Michelle Ballantyne
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Michelle Ballantyne
Michelle Lorraine Ballantyne (' Cross; born 28 November 1962) is a British politician and former nurse who served as Leader of Reform UK Scotland from January 2021 to February 2022. She was a Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for the South Scotland region from 2017 to 2021. Born in Ashton-under-Lyne, Ballantyne studied at Royal London Hospital before working as a staff nurse and health service manager in London. She moved to the Scottish Borders in 1990 and established a manufacturing business there with her husband. After graduating with an honours degree from Heriot-Watt University, she managed an acute medicine department in Edinburgh and took a position at a charity supporting people struggling with drugs and alcohol. Elected to Scottish Borders Council in 2012, Ballantyne took a seat in the Scottish Parliament in 2017 on the Scottish Conservative regional list. She was a candidate in the February 2020 leadership election but lost to Jackson Carlaw. She resigned f ...
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Leader Of Reform UK Scotland
Reform UK is a right-wing populist political party in the United Kingdom. It was founded with support from Nigel Farage in November 2018 as the Brexit Party, advocating hard Euroscepticism and a no-deal Brexit, and was briefly a significant political force in 2019. After Brexit, it was renamed to Reform UK in January 2021, and became primarily an anti-lockdown party during the COVID-19 pandemic. Subsequently, in December 2022, it began campaigning on broader right-wing populist themes during the British cost-of-living crisis. Its greatest electoral success was as the Brexit Party, which won 29 seats and the largest share of the national vote in the 2019 European Parliament election. Farage had been leader of UKIP, a right-wing populist and Eurosceptic party, during its brief heyday as a significant political force in the first half of the 2010s. He returned to frontline politics as leader of a new Brexit Party in the context of the lengthy Brexit process initiated by the re ...
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2021 Scottish Parliament Election
The 2021 Scottish Parliament election took place on 6 May 2021, under the provisions of the Scotland Act 1998. All 129 Members of the Scottish Parliament were elected in the sixth election since the parliament was re-established in 1999. The election was held alongside the Senedd election, English local elections, London Assembly and mayoral election and the Hartlepool by-election. The election campaign started on 25 March 2021 during the COVID-19 pandemic in Scotland, although Parliament would not be officially dissolved until 5 May, the day before the election. The main parties that ran for election are the Scottish National Party (SNP), led by First Minister Nicola Sturgeon, the Scottish Conservatives led by Douglas Ross, Scottish Labour led by Anas Sarwar, the Scottish Liberal Democrats led by Willie Rennie, and the Scottish Greens, led by their co-leaders Patrick Harvie and Lorna Slater. Of those five parties, three changed their leader since the 2016 election. ...
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Selkirkshire
Selkirkshire or the County of Selkirk ( gd, Siorrachd Shalcraig) is a historic county and registration county of Scotland. It borders Peeblesshire to the west, Midlothian to the north, Roxburghshire to the east, and Dumfriesshire to the south. It derives its name from its county town, the royal burgh of Selkirk. The county was historically also known as Ettrick Forest. Unlike many historic counties, Selkirkshire does not have its own lieutenancy area, but forms part of the Roxburgh, Ettrick and Lauderdale lieutenancy area. History In the 1st Century AD Selkirk formed part of the lands of the native people who hunted it rather than settled there. Neither the Romans, Angles, or the Saxons cleared much of the forestry there and for centuries Selkirk was known for its forest coverage. Indeed, an alternative name for the county was Ettrick Forest. Under the Scottish kings the forest was regarded as Royal. Despite this it was not until the reign of James V that sheriffs were appoi ...
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Scottish Borders Council
Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including: *Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland *Scottish English *Scottish national identity, the Scottish identity and common culture *Scottish people, a nation and ethnic group native to Scotland *Scots language, a West Germanic language spoken in lowland Scotland *Symphony No. 3 (Mendelssohn), a symphony by Felix Mendelssohn known as ''the Scottish'' See also *Scotch (other) *Scotland (other) *Scots (other) *Scottian (other) *Schottische The schottische is a partnered country dance that apparently originated in Bohemia. It was popular in Victorian era ballrooms as a part of the Bohemian folk-dance craze and left its traces in folk music of countries such as Argentina ("chotis"Span ... * {{disambiguation Language and nationality disambiguation pages ca:Escocès ...
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Walkerburn
Walkerburn ( gd, Allt an Fhùcadair) is a small village in the Scottish Borders area of Scotland, on the A72 about from Peebles and from Galashiels. It was founded in 1854 to house the workers for the tweed mills owned by the Ballantyne family. It is the home of the Ballantyne Memorial Institute. The village also unusually houses a small number of science-based industries and many successful small enterprises. It boasts Scotland's first hydro electric scheme. Walkerburn has a population of around 740 (2020). History Early history There is evidence of settlers around the Walker Burn as far back as the Bronze Age because burnt mounds have been identified at Glenmead and on the Plora Burn to the south of the village. The mounds are evidence that people once heated stones in these areas that were then used to heat water. The remains of an Iron Age Hill Fort can be seen on Bold Rig and it is easy to see why this spot was picked for a defensive position with its excellent views ...
