Angela Constance

Angela Constance (born 15 July 1970) is a Scottish politician serving as Cabinet Secretary for Justice and Home Affairs since 2023. A member of the Scottish National Party (SNP), she has been the Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for Almond Valley since 2007.

Born in West Lothian, Constance studied at the University of Glasgow and University of Stirling, before working as a social worker in the Lothians. She served as a councillor for West Lothian Council, where she was a spokesperson for children's services and lifelong learning. In the 2007 Scottish Parliament election, Constance was elected as a member of the Scottish Parliament for the Livingston constituency. As an SNP backbencher she served as a member of the Scottish Commission for Public Audit and justice committee.

Constance was appointed to the Scottish Government in 2010 and served under First Minister Alex Salmond as the minister for skills and lifelong learning and the following year she was reshuffled as the minister for children and young people. She later served as the youth employment minister, before the portfolio was expanded and promoted to cabinet-level in 2014 as the Cabinet Secretary for Training, Youth and Women's Employment. Following the resignation of Nicola Sturgeon as depute leader of the SNP when she announced her candidacy for leader, Constance ran unsuccessfully in the 2014 depute leadership contest, losing to Stewart Hosie.

Sturgeon was successful in her bid for leader and was subsequently sworn in as first minister and appointed Constance as education secretary. In a cabinet reshuffle in 2016, she was appointed the equalities secretary and oversaw the introduction of social security powers in Scotland. Constance left government in 2018 to sit as a backbencher. In 2020, Sturgeon appointed her to the new portfolio of drugs policy minister after record high drug deaths in Scotland. On 29 March 2023, newly appointed First Minister Humza Yousaf re-appointed Constance to cabinet as the justice secretary. In November 2023, she became Chairman and Business Convener of the Scottish National Party.

Early life

Angela Constance was born on 15 July 1970 in Blackburn, West Lothian, the daughter of Simon Constance, a coalminer, and Mary Baird Constance (née Colquhoun). She was educated at West Calder High School and later Bo’ness Academy.

Constance attended the University of Glasgow, where she gained an MA in Social Science. At Glasgow University, she served on the Students' Representative Council, becoming president of the council in 1991. Alastair Allan was her sabbatical vice president. She earned a Certificate of Welfare Studies from West Lothian College and an MSc in Social Work from the University of Stirling.

Before her election to Holyrood, Constance worked as a social worker and was a Councillor for West Lothian Council where she was the SNP spokesperson for children's services and lifelong learning. She also stood for the SNP in the 2005 Livingston by-election, finishing second behind Scottish Labour with 32.7% of the vote.

Cabinet minister (2014–2018)

During the 2014 SNP spring conference, First Minister and SNP leader Alex Salmond promoted Constance to the Scottish Cabinet in the position of Cabinet Secretary for Training, Youth and Women’s Employment. In the position, Constance was somewhat criticised by the opposition Scottish Labour Party in the Scottish Parliament, claiming that since Constance, youth unemployment in Scotland had actually risen. In response to this, Constance stated:

These figures, based on data for 2013, show that the employment prospects are improving across much of Scotland, with women’s employment driving much of this improvement. “They also show that Scotland continues to outperformed the UK across all headline labour market indicators, with a lower unemployment rate, higher employment rate and lower economic inactivity rate.

Previously, Constance was a junior Scottish cabinet member.

Following the election of Nicola Sturgeon as the First Minister, in November 2014, Constance was promoted as the Cabinet Secretary for Education within the Scottish Cabinet.

After the 2016 Scottish Parliament election, Nicola Sturgeon reshuffled her Cabinet. On 18 May, Constance was appointed as Cabinet Secretary for Communities, Social Security and Equalities.

SNP Depute leadership bid, 2014

Following defeat in the 2014 Scottish independence referendum, Scottish National Party leader and First Minister of Scotland Alex Salmond announced his resignation as SNP leader and First Minister of Scotland. In the aftermath of his resignation, a leadership bid was launched, and the then Deputy First Minister of Scotland and SNP Depute leader Nicola Sturgeon was widely tipped to become Salmond's successor.

On 30 September 2014, Constance officially launched her bid to become the Depute leader of the Scottish National Party, competing against Stewart Hosie and Keith Brown. It was later revealed by Constance that she was "not seeking the position of Deputy First Minister".

The results of the election were announced at the SNP Autumn Conference on 14 November, with Constance losing the contest to Stewart Hosie, after being eliminated in the first round.

Return to government (2020–)

Minister for Drugs Policy (2020–2023)

In December 2020 First Minister Nicola Sturgeon sacked Joe FitzPatrick as Public Health Minister after official figures revealed that 1,264 people in Scotland had died from drugs in 2019. The number of deaths was three and a half times higher the figure for England and Wales and by some margin the highest in Europe. Sturgeon described the SNP's record on drugs as "indefensible" and Constance was given a full time ministerial portfolio with responsibility for the crisis. The appointment was not universally welcomed; journalist Alex Massie opined in ''The Times'' that: "It says something, mind you, about the depth of talent available to Sturgeon that... she felt compelled to hand the drugs brief to Angela Constance, a minister she had previously demoted. Twice."

At the Scottish Parliament election on 6 May 2021, Constance was re-elected as MSP for Almond Valley. On 19 May 2021, she was re-appointed to the new government, retaining the post of Minister for Drugs Policy.

In November 2023, Constance was appointed as the SNP's Business Convener (party chair), succeeding Kirsten Oswald. The Business Convener is responsible for chairing the SNP's Party Conference and the National Executive Committee; overseeing the party's management, administration and operations, as well as the coordination of election campaigns; working with the Chief Executive of Headquarters in setting priorities.

Cabinet Secretary for Justice and Home Affairs (2023–present)

On 29 March 2023, newly elected first minister Humza Yousaf appointed Constance as Cabinet Secretary for Justice and Home Affairs, marking a return to the Scottish cabinet for Constance following her departure from the cabinet during the third term of Nicola Sturgeon's premiership in 2018. Yousaf claimed he was "looking forward" to working with Constance on "delivering real, tangible improvements".

Following her appointment, Yousaf announced that both he and Constance had "agreed an ambitious range of outcomes" in order to modernise the Scottish justice system in order to "better focus on the needs of victims while ensuring rates of offending continue to be at historic lows". Additionally, Yousaf encouraged Constance to protect the independence of key justice agencies of the country as well as the Judiciary of Scotland. Additionally, Constance was tasked with reducing the court backlog created by the government restrictions introduced to mitigate Covid–19, work with both the Scottish Police Authority and Police Scotland to deliver a sustainable budget, conduct collaboration between Police Scotland and the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service to "further drive out inefficiencies and achieve operational efficiencies", responsible for the overview and implementation of the Hate Crime and Public Order (Scotland) Act 2021, updating of the Equally Safe strategy and support the implementation of "trauma-informed knowledge" and the associated skills framework for staff in justice organisations across Scotland.

Constance was re–appointed Cabinet Secretary for Justice and Home Affairs by new first minister John Swinney in May 2024.

Personal life

Constance has been married to Garry Knox since 2000.Marriage certificate of Angela Constance and Garry Richard Knox, 2000, 701/ 2 Queensferry — National Records of Scotland After her election to Holyrood, Constance announced she was expecting her first child, Cyrus in October 2007.

References

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Constance, Angela
1970 births
Living people
Alumni of the University of Glasgow
People from Blackburn, West Lothian
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
Ministers of the Scottish Government
Women members of the Scottish Government
Scottish social workers
Scottish National Party parliamentary candidates
Alumni of West Lothian College
People associated with West Lothian College