Callum McCaig

Callum McCaig (born 6 January 1985) is a Scottish National Party (SNP) politician who was Member of Parliament for Aberdeen South from May 2015 until 2017. During his period in the Westminster parliament, he was the SNP's Energy and Climate Change spokesperson in the House of Commons. McCaig was elected as a councillor on Aberdeen City Council in 2007, and was the Leader of Aberdeen City Council from 2011 until 2012.

Callum McCaig
McCaig in 2015
SNP Spokesperson for Energy
In office
20 May 2015 – 3 May 2017
Preceded byPosition established
Succeeded byAlan Brown
Member of Parliament
for Aberdeen South
In office
8 May 2015 – 3 May 2017
Preceded byAnne Begg
Succeeded byRoss Thomson
Personal details
Born (1985-01-06) 6 January 1985
Aberdeen, Scotland, UK
Political partyScottish National Party
Alma materUniversity of Edinburgh

Early life

Born in Aberdeen, he was educated at Cults Academy, before studying at the University of Edinburgh, where he graduated with an MA (Hons) in Politics.[1][2] and then worked for the SNP MSP, Maureen Watt, as a Parliamentary Assistant.

Political career

McCaig was first elected to Aberdeen City Council in 2007, topping the polling in the Kincorth/Loirston ward with 1,883 first preferences and taking the first seat exceeding the quota.[3] Following the election, the Scottish Liberal Democrats formed a coalition with the SNP to run the Council. On 23 May 2011, McCaig took over as leader of the SNP group on the council.[4] After two by-election victories during 2011, the SNP became the largest party on the council, and in June 2011, their then Council leader stepped down to become Deputy Council leader.[5] As a result, Callum McCaig, who had been acting as Deputy Council leader, became leader of Aberdeen City Council on 28 June 2011. At the time, at 26, he was one of the youngest council leaders in the United Kingdom.[6]

He was re-elected as a councillor in 2012. After the elections he remained the group leader of an enlarged SNP delegation, but was no longer the council leader after the Scottish Labour Party group formed an administration with the support of the Conservatives and independents.[7]

McCaig was elected as the Member of Parliament for Aberdeen South in the 2015 general election, where he won the seat from Labour's Anne Begg with a 20% swing.[8] However, in the 2017 United Kingdom general election, he lost to Conservative candidate Ross Thomson.[9] He was subsequently appointed as a special adviser to SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon[10]

References
  1. Leask, David (1 June 2015). "Analysis: SNP bucks trend for privately educated MPs". The Herald. Retrieved 1 June 2015.
  2. Scott, Kirsty (13 June 2007). "Fresh-faced challenge". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 6 October 2017. Retrieved 7 July 2017.
  3. Law, Danny (2 May 2012). "Aberdeen City Council Elections 2012: Kincorth/Loirston". STV News. STV Group. Archived from the original on 4 February 2015. Retrieved 4 February 2015.
  4. "SNP councillor, 26, takes on Aberdeen leader role". BBC News. BBC. 23 May 2011. Archived from the original on 22 April 2019. Retrieved 23 December 2019.
  5. "Talks open over Aberdeen City Council leadership". BBC News. BBC. 27 June 2011. Archived from the original on 13 April 2019. Retrieved 23 December 2019.
  6. "Aberdeen council head Callum McCaig among UK's youngest". BBC News. BBC. 28 June 2011. Archived from the original on 22 April 2019. Retrieved 23 December 2019.
  7. "Labour-Conservative administration to run Aberdeen City Council". BBC News. BBC. 9 May 2012. Archived from the original on 3 August 2019. Retrieved 23 December 2019.
  8. Walsh, Stephen (8 May 2015). "Callum McCaig wins Aberdeen South seat for SNP". The Press and Journal. Aberdeen. Archived from the original on 18 May 2015. Retrieved 8 May 2015.
  9. "Election 2017:Aberdeen South". BBC News. 9 June 2017. Archived from the original on 27 June 2017. Retrieved 1 July 2017.
  10. "Nicola Sturgeon criticised after hiring failed SNP MP as special adviser". HeraldScotland. Archived from the original on 16 June 2018. Retrieved 23 December 2019.
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by
Anne Begg		 Member of Parliament
for Aberdeen South
2015–2017		 Succeeded by
Ross Thomson
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