Pamela Nash (born 24 June 1984) is a British
Labour Party politician, who was the
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
Airdrie and Shotts between
2010 and
2015. She is currently the Chief Executive of
Scotland in Union, a campaign group launched in March 2015 to help keep
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 ...
within the
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...
.
During her time in parliament, she was the
youngest MP in the House of Commons.
Early life and career
Pamela Nash was born in
Airdrie,
North Lanarkshire
North Lanarkshire ( sco, North Lanrikshire; gd, Siorrachd Lannraig a Tuath) is one of 32 council areas of Scotland. It borders the northeast of the City of Glasgow and contains many of Glasgow's suburbs and commuter towns and villages. It also ...
, and educated locally at St Margaret's High School, Airdrie and
Chapelhall
Chapelhall (from the Gaelic Seipeal Allt - Chapel by a burn) is a village outside the town of Airdrie in North Lanarkshire, Scotland. With house building, the distinction between Airdrie and Chapelhall is being eroded. Established as a small min ...
. Nash lost her mother and stepfather when she was 17.
She spent her first summer after high school volunteering at a school in Nyeri, Kenya, and followed this up with a placement in Uganda during her time at university.
She studied politics at the
University of Glasgow
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, image_size = 150px
, caption = Coat of arms
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, latin_name = Universitas Glasguensis
, motto = la, Via, Veritas, Vita
, ...
, specialising in human rights and international development.
Nash was the parliamentary officer for the
Young Fabians
The Young Fabians is the under age 31 section of the Fabian Society, a socialist society in the United Kingdom that is affiliated to the Labour Party. The Young Fabians operate as a membership-driven think tank that organises policy debates, r ...
and a member of the
Scottish Youth Parliament
The Scottish Youth Parliament (SYP) is a youth-led, democratic organisation which aims to represent the young people of Scotland.
The SYP is made up of around 166 democratically-elected representatives aged 14–25 from across Scotland. Represe ...
, where she served on the executive committee and was the convenor of the External Affairs Committee. She interned for
John Reid for one year as his constituency assistant and subsequently was employed for a period of three years as his parliamentary assistant.
Political career
Nash was selected as the Labour Party candidate from an
all-women shortlist
All-women shortlists (AWS) is an affirmative action practice intended to increase the proportion of female Members of Parliament (MPs) in the United Kingdom, allowing only women to stand in particular constituencies for a particular political p ...
which, at the time, proved to be a contentious issue. The constituency chairman, Brian Brady resigned over the issue. Nevertheless, 80% of the constituency Labour Party took part in the selection process. She was elected as the Member of Parliament for Airdrie and Shotts in 2010, replacing the retiring John Reid. She had a majority of 12,408 over the
SNP and, at the age of 25,
was the youngest MP in the
House of Commons
The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. ...
, also called
Baby of the House
Baby of the House is the unofficial title given to the youngest member of a parliamentary house. The term is most often applied to members of the British parliament from which the term originated. The title is named after the Father of the House ...
. The then leader of the Labour MSPs in 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 ...
,
Iain Gray
Iain Cumming Gray (born 7 June 1957) is a Scottish politician who served as Leader of the Scottish Labour Party from 2008 to 2011. He was the Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for the East Lothian constituency from 2007 to 2021, having ...
said she had a "big future in Scottish politics".
Nash was the
Parliamentary Private Secretary
A Parliamentary Private Secretary (PPS) is a Member of Parliament (MP) in the United Kingdom who acts as an unpaid assistant to a minister or shadow minister. They are selected from backbench MPs as the 'eyes and ears' of the minister in the H ...
to the then
Shadow Secretary of State for International Development
The shadow cabinet minister for international development is the lead spokesperson for the United Kingdom's Official Opposition on issues related to international aid, most notably to the third world. The shadow cabinet minister holds the Ministe ...
,
Jim Murphy
James Francis Murphy (born 23 August 1967) is a Scottish former politician who served as Leader of the Scottish Labour Party from 2014 to 2015 and Secretary of State for Scotland from 2008 to 2010. He was Member of Parliament (MP) for East Ren ...
. She was previously Parliamentary Private Secretary to
Margaret Curran as
Shadow Secretary of State for Scotland
The Shadow Secretary of State for Scotland is a member of the UK Shadow Cabinet responsible for the scrutiny of the Secretary of State for Scotland and his/her department, the Scotland Office. The incumbent holder of the office is Ian Murray ...
and to
Vernon Coaker
Vernon Rodney Coaker, Baron Coaker (born 17 June 1953) is a British politician and life peer serving as Shadow Spokesperson for Home Affairs and Defence since 2021. A member of the Labour Party, he was Member of Parliament (MP) for Gedling from ...
as
Shadow Secretary of State for Northern Ireland
The Shadow Secretary of State for Northern Ireland is a member of the Official Opposition Shadow Cabinet (United Kingdom), British Shadow Cabinet responsible for the scrutiny of the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland and their department, th ...
