Angela Constance | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
.jpg) Official portrait, 2024 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Cabinet Secretary for Justice and Home Affairs | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Assumed office 29 March 2023 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| First Minister | Humza Yousaf John Swinney | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Preceded by | Keith Brown | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Chairman & Business Convener of theScottish National Party | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Assumed office 18 November 2023 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Leader | Humza Yousaf John Swinney | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Preceded by | Kirsten Oswald | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Succeeded by | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Personal details | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | (1970-07-15)15 July 1970 (age 55) Blackburn,West Lothian, Scotland | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Political party | Scottish National Party | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Spouse | Garry Knox (m. 2000) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Children | 1 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Alma mater | University of Glasgow University of Stirling | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Profession | Social worker | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Angela Constance (born 15 July 1970) is a Scottish politician serving asCabinet Secretary for Justice and Home Affairs since 2023. A member of theScottish National Party (SNP), she has been theMember of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) forAlmond Valley since2007.
Born inWest Lothian, Constance studied at theUniversity of Glasgow andUniversity of Stirling, before working as asocial worker in theLothians. She served as a councillor forWest Lothian Council, where she was a spokesperson for children's services and lifelong learning. In the2007 Scottish Parliament election, Constance was elected as a member of the Scottish Parliament for theLivingston constituency. As an SNP backbencher she served as a member of the Scottish Commission for Public Audit and justice committee.
Constance was appointed to theScottish Government in 2010 and served under First MinisterAlex Salmond as theminister for skills and lifelong learning and the following year she was reshuffled as theminister for children and young people. She later served as theyouth employment minister, before the portfolio was expanded andpromoted to cabinet-level in 2014 as theCabinet Secretary for Training, Youth and Women's Employment. Following the resignation ofNicola Sturgeon asdepute leader of the SNP when she announced hercandidacy for leader, Constance ran unsuccessfully in the2014 depute leadership contest, losing toStewart Hosie.
Sturgeon was successful in her bid for leader and was subsequently sworn in as first minister andappointed Constance aseducation secretary. In a cabinet reshuffle in 2016, she was appointed theequalities secretary and oversaw the introduction ofsocial 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 afterrecord high drug deaths in Scotland. On 29 March 2023, newly appointed First MinisterHumza Yousafre-appointed Constance to cabinet as thejustice secretary. In November 2023, she becameChairman and Business Convener of the Scottish National Party.
Angela Constance was born on 15 July 1970 inBlackburn,West Lothian,[1] the daughter of Simon Constance,[2] a coalminer, and Mary Baird Constance (née Colquhoun).[3][4] She was educated atWest Calder High School and laterBo’ness Academy.[5]
Constance attended theUniversity of Glasgow, where she gained an MA in Social Science. At Glasgow University, she served on theStudents' Representative Council, becoming president of the council in 1991.[6][5]Alastair Allan was her sabbatical vice president. She earned a Certificate of Welfare Studies fromWest Lothian College and anMSc in Social Work from theUniversity of Stirling.[5]
Before her election toHolyrood, Constance worked as asocial worker and was a Councillor forWest Lothian Council where she was the SNP spokesperson for children's services and lifelong learning. She also stood for the SNP in the2005 Livingston by-election, finishing second behindScottish Labour with 32.7% of the vote.[7]
During the 2014 SNP spring conference, First Minister and SNP leaderAlex Salmond promoted Constance to theScottish Cabinet in the position ofCabinet Secretary for Training, Youth and Women’s Employment. In the position, Constance was somewhat criticised by the oppositionScottish Labour Party in theScottish Parliament, claiming that since Constance, youth unemployment in Scotland had actually risen.[8] 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.[8]
Previously, Constance was a junior Scottish cabinet member.[9]
Following the election of Nicola Sturgeon as the First Minister, in November 2014, Constance was promoted as the Cabinet Secretary for Education within theScottish Cabinet.
After the2016 Scottish Parliament election, Nicola Sturgeon reshuffled her Cabinet. On 18 May, Constance was appointed asCabinet Secretary for Communities, Social Security and Equalities.
Following defeat in the2014 Scottish independence referendum,Scottish National Party leader andFirst Minister of ScotlandAlex Salmond announced his resignation as SNP leader and First Minister of Scotland.[10] In the aftermath of his resignation, a leadership bid was launched, and the thenDeputy First Minister of Scotland and SNP Depute leaderNicola Sturgeon was widely tipped to become Salmond's successor.[11][12]
On 30 September 2014, Constance officially launched her bid to become the Depute leader of the Scottish National Party,[13][14] competing againstStewart Hosie andKeith Brown.[15] It was later revealed by Constance that she was "not seeking the position of Deputy First Minister".[16]
The results of the election were announced at the SNP Autumn Conference on 14 November, with Constance losing the contest toStewart Hosie, after being eliminated in the first round.[17]
In December 2020 First MinisterNicola Sturgeon sackedJoe 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.[18] Sturgeon described the SNP's record on drugs as "indefensible"[19] and Constance was given a full time ministerial portfolio with responsibility for the crisis.[18] The appointment was not universally welcomed; journalist Alex Massie opined inThe 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."[20]
At theScottish 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.[21]
In November 2023, Constance was appointed as the SNP's Business Convener (party chair), succeedingKirsten Oswald.[22] 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 ofelection campaigns; working with the Chief Executive of Headquarters in setting priorities.
On 29 March 2023, newly elected first ministerHumza Yousaf appointed Constance asCabinet Secretary for Justice and Home Affairs, marking a return to theScottish cabinet for Constance following her departure from the cabinet during the third term ofNicola Sturgeon'spremiership in 2018.[23] Yousaf claimed he was "looking forward" to working with Constance on "delivering real, tangible improvements".[24]
Following her appointment, Yousaf announced that both he and Constance had "agreed an ambitious range of outcomes" in order to modernise theScottish 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 theJudiciary of Scotland. Additionally, Constance was tasked with reducing the court backlog created by thegovernment restrictions introduced to mitigate COVID-19, work with both the Scottish Police Authority andPolice Scotland to deliver a sustainable budget, conduct collaboration between Police Scotland and theScottish Fire and Rescue Service to "further drive out inefficiencies and achieve operational efficiencies", responsible for the overview and implementation of theHate 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.[24]
Constance was re–appointed Cabinet Secretary for Justice and Home Affairs by new first ministerJohn Swinney in May 2024.[25]
Constance has been married to Garry Knox since 2000.[26] After her election to Holyrood, Constance announced she was expecting her first child, Cyrus in October 2007.
| Scottish Parliament | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Member of the Scottish Parliament forLivingston 2007–2011 | Constituency abolished |
| New constituency | Member of the Scottish Parliament forAlmond Valley 2011–present | Incumbent |
| Political offices | ||
| Preceded by | Minister for Skills and Lifelong Learning 2010–2011 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Minister for Children and Young People 2011 | Succeeded by |
| New office | Minister for Youth Employment 2011–2014 | Succeeded by |
| New office | Cabinet Secretary for Training, Youth and Women’s Employment 2014 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Cabinet Secretary for Education and Lifelong Learning 2014–2016 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by Alex Neil | Cabinet Secretary for Communities, Social Security and Equalities 2016–2018 | Succeeded by |
| New office | Minister for Drugs Policy 2020–present | Incumbent |