Joanna Strathdee (27 December 1954 – 23 August 2015) was a Scottish National Party politician and a

councillor A councillor is an elected representative for a local government council in some countries. Canada Due to the control that the provinces have over their municipal governments, terms that councillors serve vary from province to province. Unl ...

Aberdeenshire Council Aberdeenshire ( sco, Aiberdeenshire; gd, Siorrachd Obar Dheathain) is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland. It takes its name from the County of Aberdeen which has substantially different boundaries. The Aberdeenshire Council area inclu ...

for the

Huntly Huntly ( gd, Srath Bhalgaidh or ''Hunndaidh'') is a town in Aberdeenshire, Scotland, formerly known as Milton of Strathbogie or simply Strathbogie. It had a population of 4,460 in 2004 and is the site of Huntly Castle. Its neighbouring settlement ...

, Strathbogie and Howe of Alford ward. She served for a time as the SNP Group Leader from 2007 to 2012.

Early life

She was born in Keith and attended Rothiemay Primary School followed by Keith Grammar School.

Political career

She was first elected to Aberdeenshire Council in 1999. She contested the

2005 United Kingdom general election The 2005 United Kingdom general election was held on Thursday 5 May 2005, to elect List of MPs elected in the 2005 United Kingdom general election, 646 members to the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons. The Labour Party (U ...

Gordon Gordon may refer to: People * Gordon (given name), a masculine given name, including list of persons and fictional characters * Gordon (surname), the surname * Gordon (slave), escaped to a Union Army camp during the U.S. Civil War * Clan Gordon, ...

unsuccessfully finishing fourth with 7,098 votes. In the 2007 Scottish Local Elections she topped the poll in her ward with 1,839 first preferences and was elected on the first count and thereafter became SNP Group Leader. She later contested the 2010 United Kingdom general election in Aberdeen North unsuccessfully, finishing second with 8,385 votes to the Labour Party's Frank Doran. She was a selected as an SNP candidate for Aberdeen Central the

2011 Scottish Parliament election The 2011 Scottish Parliament election was held on Thursday, 5 May 2011 to elect 129 members to the Scottish Parliament. The election delivered the first majority government since the opening of Holyrood, a remarkable feat as the Additional M ...

s but stood down due to illness. Strathdee retained her seat in the 2012 Scottish local elections, taking the second seat and exceeding the quota with 830 first preferences. However, she was unable to bring in a running mate with her. Following the election on 8 May 2012 her party colleague, Cllr Rob Merson, was elected as Leader of the enlarged SNP group in place of Strathdee. However, within an hour of this happening Merson resigned and Strathdee was reinstated. In July 2012, Hamish Vernal replaced her as leader of the SNP group as they formed a shadow Aberdeenshire council administration.

Death

Strathdee died on 23 August 2015 after a five-year battle with primary peritoneal cancer, a type of

ovarian cancer Ovarian cancer is a cancerous tumor of an ovary. It may originate from the ovary itself or more commonly from communicating nearby structures such as fallopian tubes or the inner lining of the abdomen. The ovary is made up of three different c ...

References

Sources

Joanna Strathdee: electoral history
ukpollingreport.co.uk; retrieved 26 August 2015. {{DEFAULTSORT:Strathdee, Joanna 1954 births 2015 deaths Scottish National Party councillors People from Keith, Moray Women councillors in Scotland Deaths from peritoneal cancer Deaths from cancer in Scotland People from Huntly Place of death missing Councillors in Aberdeenshire Scottish National Party parliamentary candidates