Lesley Hinds is a

Scottish Labour Party Scottish Labour ( gd, Pàrtaidh Làbarach na h-Alba, sco, Scots Labour Pairty; officially the Scottish Labour Party) is a social democratic political party in Scotland. It is an autonomous section of the UK Labour Party. From their peak o ...

politician who served as Lord Provost of

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

from 2003 to 2007.

Early life and education

Hinds was born on 3 August 1956 in

Dundee Dundee (; sco, Dundee; gd, Dùn Dè or ) is Scotland's fourth-largest city and the 51st-most-populous built-up area in the United Kingdom. The mid-year population estimate for 2016 was , giving Dundee a population density of 2,478/km2 or ...

, Scotland to Kenneth and Ena Nicol. She attended Kirkton High School in Dundee and studied at Dundee College of Education. She was a teacher at Deans Primary Schools in West Lothian from 1977 to 1980.

Political career

She was first elected to

Edinburgh District Council The City of Edinburgh Council is the local government authority for the city of Edinburgh, capital of Scotland. With a population of in mid-2019, it is the second most populous local authority area in Scotland. In its current form, the counci ...

as a member of the

to represent the Telford

ward Ward may refer to: Division or unit * Hospital ward, a hospital division, floor, or room set aside for a particular class or group of patients, for example the psychiatric ward * Prison ward, a division of a penal institution such as a pris ...

in 1984, later becoming leader of the district council. In 1996 she was elected to represent the Muirhouse and Drylaw ward in the new

City of Edinburgh The City of Edinburgh Council is the local government authority for the city of Edinburgh, capital of Scotland. With a population of in mid-2019, it is the second most populous local authority area in Scotland. In its current form, the counci ...

unitary authority A unitary authority is a local authority responsible for all local government functions within its area or performing additional functions that elsewhere are usually performed by a higher level of sub-national government or the national governmen ...

. Following the local elections in May 2007 she was one of four councillors representing the new Inverleith ward. She was elected the Lord Provost of Edinburgh on 8 May 2003, succeeding Eric Milligan, however following elections on 3 May 2007, the Labour Party lost overall control of the City of Edinburgh and was succeeded in the office of Lord Provost by

Liberal Democrat Several political parties from around the world have been called the Liberal Democratic Party or Liberal Democrats. These parties usually follow a liberal democratic ideology. Active parties Former parties See also *Liberal democracy *Lib ...

George Grubb. Hinds fought the Edinburgh West seat at the 1997 general election, placing third. At the 2011 Scottish Parliament elections she stood as Labour's candidate in the Edinburgh Western constituency. The seat was won by Colin Keir of the SNP. Hinds came third behind Keir and the Liberal Democrats'

Margaret Smith Margaret Smith or Maggie Smith may refer to: People *Margaret Smith Court, known as Margaret Court (born 1942), Australian tennis player *Margaret A. Smith, superintendent of Volusia County Schools *Margaret Bayard Smith (1778–1844), American aut ...

, who had held the seat since 1999.BBC News Election Results for Edinburgh Western
/ref> Hinds was the convener of Edinburgh Council's Transport and Environment Committee from 2012 to 2017. In 2016 Councillor Hinds announced that she was stepping down from politics and did not contest the Labour Seat of Edinburgh North and Leith, or stand in the 2017 local elections.

Personal life

In 1977 she married Martin Hinds. Together they have a daughter and a son.

References

External links

NHS Health Scotland Board MembersNHS Health Scotland Register of Interests
Living people People from Dundee Lord Provosts of Edinburgh Scottish Labour councillors Women provosts in Scotland Co-operative Party politicians Scottish Labour parliamentary candidates Politicians from Dundee 1956 births {{Edinburgh-stub