Maggie Chapman (born 27 June 1979) is a

Zimbabwe Rhodesia Zimbabwe Rhodesia (), alternatively known as Zimbabwe-Rhodesia, also informally known as Zimbabwe or Rhodesia, and sometimes as Rhobabwe, was a short-lived sovereign state that existed from 1 June to 12 December 1979. Zimbabwe Rhodesia was p ...

-born Scottish politician and lecturer who is a Scottish Green

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 North East Scotland. She was co-convenor of the Scottish Greens from November 2013 to August 2019, serving with

Patrick Harvie Patrick Harvie (born 18 March 1973) is a Scottish politician who has served as Minister for Zero Carbon Buildings, Active Travel and Tenants' Rights since 2021. He has served as one of two co-leaders of the Scottish Greens since 2008, and is on ...

, and was the party's lead candidate for the

2019 European election The 2019 European Parliament election was held between 23 and 26 May 2019, the ninth parliamentary election since the first direct elections in 1979. A total of 751 Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) represent more than 512 million peopl ...

. She was 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 ...

for the Leith Walk ward of

The City of Edinburgh Council The City of Edinburgh Council is the Local government in Scotland, local government authority for the city of Edinburgh, capital of Scotland. With a population of in mid-2019, it is Subdivisions of Scotland#Council areas, the second most populo ...

from 2007 to 2015 and represented the Scottish Greens on the

Smith Commission The Smith Commission was announced by Prime Minister David Cameron on 19 September 2014 in the wake of the 'No' vote in the 2014 Scottish independence referendum. The establishment of the commission was part of the process of fulfilling The Vow ...

for further devolution of powers to the

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 Holyro ...

. Chapman was the

Rector Rector (Latin for the member of a vessel's crew who steers) may refer to: Style or title *Rector (ecclesiastical), a cleric who functions as an administrative leader in some Christian denominations *Rector (academia), a senior official in an edu ...

of the

University of Aberdeen The University of Aberdeen ( sco, University o' 'Aiberdeen; abbreviated as ''Aberd.'' in List of post-nominal letters (United Kingdom), post-nominals; gd, Oilthigh Obar Dheathain) is a public university, public research university in Aberdeen, Sc ...

, having been elected in 2014, and again in 2018. Her term ended on the 31 March 2021. She was the lead Green candidate for the North East region at the

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 ele ...

, and was elected as one of eight Green MSPs.

Early life and education

Chapman was born in 1979 in

Salisbury Salisbury ( ) is a cathedral city in Wiltshire, England with a population of 41,820, at the confluence of the rivers Avon, Nadder and Bourne. The city is approximately from Southampton and from Bath. Salisbury is in the southeast of Wil ...

. Her family had moved from

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

in 1978 for her father to take up the post of director at the college of music. She grew up there, educated at a mixed-race school, with the country having achieved independence from the United Kingdom as the

Republic of Zimbabwe Zimbabwe (), officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country located in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the south-west, Zambia to the north, and Mozam ...

whilst she was a baby. Her mother was a nurse who worked as a theatre sister and midwife. Chapman moved to

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 ...

to study Zoology at the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh ( sco, University o Edinburgh, gd, Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in post-nominals) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Granted a royal charter by King James VI in 15 ...

, graduating in 2001. She went on to complete a

Master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice.

in Environmental Management at the

University of Stirling The University of Stirling (, gd, Oilthigh Shruighlea (abbreviated as Stir or Shruiglea, in post-nominals) is a public university in Stirling, Scotland, founded by royal charter in 1967. It is located in the Central Belt of Scotland, built w ...

in 2003, then returned to Edinburgh University to study for a

PhD PHD or PhD may refer to: * Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), an academic qualification Entertainment * '' PhD: Phantasy Degree'', a Korean comic series * ''Piled Higher and Deeper'', a web comic * Ph.D. (band), a 1980s British group ** Ph.D. (Ph.D. albu ...

in Geography. In 2015, she clarified that she had not completed her doctoral studies. As a student, she had been an activist for

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

Professional life

Chapman has worked in the west of Scotland in Environmental Management, and as a community carer throughout Edinburgh. Until June 2015 she was a lecturer in cultural geography, environmental ethics and social justice at

Edinburgh Napier University , mottoeng = Without knowledge, everything is in vain , established = 1992 – granted University status 1964 – Napier Technical College , type = Public , academic_staff = 802 , administrative_staff = 562 , chancellor = Will Whitehorn , ...

. She retains a role in teaching through her support for the

Educational Institute of Scotland The Educational Institute of Scotland (EIS) is the oldest teachers' trade union in the world, having been founded in 1847 when dominies became concerned about the effect of changes to the system of education in Scotland on their professional st ...

. In mid-2015 she took up a post at the Muslim Women's Resource Centre 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 ...

Political career

Chapman was first elected as a councillor for the Leith Walk ward in the

2007 City of Edinburgh Council election Elections to the City of Edinburgh Council were held on 3 May 2007, the same day as the Scottish Parliament general election. The election was the first one using 17 new wards created as a result of the Local Governance (Scotland) Act 2004, each ...

, becoming one of the three first Green councillors in Edinburgh. She was re-elected in

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gather ...

