Pamela Nash

Pamela Nash
Member of Parliament
for Airdrie and Shotts
In office
6 May 2010 – 30 March 2015
Preceded by John Reid
Succeeded by Neil Gray
Majority 12,408 (34.6%)
Personal details
Born (1984-06-24) 24 June 1984[1]
Airdrie, North Lanarkshire, Scotland
Nationality British
Political party Labour
Religion Roman Catholic

Pamela Nash (born 24 June 1984)[2] is a British Labour Party politician, who was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Airdrie and Shotts between 2010 and 2015.

During her time in office, she was the youngest MP.

Early life and career

Pamela Nash was born in Airdrie, North Lanarkshire, and educated locally at St Margaret's High School, Airdrie and Chapelhall. Nash lost her mother and stepfather when she was 17.[3][4]

She spent her first summer after high school volunteering at a school in Nyeri, Kenya, and followed this up with a placement in Uganda during her time at university.[5] She studied politics at the University of Glasgow, specialising in human rights and international development.[5]

Nash was the parliamentary officer for the Young Fabians and a member of the Scottish Youth Parliament, where she served on the executive committee and was the convenor of the External Affairs Committee. She interned for John Reid for one year as his constituency assistant and subsequently was employed for a period of three years as his parliamentary assistant.[5]

Political career

Nash was selected as the Labour Party candidate from an all-women shortlist which, at the time, proved to be a contentious issue.[6] The constituency chairman, Brian Brady resigned over the issue. Nevertheless, 80% of the constituency Labour Party took part in the selection process.[7] She was elected as the Member of Parliament for Airdrie and Shotts in 2010, replacing the retiring John Reid. She had a majority of 12,408 over the SNP and, at the age of 25,[1] was the youngest MP in the House of Commons, also called Baby of the House.[8] The then leader of the Labour MSPs in the Scottish Parliament, Iain Gray said she had a "big future in Scottish politics".[9]

Nash was the Parliamentary Private Secretary to the then Shadow Secretary of State for International Development, Jim Murphy. She was previously Parliamentary Private Secretary to Margaret Curran as Shadow Secretary of State for Scotland and to Vernon Coaker as Shadow Secretary of State for Northern Ireland. She served on the Finance Bill 2011 Public Bill Committee.[10] Nash was a member of the Science and Technology Select Committee,[11] the Scottish Affairs Select Committee and the Parliamentary Space Committee.

Following the death of the Labour MP David Cairns, she was elected as the Chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group for HIV and AIDS.[12] She was also the Treasurer of the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Multiple Sclerosis[13] and the Secretary of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Sustainable Housing.[14] Nash also founded and chaired the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Youth Unemployment.[15]

In September 2010, Nash decided to support David Miliband in the Labour Party leadership election.[16] On 2 December 2010, Nash took part in a BBC debate on age differences in politics and the wider society with the Conservative MP Bill Cash.[17] Nash pledged to oppose the repeal of the Hunting Act 2004 which banned hunting of wild mammals with hounds.[18]

Nash has campaigned on issues such as Blacklisting in employment,[19] breaches of the National Minimum Wage, closure of local police stations[20][21] and the Bedroom tax.[22][23]

Nash was narrowly reselected by the Airdrie and Shotts branch of the Labour Party to contest her seat in the next UK general election. A total of 55 members voted for her to be reselected out of 101 members who attended the October 2013 ballot, with 37 opposed.[24][25]

At the 2015 general election, Nash lost her seat to Neil Gray of the Scottish National Party who won by a majority of 8,779 votes.[26]

