Gavin Newlands
MP
Official portrait, 2019
SNP Spokesperson for Transport in the House of Commons
Assumed office
7 January 2020
LeaderIan Blackford
Stephen Flynn
Preceded byAlan Brown
Member of Parliament
for Paisley and Renfrewshire North
Assumed office
7 May 2015
Preceded byJim Sheridan
Majority11,902 (24.0%)
Personal details
Born (1980-02-02) 2 February 1980
Paisley, Scotland
Political partyScottish National Party
Alma materJames Watt College

Gavin Andrew Stuart Newlands (born 2 February 1980) is a Scottish National Party politician. He has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Paisley and Renfrewshire North since the 2015 general election.[1][2] He has served as the SNP Shadow Secretary of State for Transport since 2020.

Newlands is the first ever MP for the constituency to be elected from the SNP. At the 2017 general election, he was re-elected, with a reduced majority of 9,076 votes to 2,613. Subsequently, at the 2019 election Newlands achieved his biggest majority in the seat, of 11,902 or 24.0% of the vote.

Early life

Newlands was born in the old Paisley Maternity Hospital in 1980 and raised in the town of Renfrew,[3] where he currently resides with wife, Lynn and their two children.[4] He was educated at Renfrew's St James' Primary and Trinity High School. While enrolled at James Watt College, Newlands was offered a promotion in his part-time job at McDonalds, and dropped out of college.

Newlands has been a member of the SNP for 25 years. He joined the youth wing of the party in 1992 at the age of twelve. He became a local community council councillor for Renfrew in 2011 and has supported local causes, including a West of Scotland foodbank. Newlands was a member of Paisley Rugby Club for 16 years, serving as club captain for three years.[4]

Parliamentary career

Newlands was selected to stand for election for the Scottish National Party (SNP) in January 2015 after securing the support of local party members following an internal selection process.[4] He was elected to the House of Commons at the 2015 Westminster election when he overturned the incumbent Labour MP's 15,280 majority and emerged with a majority of 9,076 votes for himself - representing a 26.47% swing to Newlands and the SNP.[5]

He is currently the Westminster SNP Spokesperson on Transport, having previously led for the party on Sport, Wales, and Northern Ireland,[6] as well as being Chair of the White Ribbon All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Male Violence Against Women[7] and is Chair of the APPG on Scottish Sport.[8] He serves on the Justice Select Committee.[9]

Newlands is an ambassador for White Ribbon Scotland and has participated in parliamentary debates on International Men's Day to speak about violence against women.[10] On 25 November 2021, during a parliamentary debate on International Men's Day, Newlands spoke in criticism of the holiday, describing it as an "anathema to me" and "a rather cruel joke concocted in response to feminism, women's rights and International Women's Day".[11] When challenged on his views by Conservative MP Nick Fletcher, Newlands said that "we need men in general to take responsibility for what men have done and continue to do - including making misogynistic comments or committing violence against women."[12]

In 2020, he introduced a bill banning exploitative Fire and Rehire practices.[13]

He was reappointed as the SNP Spokesperson for Transport by Leader Stephen Flynn.[14]

References

  1. ↑ "List of Members returned to Parliament at the General Election 2015 Scotland". The Edinburgh Gazette. 15 May 2015. Retrieved 3 June 2015.
  2. ↑ Gavin Newlands SNP wins Paisley and Renfrewshire North seat, bbc.co.uk; accessed 1 June 2015.
  3. ↑ Newlands, Gavin. "About Gavin". Retrieved 12 May 2015.
  4. 1 2 3 "Paisley SNP hopeful joins race for Westminster". Paisley & Renfrewshire Gazette. 19 February 2015. Retrieved 10 May 2015.
  5. ↑ Express, The (8 May 2015). "Paisley and Renfrewshire North". Retrieved 13 May 2015.
  6. ↑ "Gavin Newlands - UK Parliament". beta.parliament.uk. Archived from the original on 18 August 2018. Retrieved 18 August 2018.
  7. ↑ Commons, The Committee Office, House of. "House of Commons - Register Of All-Party Parliamentary Groups as at 6 January 2017: White Ribbon Campaign UK". publications.parliament.uk. Retrieved 18 August 2018.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  8. ↑ Commons, The Committee Office, House of. "House of Commons - Register Of All-Party Parliamentary Groups as at 3 June 2016: Scottish Sport". publications.parliament.uk. Retrieved 18 August 2018.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  9. ↑ "Membership - Justice Committee". UK Parliament. Retrieved 4 January 2019.
  10. ↑ Kelly, Ricky (16 November 2018). "MP speaks out against violence against woman". Renfrewshire News. Retrieved 26 November 2021.
  11. ↑ Forrest, Adam (25 November 2021). "Women 'replacing' men in TV and movie roles leading young men into crime, suggests Tory MP". The Independent. Retrieved 26 November 2021.
  12. ↑ "Female Doctor Who robs boys of role models, claims Tory MP". BBC News. 25 November 2021. Retrieved 26 November 2021.
  13. ↑ "It's time to end the scandal of 'fire and rehire' and enhance workers' rights". 3 October 2020.
  14. ↑ SNP, the (10 December 2022). "The real opposition: meet your new SNP Westminster Frontbench". Scottish National Party. Retrieved 11 December 2022.
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