Corraine Wilson (born 11 April 1965) is an

Alba Party The Alba Party is a Scottish nationalist and pro-independence political party in Scotland. The party was founded in February 2021, with Alex Salmond (a former first minister of Scotland) announced as party leader shortly thereafter. Salmond lau ...

politician who was previously 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 ...

(SNP)

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 Ayr, Carrick and Cumnock from 2015 to 2017.

Early life

Wilson worked in the Civil Service for 20 years after leaving school. She went on to study Psychology at the

University of the West of Scotland The University of the West of Scotland ( gd, Oilthigh na h-Alba an Iar), formerly the University of Paisley, is a public university with four campuses in south-western Scotland, in the towns of Paisley, Renfrewshire, Paisley, Blantyre, South Lanar ...

and set up her own business and events company called "Caledonii Resources" in April 2012 just before being elected to serve as a Councillor in Ayr East in the 2012 South Ayrshire Council election.

Political career

Wilson became a

South Ayrshire South Ayrshire ( sco, Sooth Ayrshire; gd, Siorrachd Àir a Deas, ) is one of thirty-two council areas of Scotland, covering the southern part of Ayrshire. It borders onto Dumfries and Galloway, East Ayrshire and North Ayrshire. On 30 June 2 ...

Councillor in the 2012 local elections for the ward of Ayr East. She was elected to the British Parliament in the 2015 general election. From June 2015 until August 2016, she was one of 125 MPs who employed a member of their family: employing her son Kieran as a caseworker/personal assistant. From 15 September 2016, she had employed her daughter Shannon as a caseworker/personal assistant, which was allowed under IPSA rules up until the election in June 2017. From the period of 1 June 2015 to 31 May 2016, the statement, Wilson claimed a total of £94,545.41 in public expenses, which was the 7th highest amount of any MP in the United Kingdom that year. In 2016, Wilson was appointed as disabilities spokesperson for the SNP. During Wilson's time on the Welfare Reform and Work Bill she argued against the benefit cap, benefit sanctions and the removal of poverty targets. Wilson campaigned in favour of the United Kingdom remaining a member of the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been des ...

at the

2016 United Kingdom European Union membership referendum The United Kingdom European Union membership referendum, commonly referred to as the EU referendum or the Brexit referendum, took place on 23 June 2016 in the United Kingdom (UK) and Gibraltar to ask the electorate whether the country shoul ...

, then later voted against the

European Union (Notification of Withdrawal) Bill 2017 The European Union (Notification of Withdrawal) Act 2017 (c. 9) was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom to empower the Prime Minister to give to the Council of the European Union the formal notice – required by Article 50 of the ...

. During her time in office, Wilson never voted against her party and attended 277 of 467 votes (59.3%) – well below average amongst MPs. She stood for re-election at the 2017 UK general election, but lost to Conservative Bill Grant on a 17.5% swing, with Grant overturning Wilson's 15,137 vote lead over the Conservatives to gain the constituency with a 2,774 vote majority. On 27 March 2021, Wilson announced that she had left the SNP to stand as an

list candidate in 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 ...

Controversies

In 2016, Wilson and Chic Brodie, an SNP MSP representing the South Scotland electoral region at 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 ...

, faced controversy over a public expenses scandal, with Chic Brodie transferring £87,616 of public expenses into Corri Wilson's Caledonii Resources for "outsourced constituency work" after her election as councillor to the Ayr East ward in 2012, with some £20,000 being transferred during the Scottish independence referendum campaign in 2014 and a further £20,000 being transferred during the 2015 UK general election campaign, well in excess of

Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority The Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority (IPSA) is a public body in the United Kingdom created by the Parliamentary Standards Act 2009, largely as a response to the parliamentary expenses scandal of 2009. It establishes and monitors th ...

guidelines. The expenses were not recorded within Corri Wilson's Register of Members' Interests. Caledonii Resources was later dissolved in May 2017.

References

External links

profile
on SNP website * {{DEFAULTSORT:Wilson, Corri 1965 births 21st-century Scottish women politicians 21st-century Scottish politicians Alba Party politicians Female members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Scottish constituencies Living people Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Scottish constituencies People from South Ayrshire Scottish National Party councillors Scottish National Party MPs UK MPs 2015–2017 People from Ayr