1. Michelle Rhonda Thomson is a Scottish businesswoman and Scottish National Party politician.
20 Facts About Michelle Thomson
1. 2.
Michelle Thomson has been the Member of the Scottish Parliament for Falkirk East since May 2021.
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Michelle Thomson served as the SNP Business, Innovation and Skills spokesperson in the House of Commons until her resignation of the party whip in September 2015.
4.
Michelle Thomson was a member of the Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Committee from 2015 to 2017.
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Michelle Thomson has been appointed to the advisory panel to the Northern Ireland Assembly's All-Party Group on Fair Banking and Finance.
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Michelle Thomson graduated from the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama in 1985.
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Michelle Thomson initially worked as a professional musician and then completed a post graduate diploma in Information technology.
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Michelle Thomson worked in Financial Services for Standard Life and the Royal Bank of Scotland for over 23 years in a variety of senior roles delivering IT and business change.
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Michelle Thomson established Momentous Change Ltd in 2017 with co-founder Professor Roger Mullin.
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In November 2018, Michelle Thomson was a co-author of a Momentous Change Ltd report into the prospects for establishing a Scottish Stock Exchange.
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Michelle Thomson joined the Scottish National Party at the age of sixteen in 1981.
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Michelle Thomson became prominent politically during the Scottish independence referendum campaign, with the "Yes" campaign.
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In September 2015, Michelle Thomson was accused by an article in The Sunday Times of having built her buy-to-let property portfolio by buying homes for below-market prices.
14.
In resigning the whip, Michelle Thomson lost her SNP membership and her role as the SNP's Business, Innovation and Skills spokesperson at Westminster.
15.
Michelle Thomson subsequently claimed she had been forced to resign the whip.
16.
Eight months after the story broke, Michelle Thomson issued a press statement noting that there had been no contact with her from Police Scotland.
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Michelle Thomson was sitting as an independent MP when the 2017 snap general election was called on 18 April 2017.
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Former First Minister Alex Salmond was quoted as saying how badly Michelle Thomson had been treated by the media and the SNP.
19.
Michelle Thomson endorsed Kate Forbes in the 2023 Scottish National Party leadership election, taking over running her campaign after Ivan McKee stepped back.
20.
On 29 January 2025, Michelle Thomson announced she would stand down at the 2026 Scottish Parliament election.