Elena Whitham (

née A birth name is the name of a person given upon birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name, or the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a birth certificate or birth re ...

McLeod, born 9 July 1974) is a Scottish politician who has been a

Member of the Scottish Parliament Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP; gd, Ball Pàrlamaid na h-Alba, BPA; sco, Memmer o the Scots Pairliament, MSP) is the title given to any one of the 129 individuals elected to serve in the Scottish Parliament. Electoral system The ad ...

(MSP) for Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley since

2021 File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the 2021 Myanmar coup d'état, coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October–November 2021 ...

. A member of the

Scottish National Party The Scottish National Party (SNP; sco, Scots National Pairty, gd, Pàrtaidh Nàiseanta na h-Alba ) is a Scottish nationalist and social democratic political party in Scotland. The SNP supports and campaigns for Scottish independence from ...

(SNP), she was appointed as Minister for Community Safety in November 2022 by

First Minister A first minister is any of a variety of leaders of government cabinets. The term literally has the same meaning as "prime minister" but is typically chosen to distinguish the office-holder from a superior prime minister. Currently the title of ' ...

Nicola Sturgeon Nicola Ferguson Sturgeon (born 19 July 1970) is a Scottish politician serving as First Minister of Scotland and Leader of the Scottish National Party (SNP) since 2014. She is the first woman to hold either position. She has been a member of ...

. As a childhood emigrant to

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...

, Whitham returned to Scotland in the 1990s. She worked for

Scottish Women's Aid Scottish Women's Aid is the lead domestic abuse organisation in Scotland. The charity plays a vital role coordinating, influencing and campaigning for effective responses to domestic abuse and supports a network of 36 Women's Aid services acro ...

before becoming a councillor for Irvine Valley in

East Ayrshire Council East or Orient is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from west and is the direction from which the Sun rises on the Earth. Etymology As in other languages, the word is formed from the f ...

, and then Depute Leader of the council.

Early life

Elena McLeod was born on 9 July 1974 in

Kilmarnock Kilmarnock (, sco, Kilmaurnock; gd, Cill Mheàrnaig (IPA: ʰʲɪʎˈveaːɾnəkʲ, "Marnock's church") is a large town and former burgh in East Ayrshire, Scotland and is the administrative centre of East Ayrshire, East Ayrshire Council. ...

. At the age of six, she and her family emigrated to

, Canada due to her father struggling to find employment in Scotland. Whitham's family were miners in

Muirkirk Muirkirk ( gd, Eaglais an t-Slèibh) is a small village in East Ayrshire, southwest Scotland. It is located on the north bank of the River Ayr, between Cumnock and Glenbuck on the A70. Conservation The Muirkirk & North Lowther Uplands Special ...

and agricultural workers at many local farms from

Sorn Vehicle Excise Duty (VED; also known as "vehicle tax", "car tax", and more controversially as "road tax", and formerly as a "tax disc") is an annual tax that is levied as an excise duty and which must be paid for most types of powered vehicles which ...

Coylton Coylton ( sco, Culton) is a village and civil parish in South Ayrshire, Scotland. It is east of Ayr and west of Drongan, on the A70. Sundrum Castle Holiday Park is to the west of the village, in the grounds of Sundrum Castle, which partly d ...

. She had become a supporter of the principle of sovereignty after being given a copy of

The Proclaimers ''The'' () is a grammatical Article (grammar), article in English language, English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite ...

album '' Sunshine on Leith'' by her grandmother in 1988. Whitham studied at the

Champlain College Saint-Lambert Champlain College Saint-Lambert ( French: ''Collège Champlain Saint-Lambert)'' is an English-language college in Saint-Lambert, Quebec, Canada that is part of Quebec's CEGEP public education system. It is a campus of Champlain Regional College, ...

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...

from 1990 to 1992. In 1993, She attended the

Concordia University Concordia University ( French: ''Université Concordia'') is a public research university located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Founded in 1974 following the merger of Loyola College and Sir George Williams University, Concordia is one of the t ...

, where she gained a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

in Journalism and Communications. In the 1995 Quebec independence referendum, she campaigned in-favour of

Quebec sovereignty The Quebec sovereignty movement (french: Mouvement souverainiste du Québec) is a political movement whose objective is to achieve the sovereignty of Quebec, a province of Canada since 1867, including in all matters related to any provision o ...

. After graduating, she returned to Scotland to work as a freelancer in local media. She then worked in community support roles in Ayrshire, where her family has deep roots. For over ten years she was a

worker in

Ayrshire Ayrshire ( gd, Siorrachd Inbhir Àir, ) is a historic county and registration county in south-west Scotland, located on the shores of the Firth of Clyde. Its principal towns include Ayr, Kilmarnock and Irvine and it borders the counties of Re ...

, assisting victims of

domestic abuse Domestic violence (also known as domestic abuse or family violence) is violence or other abuse that occurs in a domestic setting, such as in a marriage or cohabitation. ''Domestic violence'' is often used as a synonym for ''intimate partner v ...

Political career

Local government

On 1 October 2015 she was first elected to

in a

by-election A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, a bye-election in Ireland, a bypoll in India, or a Zimni election (Urdu: ضمنی انتخاب, supplementary election) in Pakistan, is an election used to f ...

for the Irvine Valley ward. She became Depute Leader of the council, and was also national housing and homelessness lead for the

Convention of Scottish Local Authorities The Convention of Scottish Local Authorities (COSLA) is the national association of Scottish councils and acts as an employers' association for its 32 member authorities. History Formed in 1975, COSLA exists to promote and protect the intere ...

Member of the Scottish Parliament

In October 2020 she was confirmed as a candidate for Scottish Parliament. On 8 May 2021 she was elected as

(MSP) for Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley. Her majority of 4,337 votes (12.2%) was lower than that achieved in

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses during the 2016 Nagorno-Karabakh ...

by her predecessor

Jeane Freeman Jeane Tennent Freeman (born 28 September 1953) is a Scottish former politician who served as Cabinet Secretary for Health and Sport from 2018 to 2021. A member of the Scottish National Party (SNP), she was the Member of the Scottish Parliame ...

Minister for Community Safety

In November 2022, it was announced that Whitham would succeed

Ash Regan Ashten Regan (formerly Denham; born 8 March 1974) is a Scottish politician who served as Minister for Community Safety from 2018 until 2022 when she stepped down in a protest over the Gender Recognition Act. A member of the Scottish National ...

as Minister for Community Safety, subject to parliamentary approval.

Personal life

Whitham is the mother of two children.

References

External links

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profile
at East Ayrshire Council {{DEFAULTSORT:Whitham, Elena 1974 births Date of birth missing (living people) Living people Scottish National Party councillors Members of the Scottish Parliament 2021–2026 Scottish National Party MSPs Female members of the Scottish Parliament Councillors in Ayrshire People associated with East Ayrshire Scottish emigrants to Canada Quebec sovereigntists Immigrants to Quebec 21st-century British women politicians Women councillors in Scotland