Gemma Doyle (born 13 April 1981) is a British former politician who served as

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members o ...

(MP) for

West Dunbartonshire West Dunbartonshire ( sco, Wast Dunbairtonshire; gd, Siorrachd Dhùn Breatann an Iar, ) is one of the 32 local government council areas of Scotland. The area lies to the west of the City of Glasgow and contains many of Glasgow's commuter to ...

from 2010 to 2015. A member of the Labour and Co-operative parties, she has worked in public affairs since her departure from Parliament.

Early life

Gemma Doyle was born on 13 April 1981 in

Alexandria Alexandria ( or ; ar, ٱلْإِسْكَنْدَرِيَّةُ ; grc-gre, Αλεξάνδρεια, Alexándria) is the second largest city in Egypt, and the largest city on the Mediterranean coast. Founded in by Alexander the Great, Alexandri ...

. She received a

Master of Arts A Master of Arts ( la, Magister Artium or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA, M.A., AM, or A.M.) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Th ...

(MA) in European Civilisation from the

University of Glasgow , image = UofG Coat of Arms.png , image_size = 150px , caption = Coat of arms Flag , latin_name = Universitas Glasguensis , motto = la, Via, Veritas, Vita , ...

Political and later career

Doyle was a

researcher Research is "creative and systematic work undertaken to increase the stock of knowledge". It involves the collection, organization and analysis of evidence to increase understanding of a topic, characterized by a particular attentiveness t ...

for

Cathie Craigie Cathie Craigie (born 14 April 1954) is a former Scottish Labour politician who served as Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for the Cumbernauld and Kilsyth constituency from 1999 to 2011. Early life and career Craigie was born in Sti ...

, then a

Member of 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 ...

, and later worked as a Labour Party officer. She has also worked for Holyrood Communications, a political communications company, and the

Institution of Civil Engineers The Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE) is an independent professional association for civil engineers and a charitable body in the United Kingdom. Based in London, ICE has over 92,000 members, of whom three-quarters are located in the UK, whi ...

. Following her departure from Parliament, she relocated to

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

and became director of a public affairs firm. Doyle has served as a member of the

London Labour London Labour is the devolved, regional part of the Labour Party in Greater London. It is the largest political party in London, currently holding a majority of the executive mayoralties, a majority of local councils, council seats and parl ...

board and chair of Bermondsey and Old Southwark Labour. She is a trustee of the

Foreign Policy Centre The Foreign Policy Centre (FPC) is a British think tank specialising in foreign policy. It was founded in 1998 by Foreign Secretary Robin Cook and his colleagues. It was launched at an event with Prime Minister Tony Blair, with the aim of develo ...

Parliamentary career

At the

2004 European Parliament election The 2004 European Parliament election was held between 10 and 13 June 2004 in the 25 member states of the European Union, using varying election days according to local custom. The European Parliamental parties could not be voted for, but electe ...

, she contested the

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...

constituency as a Labour candidate. Doyle was elected as

for

at the 2010 general election. She served on the Energy and Climate Change Committee and the

Administration Committee The Administration Committee is a select committee of the House of Commons in the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It has a remit "to consider the services provided for and by the House of Commons". Membership As of July 2022, the members of t ...

from July to November 2010. Following

Ed Miliband Edward Samuel "Ed" Miliband (born 24 December 1969) is a British politician serving as Shadow Secretary of State for Climate Change and Net Zero since 2021. He has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Doncaster North since 2005. Miliban ...

's election as Labour Leader, Doyle was appointed Shadow Defence Personnel, Welfare and Veterans Minister in October 2010. During her tenure on the opposition front bench, she was a member of the committee scrutinising the Armed Forces Act 2011. Doyle was defeated by the Scottish National Party's

Martin Docherty Martin John Docherty-Hughes (born 21 January 1971) is a Scottish National Party politician. He has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for West Dunbartonshire since 2015. Early life and education Docherty-Hughes was raised by his parents in Cly ...

at the 2015 general election.

Personal life

Doyle has been married to Gregor Poynton, a political strategist and Scottish Labour campaigner.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Doyle, Gemma Living people 1981 births Labour Co-operative MPs for Scottish constituencies UK MPs 2010–2015 Female members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Scottish constituencies Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Scottish constituencies 21st-century Scottish women politicians 21st-century Scottish politicians