1. Kirsten Frances Oswald was born on 21 December 1972 and is a Scottish National Party politician who has served two terms as the Member of the UK Parliament for East Renfrewshire, from 2015 to 2017 and subsequently from 2019 to 2024.
16 Facts About Kirsten Oswald
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Kirsten Oswald served as the deputy leader of the SNP parliamentary party from 2020 to 2022, as well as Chairman and Business Convener of the Scottish National Party from 2018 to 2023.
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Kirsten Oswald was a SNP Spokesperson for Women and Equalities.
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Kirsten Oswald grew up in Carnoustie where she attended Carnoustie High School.
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Kirsten Oswald studied history at the University of Glasgow graduating with an MA in 1995.
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On 30 January 2015, it was announced that Kirsten Oswald was selected as the SNP candidate for the East Renfrewshire constituency at the 2015 general election.
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Kirsten Oswald stated that her letters served to contrast voter values with negative campaign tactics from the Conservatives that focused on keeping the SNP out of power.
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Kirsten Oswald won the seat with a majority of 3,718 votes, unseating the Leader of the Scottish Labour Party, Jim Murphy, who had held the seat since Labour's victory 18 years earlier; Murphy resigned from the Scottish Labour leadership on 13 June 2015.
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At the 2017 general election, Kirsten Oswald lost her seat to Paul Masterton of the Conservatives, who won with a majority of 4,712 votes.
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In May 2021, Kirsten Oswald said that she fundamentally disagreed with her colleague Douglas Chapman on the assessment of support and financial information available to him in his role as party Treasurer.
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Kirsten Oswald has repeatedly spoken out about China's reported repression in the House of Commons.
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On 2 December 2022, the day after Ian Blackford announced he would be stepping down from his role as SNP Westminster leader, Kirsten Oswald announced that she would be stepping down as deputy Westminster leader as well.
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Kirsten Oswald later tweeted that the sign, which she described as "horrific", had "not been there when I joined the demo".
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Kirsten Oswald stood for re-election as MP for East Renfrewshire in the 2024 United Kingdom general election, but was defeated by the Labour party candidate.
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Kirsten Oswald married Davinder Bedi in 2002; they have two sons.
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Kirsten Oswald was head of Human Resources at South Lanarkshire College from May 2002 to May 2015.