MP links

| parliament = 5190

| publicwhip = Patricia_Ferguson

| theywork = 13984

}}

{{SP-MSP}}
[https://web.archive.org/web/20110506141641/http://www.patriciaferguson.labour.co.uk/ Patricia Ferguson] Personal website
[https://web.archive.org/web/20110506142839/http://www.scottishlabour.org.uk/patricia-ferguson Patricia Ferguson] Biography at Labour party website

{{s-ttl

|title=Member of Parliament for {{nowrap|Glasgow West}}

|years=2024–present}}

{{s-ttl

|title=Member of the Scottish Parliament for {{nowrap|Glasgow Maryhill and Springburn}}

|years=2011–2016

}}

{{s-ttl

|title=Member of the Scottish Parliament for {{nowrap|Glasgow Maryhill}}

|years=1999–2011

}}

{{s-ttl