. She served on the Finance Bill 2011 Public Bill Committee. Nash was a member of the
Science and Technology Select Committee
The Science and Technology Select Committee is a select committee of the House of Commons in the Parliament of the United Kingdom.
The original Science and Technology Committee was abolished upon the creation of the Innovation, Universities, Sci ...
, the
Scottish Affairs Select Committee
The Scottish Affairs Select Committee is a Select committee (United Kingdom), select committee of the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons in the Parliament of the United Kingdom. The remit of the committee is to examine the e ...
and the Parliamentary Space Committee.
Following the death of the Labour MP
David Cairns, she was elected as the Chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group for HIV and AIDS. She was also the Treasurer of the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Multiple Sclerosis and the Secretary of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Sustainable Housing. Nash also founded and chaired the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Youth Unemployment.
In September 2010, Nash decided to support
David Miliband
David Wright Miliband (born 15 July 1965) is the president and chief executive officer (CEO) of the International Rescue Committee and a former British Labour Party politician. He was the Foreign Secretary from 2007 to 2010 and the Member of P ...
in the
Labour Party leadership election. On 2 December 2010, Nash took part in a BBC debate on age differences in politics and the wider society with the Conservative MP
Bill Cash
Sir William Nigel Paul Cash (born 10 May 1940) is a British politician who has served as a Member of Parliament (MP) since 1984. A member of the Conservative Party, he was first elected for Stafford and then for Stone in Staffordshire in 1997. ...
. Nash pledged to oppose the repeal of the
Hunting Act 2004
The Hunting Act 2004 (c 37) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom which bans the hunting of most wild mammals (notably foxes, deer, hares and mink) with dogs in England and Wales, subject to some strictly limited exemptions; the ...
which banned hunting of wild mammals with hounds.
Nash has campaigned on issues such as
Blacklisting
Blacklisting is the action of a group or authority compiling a blacklist (or black list) of people, countries or other entities to be avoided or distrusted as being deemed unacceptable to those making the list. If someone is on a blacklist, t ...
in employment, breaches of the
National Minimum Wage
The National Minimum Wage Act 1998 creates a minimum wage across the United Kingdom.. E McGaughey, ''A Casebook on Labour Law'' (Hart 2019) ch 6(1) From 1 April 2022 this was £9.50 for people age 23 and over, £9.18 for 21- to 22-year-olds, £6 ...
, closure of local police stations and the
Bedroom tax
The under-occupancy penalty (also known as the under occupation penalty, under-occupancy charge, under-occupation charge or size criteria) results from a provision of the British Welfare Reform Act 2012 whereby tenants living in public housing (a ...
.
Nash was narrowly reselected by the
Airdrie and Shotts branch of the Labour Party to contest her seat in the next UK general election. A total of 55 members voted for her to be reselected out of 101 members who attended the October 2013 ballot, with 37 opposed. At the 2015 general election, Nash lost her seat to
Neil Gray of the
Scottish National Party
The Scottish National Party (SNP; sco, Scots National Pairty, gd, Pàrtaidh Nàiseanta na h-Alba ) is a Scottish nationalist and social democratic political party in Scotland. The SNP supports and campaigns for Scottish independence from ...
who won by a majority of 8,779 votes.
In August 2017, it was announced that Nash is to be the next Chief Executive of
Scotland in Union, in succession to
Graeme Pearson
Graeme James Pearson (born 1 April 1950) is a Scottish police officer and politician who served as a Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for the South Scotland region from 2011 to 2016. A member of the Scottish Labour Party, he was Shadow Ca ...
.
In 2021, Nash attempted to be selected as the Labour candidate for the
Airdrie and Shotts parliamentary by-election, however she was unsuccessful losing the nomination to Kenneth Stevenson.
References
External links
Pamela Nash MPpersonal website
Pamela Nash MPon
Twitter
Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...
*
Pamela Nash, Labour candidate for Airdrie & Shotts Robert Mitchell, ''Wishaw Press'', 5 May 2010
, -
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nash, Pamela
1984 births
Living people
Alumni of the University of Glasgow
Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Scottish constituencies
Scottish Labour MPs
UK MPs 2010–2015
People from Airdrie, North Lanarkshire
Female members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Scottish constituencies
21st-century Scottish women politicians
21st-century Scottish politicians
Members of the Fabian Society
Politicians from North Lanarkshire