Ronnie Cowan (politician)
This article's subject stood for re-election to the British House of Commons on 4 July. This article may be out of date during and after this period. |
Ronnie Cowan | |
|---|---|
| File:Official portrait of Ronnie Cowan crop 2.jpg Official portrait, 2017 | |
| Member of Parliament for Inverclyde | |
| In office 7 May 2015 – 30 May 2024 | |
| Preceded by | Iain McKenzie |
| Succeeded by | Constituency abolished |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Ronald Jack Cowan[1] 6 September 1959 Inverclyde, Scotland |
| Political party | Scottish National Party |
Ronald Jack Cowan (born 6 September 1959) is a Scottish politician and member of the Scottish National Party. He served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Inverclyde from 2015 until 2024.[2]
Early life and career
Cowan was born in Greenock to Jimmy Cowan, a former Greenock Morton and Scotland footballer, and his wife, May.[3][4] He was educated at Greenock Academy and, despite growing up in a Labour Party-supporting household, joined the Scottish National Party at the age of 16.[3] After leaving school, Cowan worked as a trainee computer operator at Playtex in Port Glasgow. Before standing for parliament, Cowan was the owner of an IT service company.[3] During the campaign for the 2014 Scottish independence referendum, he ran the official "Yes" campaign in Inverclyde.[3]
Political career
At the 2015 election, Cowan overturned the 5,838-vote majority of incumbent Labour MP Iain McKenzie and turned it into a 11,063 majority for the SNP.[3] He was re-elected in the snap election of 2017, but saw his majority significantly reduced to just 384 votes.[5] At the 2019 election, Cowan increased his majority to 7,512.[6] Cowan was the SNP spokesperson for Infrastructure & Manufacturing at Westminster.[7] He currently sits on the Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee and has previously sat on the Transport Committee and Procedure Committee. He serves as Chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Industrial Hemp and CBD Products, as well as Vice Chair of the APPGs for Gambling Related Harm, Medical Cannabis under Prescription, and Commercial Sexual Exploitation.[8] Cowan is a trustee of Intractable Epilepsy and Man On! Inverclyde.[7]
References
- ↑ "No. 27885". The Edinburgh Gazette. 19 June 2017. p. 1077.
- ↑ Cowan, Ronnie. "Inverclyde Parliamentary Constituency". BBC News. Retrieved 8 May 2015.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 Nutt, Kathleen (31 July 2015). "Meet your new Scottish MPs: #38 Ronnie Cowan, Inverclyde". The National. Retrieved 22 October 2015.
- ↑ Lochrie, Susan (6 October 2016). "MP shares memories of Morton legend dad with dementia sufferers". Greenock Telegraph. Retrieved 15 March 2021.
- ↑ "Ronnie Cowan re-elected as MP for Inverclyde at 2017 General Election". www.wemyssbay.net. Retrieved 15 March 2021.
- ↑ "Inverclyde parliamentary constituency - Election 2019". BBC News.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 "Ronnie Cowan MP". Ronnie Cowan MP. Retrieved 27 June 2024.
- ↑ "Ronnie Cowan". www.parallelparliament.co.uk. Retrieved 27 June 2024.
External links
- Profile at Parliament of the United Kingdom
- Contributions in Parliament at Hansard
- Voting record at Public Whip
- Record in Parliament at TheyWorkForYou
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- Profile on SNP website