William Lynch Coffey (born 24 May 1958) 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 th ...

(SNP) politician. He has been 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 add ...

(MSP) for Kilmarnock and Irvine Valley since

2011 File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrates ...

, and previously Kilmarnock and Loudoun from

2007 File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple Inc., Apple's first iPhone (1st generation), iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakis ...

to 2011, before boundary changes. Coffey studied at the

University of Strathclyde The University of Strathclyde ( gd, Oilthigh Shrath Chluaidh) is a public research university located in Glasgow, Scotland. Founded in 1796 as the Andersonian Institute, it is Glasgow's second-oldest university, having received its royal chart ...

where he obtained a degree in Computer Science. He subsequently worked as Software Development Manager and latterly as a Quality and Risk Manager with

Learning and Teaching Scotland Learning and Teaching Scotland (LTS or LT Scotland) was a non-departmental public body of the Scottish Government, formed by the merger of the Scottish Consultative Council on the Curriculum (SCCC) and the Scottish Council for Educational Technol ...

before his election to the Scottish Parliament. He has been a councillor on

East Ayrshire Council East or Orient is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from west and is the direction from which the Sun rises on the Earth. Etymology As in other languages, the word is formed from the fa ...

Politics

He was first elected to Kilmarnock and Loudoun District Council in

1992 File:1992 Events Collage V1.png, From left, clockwise: Riots break out across Los Angeles, California after the police beating of Rodney King; El Al Flight 1862 crashes into a residential apartment building in Amsterdam after two of its engin ...

and subsequently to

(covering the Onthank ward in northern

Kilmarnock Kilmarnock (, sco, Kilmaurnock; gd, Cill Mheàrnaig (IPA: ʰʲɪʎˈveaːɾnəkʲ, "Marnock's church") is a large town and former burgh in East Ayrshire, Scotland and is the administrative centre of East Ayrshire, East Ayrshire Council. ...

) in

1999 File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school shoot ...

2003 File:2003 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The crew of STS-107 perished when the Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated during reentry into Earth's atmosphere; SARS became an epidemic in China, and was a precursor to SARS-CoV-2; A ...

and

before retiring from local government at the 2012 Local Elections. He is the brother of former Provost and Cllr. Danny Coffey who came within 1,210 votes of winning the Kilmarnock and Loudoun Holyrood constituency in

and died on 26 February 2006. Their sister Helen held Danny's Altonhill, Hillhead & Longpark council ward in a by-election with an increased majority and a 5.6% swing from Labour, before both she and Willie were elected to the new multi-member Kilmarnock North ward in 2007.

Scottish Parliament

Coffey won the Kilmarnock and Loudoun seat for the SNP in May 2007 with a vote of 14,297 and a majority of 1,342. He serves on the Scottish Parliament's Audit Committee and has campaigned on numerous occasions to protect the Scotch whisky industry, particularly in his own area.

Committees

During his tenure as an MSP, Coffey has been a member of the following committees: * Public Audit and Postlegislative Scrutiny Committee (30 March 2017 – 3 December 2020) * Economy Energy and Fair Work Committee (3 September 2019 – 10 September 2019) * Economy Energy and Fair Work Committee (6 September 2018 – 3 September 2019) * Finance and Constitution Committee (29 September 2016 – 3 September 2019) * Economy Jobs and Fair Work Committee (24 May 2018 – 6 September 2018) * Equalities and Human Rights Committee (29 September 2016 – 30 March 2017) * Equal Opportunities Committee (8 June 2016 – 29 September 2016) * Finance Committee (8 June 2016 – 29 September 2016) * European and External Relations Committee (18 September 2012 – 23 March 2016) * Local Government and Regeneration Committee (27 November 2014 – 23 March 2016) * Public Audit Committee (1 June 2011 – 27 November 2014) * Public Audit Committee (11 December 2008 – 22 March 2011) * Equal Opportunities Committee (26 February 2009 – 20 May 2010) * Equal Opportunities Committee (26 June 2008 – 26 February 2009) * Audit Committee (13 June 2007 – 10 December 2008)

References

External links

*
East Ayrshire Council profile

SNP website profile

TheyWorkForYou profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Coffey, Willie 1958 births Living people People from Kilmarnock Alumni of the University of Strathclyde Scottish National Party MSPs Members of the Scottish Parliament 2007–2011 Members of the Scottish Parliament 2011–2016 Members of the Scottish Parliament 2016–2021 Members of the Scottish Parliament 2021–2026 Scottish National Party councillors Councillors in Ayrshire

Politics

Scottish Parliament

Committees

See also

References

External links