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Greater Manchester
Greater Manchester is a metropolitan county and combined authority, combined authority area in North West England, with a population of 2.8 million; comprising ten metropolitan boroughs: City of Manchester, Manchester, City of Salford, Salford, Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, Bolton, Metropolitan Borough of Bury, Bury, Metropolitan Borough of Oldham, Oldham, Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale, Rochdale, Metropolitan Borough of Stockport, Stockport, Tameside, Trafford and Metropolitan Borough of Wigan, Wigan. The county was created on 1 April 1974, as a result of the Local Government Act 1972, and designated a functional Manchester City Region, city region on 1 April 2011. Greater Manchester is formed of parts of the Historic counties of England, historic counties of Cheshire, Lancashire and the West Riding of Yorkshire. Greater Manchester spans , which roughly covers the territory of the Greater Manchester Built-up Area, the List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, second most ...
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COVID-19 Lockdowns
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, a number of non-pharmaceutical interventions colloquially known as lockdowns (encompassing stay-at-home orders, curfews, quarantines, and similar societal restrictions) have been implemented in numerous countries and territories around the world. These restrictions were established with the intention to reduce the spread of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. By April 2020, about half of the world's population was under some form of lockdown, with more than 3.9 billion people in more than 90 countries or territories having been asked or ordered to stay at home by their governments. Although similar disease control measures have been used for hundreds of years, the scale of those implemented in the 2020s is thought to be unprecedented. Research and case studies have shown that lockdowns were generally effective at reducing the spread of COVID-19, therefore flattening the curve. The World Health Organization's recommendation on curfew ...
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Jackson Carlaw
David Jackson Carlaw (born 12 April 1959) is a Scottish politician who served as Leader of the Scottish Conservative Party from 2019 to 2020. He previously served as Deputy Leader of the Scottish Conservative Party from 2011 to 2019. He has been a Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) since 2007, first as an additional member for the West Scotland region and later for the Eastwood constituency since 2016. Raised in Newton Mearns, Carlaw worked as a car salesman after education at The Glasgow Academy. Elected to the Scottish Parliament on the West of Scotland regional list in 2007 and 2011, he was elected as Deputy Leader of the Scottish Conservative Party in the 2011 deputy leadership election. He was subsequently made Scottish Conservative Spokesperson for Health and Sport. He was elected to the constituency of Eastwood in 2016, which had contested previously in 2003, 2007, and 2011, and following the election was made Shadow Cabinet Secretary for Europe and External ...
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February 2020 Scottish Conservative Party Leadership Election
The February 2020 Scottish Conservative Party leadership election was the fourth internal party election to elect the next leader of the Scottish Conservatives, part of the British Conservative Party and the second-largest political party in the devolved Scottish Parliament. Ruth Davidson, who won the previous leadership election in 2011, resigned on 29 August 2019. Two candidates contested the election: Jackson Carlaw MSP (Member of the Scottish Parliament), who served as the Scottish Conservatives' interim leader, and Michelle Ballantyne MSP. Carlaw was seen as the favourite in the contest, and won the endorsement of most of the party's MSPs and MPs (Members of Parliament). Carlaw won the election on 14 February 2020, winning more than three-quarters of the votes of party members. The leadership election was expected to take place in late 2019, but was delayed due to the 2019 United Kingdom general election. Carlaw represented the Conservatives in the two Scottish televised ...
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Scottish Conservative
The Scottish Conservative & Unionist Party ( gd, Pàrtaidh Tòraidheach na h-Alba, sco, Scots Tory an Unionist Pairty), often known simply as the Scottish Conservatives and colloquially as the Scottish Tories, is a centre-right political party in Scotland. It is the second-largest party in the Scottish Parliament and the third-largest in Scottish local government. The party has the second-largest number of Scottish MPs in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom and the seventh overall. The Leader of the party is Douglas Ross. He replaced Jackson Carlaw, who briefly served from February to July 2020; Carlaw had in turn taken over from Ruth Davidson, who held the post from 2011 to 2019. The party has no Chief Whip at Westminster, which is instead represented by the Chief Whip of the Conservative Party in England. In the 2017 UK general election, the party increased its number of MPs to 13 on 28.6 percent of the popular vote – its best performance since 1983 and in te ...
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Scottish Parliament
The Scottish Parliament ( gd, Pàrlamaid na h-Alba ; sco, Scots Pairlament) is the devolved, unicameral legislature of Scotland. Located in the Holyrood area of the capital city, Edinburgh, it is frequently referred to by the metonym Holyrood. The Parliament is a democratically elected body comprising 129 members known as Members of the Scottish Parliament (MSPs), elected for five-year terms under the additional member system: 73 MSPs represent individual geographical constituencies elected by the plurality (first-past-the-post) system, while a further 56 are returned as list members from eight additional member regions. Each region elects seven party-list MSPs. Each region elects 15 to 17 MSPs in total. The most recent general election to the Parliament was held on 6 May 2021, with the Scottish National Party winning a plurality. The original Parliament of Scotland was the national legislature of the independent Kingdom of Scotland and existed from the early 13th centur ...
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2012 Scottish Borders Council Election
Elections to Scottish Borders Council were held on 3 May 2012, the same day as the other Scottish local government elections. The election used the 11 wards created as a result of the Local Governance (Scotland) Act 2004, with each ward electing three or four Councillors using the single transferable vote system, a form of proportional representation, with 34 Councillors elected. The election saw the Scottish Conservative Party remain the largest party on the Council though they lost 1 seat. The Scottish National Party replaced the Scottish Liberal Democrats as the second largest party by gaining 3 seats at the expense of the latter. The Lib Dems were reduced to 6 seats. Independents increased their numbers to 7 seats while the Borders Party retained their 2 seats. Following the election the Scottish National Party formed a coalition with the support of the Independents and the Liberal Democrats. The Borders Party are also supporting this administration. This replaced the previo ...
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