Patricia Gibson (born 12 May 1968) is a

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 ...

(SNP) politician serving as SNP Spokesperson for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs since December 2022. She served as the SNP Shadow Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government since 2021 to 2022. She has been 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 of ...

(MP) for

North Ayrshire and Arran North Ayrshire and Arran is a constituency of the British House of Commons, located in the south-west of Scotland within the North Ayrshire council area. It elects one Member of Parliament (MP) at least once every five years using the first-pa ...

since winning the seat at the 2015 general election.

Early life and career

Gibson was born and educated in

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

. She received a BA (Hons) and MA (Hons) in English and Politics from the

University of Glasgow , image = UofG Coat of Arms.png , image_size = 150px , caption = Coat of arms Flag , latin_name = Universitas Glasguensis , motto = la, Via, Veritas, Vita , ...

. She taught English for over twenty years.

Political career

In 2007, Gibson was elected to the

Glasgow City Council Glasgow City Council is the local government authority for the City of Glasgow, Scotland. It was created in 1996 under the Local Government etc. (Scotland) Act 1994, largely with the boundaries of the post-1975 City of Glasgow district of the S ...

as a councilor for the Greater Pollok ward, on which she served until 2012. While on the council, she was the SNP's spokesperson for education on the Glasgow city council. In the 2010 election, Gibson contested the North Ayrshire & Arran constituency, achieving a 2.3% swing from

Labour Labour or labor may refer to: * Childbirth, the delivery of a baby * Labour (human activity), or work ** Manual labour, physical work ** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer ** Organized labour and the labour ...

to the SNP, however lost to the incumbent

Katy Clark Kathryn Sloan Clark, Baroness Clark of Kilwinning (born 3 July 1967) is a British politician and life peer who has served as a Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for the West Scotland region since 2021. A member of the Labour Party, sh ...

. In the 2015 election she was elected the MP for North Ayrshire & Arran, winning a

majority A majority, also called a simple majority or absolute majority to distinguish it from #Related terms, related terms, is more than half of the total.Dictionary definitions of ''majority'' aMerriam-Webster Procedure Committee The Procedure Committee is a select committee of the House of Commons in the Parliament of the United Kingdom. The remit of the committee is to consider the practice and procedure of the House in the conduct of public business. The committee is ...

. Gibson was reelected as the MP for North Ayrshire & Arran in the 2017 election, however with a reduced majority of 3,633 votes over the

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization i ...

candidate David Rocks. In June 2017 she was appointed the SNP

spokesperson A spokesperson, spokesman, or spokeswoman, is someone engaged or elected to speak on behalf of others. Duties and function In the present media-sensitive world, many organizations are increasingly likely to employ professionals who have receiv ...

for Consumer Affairs. Between September 2017 and 6 November 2019, Gibson was a member of the

Backbench Business Committee The Backbench Business Committee of the British House of Commons was created on 15 June 2010 through the adoption of a new standing order. It was created soon after 2010 general election, but had been proposed during the previous Parliament by the ...

. Gibson was again reelected as the MP for North Ayrshire & Arran in the 2019 election, with an increased majority of 8,521 votes. Since March 2020, she has been a member of the

Sexual misconduct allegations

In March 2021 an SNP member of staff at Westminster complained that Gibson had sexually harassed him in a Parliamentary bar. Gibson said the accusations were "malicious" and "without any foundation". It was reported that Gibson threatened legal action against newspapers that had considered identifying her in coverage over the allegations. On 16 April 2022, ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper ''The Sunday Times'' (fou ...

'' reported that the complaint of sexual harassment against Gibson had been "provisionally upheld" by Parliament's Independent Complaints and Grievance Scheme (ICGS). On 23 June 2022, the report on the complaint was published. The complaint of sexual harassment was initially upheld, but her appeal against the finding, on the grounds that the investigation had made some technical clerical errors, succeeded. It found the complaint was not malicious. In June 2022, Gibson admitted she was too drunk to recall exactly how she acted around the SNP member of staff who accused her of sexual harassment. In August 2022, it was revealed that Gibson claimed in a submission that it was "discriminatory" to say that the impact of sexual harassment of a man by a woman is the same as by a male against a female.

Personal life

Gibson lives in

Kilbirnie Kilbirnie ( Gaelic: ''Cill Bhraonaigh'') is a small town of 7,280 (as of 2001) inhabitants situated in the Garnock Valley area of North Ayrshire, on the west coast of Scotland. It is around southwest of Glasgow and approximately from Paisle ...

North Ayrshire North Ayrshire ( gd, Siorrachd Àir a Tuath, ) is one of 32 council areas in Scotland. The council area borders Inverclyde to the north, Renfrewshire and East Renfrewshire to the northeast, and East Ayrshire and South Ayrshire to the east and so ...

which is within her parliamentary constituency. She is married to Kenneth Gibson, a Member of the Scottish Parliament.

References

External links

SNP profile
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Gibson, Patricia 1968 births Alumni of the University of Glasgow Female members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Scottish constituencies Living people Politicians from Glasgow Scottish National Party MPs Scottish schoolteachers UK MPs 2015–2017 21st-century Scottish women politicians 21st-century Scottish politicians UK MPs 2017–2019 UK MPs 2019–present