Cathie Craigie

Who is Cathie Craigie?

Cathie Craigie was a Scottish Labour politician and was Member of the Scottish Parliament for Cumbernauld and Kilsyth constituency from 1999 to 2011. She was re-elected in 2003 with a majority of 520 votes, and increased this to 2,079 in 2007. However she lost the seat in 2011 to Jamie Hepburn of the SNP.

Educated at Kilsyth Academy, she was council leader of Cumbernauld and Kilsyth from 1994 to 1996. She was a member of the Justice Committee and the Petitions Committee in the Scottish Parliament. She was the first woman to successfully steer a Member's Bill, The Mortgage Rights Act, which provides greater protection for those facing repossession, through the parliament. Craigie was also the convenor of the Cross-Party group on Deafness, and was in the process of steering a British Sign Language Bill through the Scottish Parliament before losing her seat. She is particularly interested in issues about health, housing and social justice.

Craigie was re-elected to represent the Cumbernauld and Kilsyth constituency at the 2007 Scottish Parliament election with an increased majority of 2,079, but at the 2011 election, she lost her seat to Jamie Hepburn of the SNP by 3,459 votes.