Roseanna Cunningham (born 27 July 1951) is a retiredScottish National Party (SNP) politician who served asCabinet Secretary for Environment, Climate Change and Land Reform from 2016 to 2021. She was previouslyCabinet Secretary for Fair Work, Skills and Training from 2014 until 2016.
She served as theMember of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) forPerth from1999 to 2011, and then forPerthshire South and Kinross-shire from2011 to 2021. She was formerlyMember of Parliament (MP) forPerth and Kinross from1995 to1997, then forPerth from 1997 to2001.
Cunningham was born on 27 July 1951 inGlasgow to Catherine and Hugh Cunningham,[1] and spent her early years living inEast Lothian andEdinburgh. In 1960, she emigrated with her family toPerth inAustralia, and completed her schooling atJohn Curtin High School inFremantle. As a teenager she became interested in politics, and in 1969 joined the SNP as an overseas member. In 1975 Cunningham graduated from theUniversity of Western Australia with aBA Hons in politics.[1] She returned to Scotland in 1976.
She worked as a research assistant at SNP headquarters from 1977 to 1979,[1] and was a member of the left-wing79 Group inside the SNP during the early 1980s, but avoided expulsion as she was not a member of its steering committee (future SNP leaderAlex Salmond by contrast who served on the 79 Group committee was expelled, whileMargo MacDonald resigned from the party in protest before she could be expelled).
Cunningham returned to university in 1980, graduating from theUniversity of Edinburgh in 1982 with aBachelor of Laws degree, followed in 1983 by aDiploma in Legal Practice from theUniversity of Aberdeen.[1] She worked as asolicitor for Dumbarton District Council and Glasgow District Council. After a brief period in private practice, she was admitted to theFaculty of Advocates in 1990.[1]
At the1992 general election Cunningham stood in thePerth and Kinross constituency, losing by around 2,000 votes.[2]
In 1995 she gained the seat in thePerth and Kinross by-election, succeeding the recently deceasedConservative MP, SirNicholas Fairbairn.[3] She had initially been omitted from the SNP's candidate shortlist over her brief relationship in the 1970s with Donald Bain, the then husband of SNP MPMargaret Ewing, on the grounds that the issue could prove an embarrassment to the party. Cunningham said the affair had begun after Bain and Ewing had separated.[4] She was put back in contention following an intervention by the then party leader Alex Salmond, and after Ewing made clear she had no objection to Cunningham's candidature. In the1997 election, she stood for thePerth constituency and was elected.[5]
In1999 she became the MSP forPerth. In 2000,she was elected the SNP Senior Vice-Convener (depute leader). Also in that year, she helped establish theScottish Left Review publication. She stood down as an MP in 2001, to concentrate on the Scottish Parliament.
John Swinney announced his resignation as leader of the SNP on 22 June 2004, and on the same day, Cunningham announced that she would be a candidate in the subsequentelection for the party leadership. In the early stages of the campaign, she appeared to be the clear front-runner, but former leader Alex Salmond entered the race just before nominations closed and Cunningham finished a distant second.[6]
In December 2006, she led an unsuccessful attempt to prevent same-sex couples from gaining the right to adopt children,[7] despite having previously been namedScotsGay Parliamentarian of the Year in 1998.[8] When legislation to introducesame-sex marriage in Scotland was passed by the Scottish Parliament in February 2014, she voted against the bill.[9]
In the first reshuffle of the SNP Government in February 2009, Cunningham was appointed asMinister for the Environment.[10] In December 2010, she also took on portfolio responsibility for climate change, becoming Minister for the Environment and Climate Change. After the 2011 election, which saw an SNP landslide, she was appointedMinister for Community Safety and Legal Affairs with special responsibility for tacklingsectarianism.
InNicola Sturgeon's first reshuffle in November 2014, she was promoted to Cabinet asCabinet Secretary for Fair Work, Skills and Training.
She announced on 21 August 2020 that she would step down as an MSP in the2021 Scottish election.[11]
| Parliament of the United Kingdom | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Member of Parliament forPerth and Kinross 1995–1997 | Constituency abolished |
| New constituency | Member of Parliament forPerth 1997–2001 | Succeeded by |
| Scottish Parliament | ||
| New constituency | Member of the Scottish Parliament forPerth 1999–2011 | Constituency abolished |
| New constituency | Member of the Scottish Parliament for Perthshire South and Kinross-shire 2011–2021 | Succeeded by |
| Political offices | ||
| Preceded by | Minister for Environment and Climate Change 2009–2011 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded byasMinister for Community Safety | Minister for Community Safety and Legal Affairs 2011–2014 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded byasCabinet Secretary for Training, Youth and Women's Employment | Cabinet Secretary for Fair Work, Skills and Training 2014–2016 | Office abolished |
| Preceded by | Cabinet Secretary for Environment, Climate Change and Land Reform 2016–present | Office abolished |
| Party political offices | ||
| Preceded by | Depute Leader of theScottish National Party 2000–2004 | Succeeded by |
