Michael Marra
MSP
Swearing in, 2021
Member of the Scottish Parliament
for North East Scotland
(1 of 7 Regional MSPs)
Assumed office
8 May 2021
Scottish Labour Portfolios
May 2021 - April 2023Shadow Cabinet Secretary for Education and Skills
April 2023 - PresentShadow Cabinet Secretary for Finance
Personal details
Political partyScottish Labour

Michael James Marra is a Scottish Labour politician who has been a Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for North East Scotland since May 2021.

Early life

Michael Marra was born in Dundee in 1979. He joined the Labour Party as a teenager.[1]

Marra was educated at St John's High School, the University of Glasgow and the London School of Economics.[1]

Before becoming an MSP, Marra worked for Oxfam and the Leverhulme Research Centre for Forensic Science at the University of Dundee.[2]

Political career

Michael Marra was elected as a councillor in Dundee's Lochee ward in 2017.[3] He stood down at the 2022 Scottish Parliament election.

Marra previously worked for Scottish Labour Leader Iain Gray as an advisor prior to and during the 2011 Scottish Parliamentary election.[2]

In November 2020, Marra was confirmed as a candidate on Labour's regional list for the North East, coinciding with his sister Jenny Marra announcing that she would not seek re-election to the Scottish Parliament.[4]

On 8 May 2021 Marra was elected as a Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for North East Scotland.[5] He had been appointed as Education and Skills spokesperson in Scottish Labour's campaign cabinet just before the 2021 Scottish Parliament elections.[6] He was retained as Shadow Cabinet Secretary for Education and Skills after the election. [7]

He has described himself as being part of Labour's "soft left".[8]

In 2021 Michael Marra won the Holyrood magazine “One For The Watching” award, a newcomer award judged by a panel made up of senior MSPs, journalists, and Scotland’s two top pollsters.[8]

In April 2023 it was announced he would take on the role of Shadow Cabinet Secretary for Finance [9]

Injury Time campaign

Since 2021, Marra has been campaigning for Alzheimer's disease in footballers to be classed as an industrial disease. A study carried out for the Football Association and the Professional Footballers’ Association in 2019 discovered that there was a five-fold increase in Alzheimer’s disease among the former players.[10]

Marra had said: “The Scottish Government must recognise that these injuries are a form of industrial disease and allow these players to access the support they need, and deserve.”

Personal life

Michael Marra is married and has three children.[1]

He is a lifelong Dundee United supporter.[11]

His uncle is the Dundonian folk singer Michael Marra,[8] who died in 2012.

Michael Marra has an interest in the history and writings of Abraham Lincoln.[12]

References

  1. 1 2 3 "About Michael | Michael Marra For North east scotland". Michael Marra. Retrieved 7 July 2022.
  2. 1 2 Boothman, John. "Ones to watch in the Holyrood class of 2021". ISSN 0140-0460. Retrieved 7 July 2022.
  3. ↑ "City Council 2017 Election Results". Dundee City Council. Retrieved 7 July 2022.
  4. ↑ Malik, Paul (30 November 2020). "Michael Marra aims to replace sister Jenny as MSP". The Courier. Retrieved 8 May 2021.
  5. ↑ "Scotland Election 2021 > North East Scotland". BBC News. Retrieved 8 May 2021.
  6. ↑ Rodgers, Sienna. "Sarwar unveils new 'campaign cabinet' to lead Scottish Labour into election". LabourList. Retrieved 31 May 2021.
  7. ↑ Davidson, Peter (31 May 2021). "Scottish Labour announce shadow team as Anas Sarwar focuses on national recovery". Daily Record. Retrieved 31 May 2021.
  8. 1 2 3 "One for the watching: An interview with Michael Marra". Holyrood Website. 4 October 2021. Retrieved 7 July 2022.
  9. ↑ Media, P. A. (10 April 2023). "Sarwar declares Scottish Labour 'election ready' as he revamps top team". STV News. Retrieved 10 April 2023.
  10. ↑ "Labour call for dementia in former footballers to be 'industrial disease'". www.scotsman.com. Retrieved 7 July 2022.
  11. ↑ O'Neill, Emma. "'We're not Glaswegian about these things': Dundee United-supporting MSP Michael Marra lodges motion congratulating Dundee on promotion". The Courier. Retrieved 7 July 2022.
  12. ↑ "Getting to know you: Michael Marra". Holyrood Website. 11 March 2022. Retrieved 7 July 2022.


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