Michael Joseph McMahon (born 18 September 1961) is a former

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. He was 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) from 1999 until 2016. He was MSP for the Hamilton North and Bellshill constituency from 1999 until its abolition in 2011, and then for the Uddingston and Bellshill constituency from 2011 to 2016.

Career

McMahon attended the co-educational, Roman Catholic

Our Lady's High School, Motherwell Our Lady's High School is a Roman Catholic secondary school for 11- to 18-year-olds in Motherwell, North Lanarkshire, that is close to Fir Park stadium. The school educates around 675 pupils. The headteacher is Dan Cardle. History The school w ...

from 1973 until 1977. After leaving school, he worked as a welder at Terex Equipment Ltd, Motherwell from 1977 until 1992. He had been a trade union activist since school, and was Chair of the Youth Committees for the GMB trade union and the

Scottish Trades Union Congress The Scottish Trades Union Congress (STUC) is the national trade union centre in Scotland. With 40 affiliated unions as of 2020, the STUC represents over 540,000 trade unionists. The STUC is a separate organisation from the English and Welsh T ...

. In the GMB, he was also the branch Equality Officer and a member of the Racial Advisory Committee.

Political positions and views

McMahon is a critic of the

not proven Not proven (, ) is a verdict available to a Courts of Scotland, court of law in Scotland. Under Scots law, a Criminal procedure, criminal trial may end in one of three verdicts, one of conviction ("guilty") and two of acquittal ("not proven" and ...

verdict in Scottish law, unsuccessfully attempting to abolish the verdict in 2007. McMahon is a supporter of faith schools and has publicly defended them, claiming there is no evidence they contribute to sectarianism. McMahon was one of three Labour MSPs that voted against the

Marriage and Civil Partnership (Scotland) Act 2014 The Marriage and Civil Partnership (Scotland) Act 2014 (asp 5) is an Act of the Scottish Parliament which allows same-sex couples to marry in Scotland since 16 December 2014. The bill was introduced to the Scottish Parliament on 26 June 2013 b ...

Personal life

McMahon is married to Margaret, and together they have three children. He employed her as his parliamentary assistant and his daughter Siobhan McMahon as his parliamentary researcher, with the latter becoming an MSP herself in the 2011 Scottish Parliament election.

References

External links

*
Michael McMahon MSP
profile at the site of Scottish Labour
Michael McMahon MSP
personal website 1961 births Labour MSPs Living people Members of the Scottish Parliament 1999–2003 Members of the Scottish Parliament 2003–2007 Members of the Scottish Parliament 2007–2011 Members of the Scottish Parliament 2011–2016 Place of birth missing (living people) {{MSP-stub