The Madras College Archive

     


Former Pupil Biographies

Jenny Gilruth MSP (1984 - current)

Jenny Gilruth is a Scottish politician and was elected in 2016 as the Scottish National Party (SNP) Member of Scottish Parliament (MSP) for the constituency of Mid Fife and Glenrothes.

She comes from Ceres, Fife and was educated in Madras College, St Andrews, leaving in 2002. She graduated from the University of Glasgow with a degree is sociology and politics. Before becoming an MSP, she was head of the Modern Studies department at The Royal High School in Edinburgh. She was the author of Modern Studies Course notes published by Leckie & Leckie.

 

In April 2016 she was nominated as the SNP’s candidate for Mid Fife and Glenrothes in the Scottish Parliament election on May 5, 2016. She won the seat with 15,555 votes, an unprecedented 54.9% of the vote, with a majority of 8,236; more than double the votes cast for second-place candidate Kay Morrison of Scottish Labour. She succeeded Tricia Marwick, who had been the Presiding Officer in the 4th Scottish Parliament (2011–16). In February 2020 she joined the Scottish Government as Minister for Europe, Migration and International Development