Stephen Gethins

Stephen Gethins
MP
Member of Parliament
for North East Fife
Assumed office
7 May 2015
Preceded by Ming Campbell
Majority 4,344 (9.59%)
Personal details
Born (1976-03-28) 28 March 1976
Perth, Scotland
Political party Scottish National Party
Children 1
Alma mater University of Dundee
University of Kent

Stephen Patrick Gethins (born 1976) is a Scottish National Party (SNP) politician who has served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for North East Fife since May 2015.

Background and education

Gethins was born and brought up in Perth, and was educated at Perth Academy. He graduated with a Bachelor of Laws degree from the University of Dundee in 1998, specialising in public international law. He also holds a Master of Research from the University of Kent. He worked in the NGO Sector specialising in peace-building, arms control and democracy in the Caucasus and the Balkans regions. He worked with NGO Links in Tbilisi focusing on the conflicts surrounding the breakaway entities in the South Caucasus such as South Ossetia, Abkhazia and Nagorno-Karabakh. He also worked for Saferworld on arms control, peace-building and democratisation in the former Soviet Union and Balkans.

Political career

Stephen was appointed a Special Adviser to Scotland’s First Minister, Alex Salmond, advising on European and International Affairs as well as Rural Affairs, Energy and Climate Change[1] and subsequently advised Nicola Sturgeon. He was a Political Advisor with the Committee of the Regions in the European Union, a position which saw him working with local authorities from across Europe. He also worked at Scotland Europa, helping Scottish organisations gain influence and funding in the EU.

He was on the list of SNP candidates for the six Scottish seats in the 2014 European Parliament election,[2] although only the first two SNP candidates were elected.

He was selected to contest the 2015 general election in the North East Fife constituency.[1] He polled 18,523 (40.9% of the vote) and received a majority of 4,344 over the Liberal Democrats, whose outgoing MP, Sir Menzies Campbell, had retired.[3][4]

Stephen Gethins is a member of the House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee (its first SNP member) and the SNP Spokesperson on Europe at Westminster.

Online Presence

Gethins regularly makes use of Twitter[5] and Facebook[6] in an official capacity. In July 2016 he also took part in an "Ask Me Anything" style thread on Reddit.

References

  1. 1 2 "SNP selects Gethins as candidate". Fife Today. 7 February 2015. Retrieved 11 May 2015.
  2. ↑ "Hudghton and Smith to stand for SNP at European Parliament elections". STV News. 29 July 2013. Retrieved 11 May 2015.
  3. ↑ Alexander, Michael (8 May 2015). "General Election 2015: SNP's 'positive ambition' rewarded with victory in North East Fife". The Courier. Retrieved 11 May 2015.
  4. ↑ "Fife North East". bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 8 May 2015.
  5. ↑ "Stephen Gethins MP (@StephenGethins) on Twitter". twitter.com. Retrieved 9 September 2016.
  6. ↑ "Stephen Gethins MP | Facebook". facebook.com. Retrieved 9 September 2016.
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by
Ming Campbell		 Member of Parliament
for North East Fife
2015–present 		Incumbent


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