Patricia Gibson
MP
Official portrait, 2020
SNP Attorney General Spokesperson in the House of Commons
Assumed office
4 September 2023
LeaderStephen Flynn
Preceded byAngela Crawley (2022)
SNP Spokesperson for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs in the House of Commons
In office
10 December 2022 – 4 September 2023
LeaderStephen Flynn
Preceded byDeidre Brock
Succeeded bySteven Bonnar
SNP Spokesperson for Housing, Communities and Local Government in the House of Commons
In office
1 February 2021 – 10 December 2022
LeaderIan Blackford
Preceded byDavid Linden
Succeeded byChris Stephens
SNP Spokesperson for Consumer Affairs in the House of Commons
In office
20 June 2017 – 10 December 2022
LeaderIan Blackford
Preceded byOffice established
Succeeded byOffice abolished
Member of Parliament
for North Ayrshire and Arran
Assumed office
7 May 2015
Preceded byKaty Clark
Majority8,521 (17.7%)
Personal details
Born (1968-05-12) 12 May 1968
Glasgow, Scotland
Political partyScottish National Party
SpouseKenneth Gibson
Alma materUniversity of Glasgow

Patricia Gibson (born 12 May 1968) is a Scottish National Party (SNP) politician serving as SNP Attorney General Spokesperson since September 2023.[1][2] She served as the SNP Shadow Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government since 2021 to 2022. She has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for North Ayrshire and Arran since winning the seat at the 2015 general election.[3]

Early life and career

Gibson was born and educated in Glasgow. She received a BA (Hons) and MA (Hons) in English and Politics from the University of Glasgow. She taught English for over twenty years.[4][5]

Political career

In 2007, Gibson was elected to the Glasgow City Council as a councilor for the Greater Pollok ward,[6] on which she served until 2012. While on the council, she was the SNP's spokesperson for education on the Glasgow city council.[4]

In the 2010 election, Gibson contested the North Ayrshire & Arran constituency, achieving a 2.3% swing from Labour to the SNP, however lost to the incumbent Katy Clark.[7]

In the 2015 election she was elected the MP for North Ayrshire & Arran, winning a majority of 13,573 votes.[8] Between July 2015 and May 2017 Gibson was a member of the Procedure Committee.[3]

Gibson was reelected as the MP for North Ayrshire & Arran in the 2017 election, however with a reduced majority of 3,633 votes over the Conservative candidate David Rocks.[9] In June 2017 she was appointed the SNP spokesperson for Consumer Affairs. Between September 2017 and 6 November 2019, Gibson was a member of the Backbench Business Committee.[3]

Gibson was again reelected as the MP for North Ayrshire & Arran in the 2019 election, with an increased majority of 8,521 votes.[10] Since March 2020, she has been a member of the Backbench Business Committee.[3]

Sexual misconduct allegations

In March 2021 an SNP member of staff at Westminster complained that Gibson had sexually harassed him in a Parliamentary bar. Gibson said the accusations were "malicious" and "without any foundation".[11] It was reported that Gibson threatened legal action against newspapers that had considered identifying her in coverage over the allegations.[12]

On 16 April 2022, The Times reported that the complaint of sexual harassment against Gibson had been "provisionally upheld" by Parliament's Independent Complaints and Grievance Scheme (ICGS).[13]

On 23 June 2022, the report on the complaint was published. The complaint of sexual harassment was initially upheld, but her appeal against the finding, on the grounds that the investigation had made some technical clerical errors, succeeded.[14] It found the complaint was not malicious.[15]

In June 2022, Gibson admitted she was too drunk to recall exactly how she acted around the SNP member of staff who accused her of sexual harassment.[16]

In August 2022, it was revealed that Gibson claimed in a submission that it was "discriminatory" to say that the impact of sexual harassment of a man by a woman is the same as by a male against a female.[17]

Personal life

Gibson lives in Kilbirnie, North Ayrshire which is within her parliamentary constituency.[4]

She is married to Kenneth Gibson, a Member of the Scottish Parliament.

References

  1. ↑ SNP, the (10 December 2022). "The real opposition: meet your new SNP Westminster Frontbench". Scottish National Party. Retrieved 11 December 2022.
  2. ↑ "SNP announces frontbench reshuffle at Westminster". BBC News. 4 September 2023. Retrieved 10 September 2023.
  3. 1 2 3 4 "Parliamentary career for Patricia Gibson - MPs and Lords - UK Parliament". members.parliament.uk. Retrieved 12 September 2020.
  4. 1 2 3 "Patricia Gibson". Scottish National Party. 4 September 2018. Retrieved 12 September 2020.
  5. ↑ "About". patriciagibson. Retrieved 12 September 2020.
  6. ↑ "Local and European Election Results 2007" (PDF). p. 43.
  7. ↑ "BBC News | Election 2010 | Constituency | Ayrshire North & Arran". news.bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 12 September 2020.
  8. ↑ "North Ayrshire and Arran (Constituency) 2015 results - General election results - UK Parliament". electionresults.parliament.uk. Retrieved 12 September 2020.
  9. ↑ "North Ayrshire and Arran (Constituency) 2017 results - General election results - UK Parliament". electionresults.parliament.uk. Retrieved 12 September 2020.
  10. ↑ "North Ayrshire and Arran (Constituency) 2019 results - General election results - UK Parliament". electionresults.parliament.uk. Retrieved 12 September 2020.
  11. ↑ "SNP MP Patricia Gibson faces sexual harassment claim". BBC News. 21 April 2021.
  12. ↑ Andrews, Kieran (22 April 2021). "Don't identify me, sex claim MP Patricia Gibson warned newspapers". The Times.
  13. ↑ Boothman, John (16 April 2022). "Sexual harassment complaints against SNP MPs are upheld". The Times. ISSN 0140-0460. Retrieved 1 May 2022.
  14. ↑ Gordon, Tom (23 June 2022). "Sexual harassment complaints against SNP MPs are upheld". The Times.
  15. ↑ Independent Expert Panel (23 July 2022). "The Conduct of Patricia Gibson" (PDF). Parliament.uk.
  16. ↑ Hutcheon, Paul (23 June 2022). "SNP staffer 'heartbroken' after MP Patricia Gibson cleared of misconduct charge". Daily Record. Retrieved 27 June 2022.
  17. ↑ Hutcheon, Paul (6 August 2022). "SNP MP Patricia Gibson under fire over sexual harassment comments during misconduct investigation". Daily Record. Retrieved 6 August 2022.
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