References

  1. 1 2 The Week in Westminster, BBC Radio 4, 26 June 2010
  2. ↑ (PDF) https://web.archive.org/web/20121005064249/http://www.parliament.uk/documents/commons/lib/research/briefings/snpc-04416.pdf. Archived from the original (PDF) on 5 October 2012. Retrieved 5 May 2011. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  3. ↑ "Airdrie's Pamela is UK's youngest MP – Evening Times | News | Editor's Picks". Evening Times. 7 May 2010. Retrieved 16 August 2011.
  4. ↑ "Pamela Nash, 17; I feel like telling teen pals to be grateful when their mums make demands...no one is waiting for me". Thefreelibrary.com. 28 August 2002. Retrieved 16 August 2011.
  5. 1 2 3 "Pamela Nash personal web site | Biog". Pamela Nash. Retrieved 22 August 2011.
  6. ↑ Gordon, Tom (29 March 2009). "Labour rebels may defy all-woman list to succeed Reid". Herald Scotland. Retrieved 16 August 2011.
  7. ↑ "Holyrood magazine". Holyrood.com. 16 May 2011. Retrieved 16 August 2011.
  8. ↑ Howarth, Angus (8 May 2010). "General Election 2010: Pamela Nash, 25, becomes the Baby of the House". The Scotsman. Edinburgh. Retrieved 10 May 2010.
  9. ↑ "General Election 2010: 'Big future' for Scotland's youngest MP – Edinburgh Evening News". Edinburghnews.scotsman.com. 7 May 2010. Retrieved 5 November 2013.
  10. ↑ "Public Bill Committee on the Finance Bill 2010 2011 | Membership". House of Commons. Retrieved 23 August 2011.
  11. ↑ "Science and Technology Committee | Membership". House of Commons. Retrieved 23 August 2011.
  12. ↑ "All Party Parliamentary Group on HIV and AIDS | Pamela Nash elected as chair". APPG on HIV and AID. Retrieved 23 August 2011.
  13. ↑ "Multiple Sclerosis Society Website – Welcome to the MS Society – APPG". Mssociety.org.uk. Retrieved 16 August 2011.
  14. ↑ "Membership". Appg-sustainablehousing.org.uk. Retrieved 16 August 2011.
  15. ↑ "House of Commons – Register Of All-Party Groups as at 24 October 2013: Youth Unemployment". Publications.parliament.uk. Retrieved 5 November 2013.
  16. ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20100916211748/http://www.davidmiliband.net/2010/09/13/were-campaigning-for-every-vote/. Archived from the original on 16 September 2010. Retrieved 14 February 2011. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  17. ↑ "The Age Debate: Tory Bill Cash vs Labour MP Pamela Nash". BBC News. 2 December 2010.
  18. ↑ "SAVE ME 2010 | How mps stand – Is your MP FOR or AGAINST a repeal of the Hunting Act?". Save-me.org.uk. Retrieved 16 August 2011.
  19. ↑ Mitchell, Robert (6 February 2013). "Shotts MP Pamela Nash fears constituents could be victims of construction industry blacklisting scandal". Daily Record. Retrieved 5 November 2013.
  20. ↑ "Scottish Government: Save Shotts Police Station". Change.org. Retrieved 5 November 2013.
  21. ↑ "Petition | Police Scotland: Keep Airdrie Police Station Open to the Public". Change.org. 7 October 2013. Retrieved 5 November 2013.
  22. ↑ Tonner, Judith. "MP calls for bedroom tax to be abandoned – Airdrie & Coatbridge Advertiser". Acadvertiser.co.uk. Retrieved 5 November 2013.
  23. ↑ Miller, Graham (6 March 2013). "Westminster diary: Airdrie and Shotts MP Pamela Nash slams bedroom tax". Daily Record. Retrieved 5 November 2013.
  24. ↑ http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/local-news/airdrie-shotts-mp-pamela-nash-2333688
  25. ↑ Whitaken, Andrew (29 September 2013). "How MP Pamela Nash escaped Labour selection battle". Scotsman. Retrieved 28 March 2015.
  26. ↑ http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/politics/constituencies/S14000003
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by
John Reid		 Member of Parliament for Airdrie and Shotts
2010–2015 		Succeeded by
Neil Gray
Preceded by
Chloe Smith		 Baby of the House
2010–2015 		Succeeded by
Mhairi Black
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