. Later that year she became the first ever convener of the council's Petitions Committee. During her time as a councillor, Chapman has advocated for causes that include: the

living wage A living wage is defined as the minimum income necessary for a worker to meet their basic needs. This is not the same as a subsistence wage, which refers to a biological minimum, or a solidarity wage, which refers to a minimum wage tracking labor ...

participatory budgeting Participatory budgeting (PB) is a type of citizen sourcing in which ordinary people decide how to allocate part of a municipal or public budget through a process of democratic deliberation and decision-making. Participatory budgeting allows ci ...

, better private tenancy rights, and better support for non-profits. She has also organised and voted against the privatisation of council services and cuts to services. In June 2015, she announced she was standing down as a councillor, to concentrate on the Scottish Parliament election that was to be held in May 2016. She was selected as the party's lead candidate for the North East region. In November 2013, she was elected unopposed as the Scottish Greens' female co-convenor, succeeding Glasgow councillor

Martha Wardrop Martha Wardrop is a Scottish Green politician. She is a Glasgow city councillor, first elected in the Hillhead ward in 2007 and subsequently re-elected in 2012, 2017 and 2022 File:2022 collage V1.png, Clockwise, from top left: Road junction at ...

, and was re-elected to the position in 2016. Chapman was the party's lead candidate in the

2014 European Parliament election in the United Kingdom The 2014 European Parliament election was the United Kingdom's component of the 2014 European Parliament election, held on Thursday 22 May 2014, coinciding with the 2014 local elections in England and Northern Ireland. In total, 73 Members of ...

for the Scotland constituency. She was not elected. Chapman is a

socialist Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the e ...

environmentalist An environmentalist is a person who is concerned with and/or advocates for the protection of the environment. An environmentalist can be considered a supporter of the goals of the environmental movement, "a political and ethical movement that se ...

, anti-cuts activist, peace activist and

feminist Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social equality of the sexes. Feminism incorporates the position that society prioritizes the male po ...

. She has been active in a number of political campaigns, including the

Radical Independence Campaign The Radical Independence Campaign (RIC) is a grassroots organisation which advocates for Scotland to become a republic, independent of the United Kingdom. It was established in 2012 in the run-up to the 2014 Scottish independence referendum, in ...

. In September 2014, Chapman became a member of the

into further devolution for the

. She stood in the

2016 Scottish Parliament election The 2016 Scottish parliament election was held on Thursday, 5 May 2016 to elect 129 members to the Scottish Parliament. It was the fifth election held since the devolved parliament was established in 1999. It was the first parliamentary electi ...

as the party's lead candidate for the North East region but despite the Greens increasing their number of MSPs from two to six, Chapman was not elected. In 2019, she was once again selected as the party's lead candidate for the

European Parliament election Elections to the European Parliament take place every five years by universal adult suffrage; with more than 400 million people eligible to vote, they are considered the second largest democratic elections in the world after India's. Until ...

for the Scotland constituency. She was not elected. At the 2019 Scottish Green leadership election, Chapman lost to

Lorna Slater Lorna Slater (born 27 September 1975) is a Canadian-born Scottish politician who has served as Minister for Green Skills, Circular Economy and Biodiversity since 2021. She has served as co-leader of the Scottish Greens alongside Patrick Harvi ...

. In the

, Chapman lead the North East regional list for the Scottish Greens. Her successful election to Holyrood was announced on 8 May 2021, two days after the election. This made her the first Green MSP in the North East since

Shiona Baird Shiona Baird (born 14 September 1946) is a Scottish Green politician who was a Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for the North East Scotland region from 2003 to 2007, and co-convener of the Scottish Greens from 2004 to 2007. She is curre ...

lost her seat in 2007. Upon being sworn in, Chapman repeated her affirmation in

Shona Shona often refers to: * Shona people, a Southern African people * Shona language, a Bantu language spoken by Shona people today Shona may also refer to: * ''Shona'' (album), 1994 album by New Zealand singer Shona Laing * Shona (given name) * S ...

Rector

In November 2014, she was elected as Rector of the University of Aberdeen after a vote by the student body of the University. She was installed as rector at a ceremony in March 2015, having intimated that she would be active in the role. Chapman ran for a second term in November 2017, but the election was annulled after allegations that her supporters had torn down posters belonging to rival candidates, which Chapman and her campaign team denied. A document released by the University indicated that the election committee disagreed with the initial decision to annul the results as Chapman had not been given a right of reply to the allegations but did not overturn it. In the end, the election was re-run in February 2018. Chapman won re-election, defeating Aberdeen law student Israr Khan by a margin of 1,248 votes to 891.

Personal life

Her father, Neil Chapman, was a professional classical musician. She has a sister, Catherine. She plays the fiddle and enjoys exploring Scotland.

References

External links

*
Maggie Chapman's blog

Maggie Chapman's profile page
on the Scottish Green Party's official website
Recent posts by Maggie Chapman
on the Scottish Green Party's official website {{DEFAULTSORT:Chapman, Maggie 1979 births Living people Academics of Edinburgh Napier University Alumni of Dominican Convent High School Alumni of the University of Edinburgh Alumni of the University of Stirling Anti-war activists Councillors in Edinburgh Leaders of the Scottish Green Party People from Harare Rectors of the University of Aberdeen Rhodesian people Scottish Green Party councillors Zimbabwean emigrants to the United Kingdom Scottish Green Party MSPs Members of the Scottish Parliament 2021–2026 Female members of the Scottish Parliament Women councillors in Scotland