1. Roseanna Cunningham was born on 27 July 1951 and is a retired Scottish National Party politician who served as Cabinet Secretary for Environment, Climate Change and Land Reform from 2016 to 2021.
15 Facts About Roseanna Cunningham
1. 2.
Roseanna Cunningham was previously Cabinet Secretary for Fair Work, Skills and Training from 2014 until 2016.
3.
Roseanna Cunningham served as the Member of the Scottish Parliament for Perth from 1999 to 2011, and then for Perthshire South and Kinross-shire from 2011 to 2021.
4.
Roseanna Cunningham was formerly Member of Parliament for Perth and Kinross from 1995 to 1997, then for Perth from 1997 to 2001.
5.
In 1975 Roseanna Cunningham graduated from the University of Western Australia with a BA Hons in politics.
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Roseanna Cunningham worked as a research assistant at SNP headquarters from 1977 to 1979, and was a member of the left-wing 79 Group inside the SNP during the early 1980s, but avoided expulsion as she was not a member of its steering committee.
7.
Roseanna Cunningham returned to university in 1980, graduating from the University of Edinburgh in 1982 with a Bachelor of Laws degree, followed in 1983 by a Diploma in Legal Practice from the University of Aberdeen.
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Roseanna Cunningham worked as a solicitor for Dumbarton District Council and Glasgow District Council.
9.
At the 1992 general election Roseanna Cunningham stood in the Perth and Kinross constituency, losing by around 2,000 votes.
10.
Roseanna Cunningham initially been omitted from the SNP's candidate shortlist over her brief relationship in the 1970s with Donald Bain, the then husband of SNP MP Margaret Ewing, on the grounds that the issue could prove an embarrassment to the party.
11.
Roseanna Cunningham said the affair had begun after Bain and Ewing had separated.
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Roseanna Cunningham was put back in contention following an intervention by the then party leader Alex Salmond, and after Ewing made clear she had no objection to Cunningham's candidature.
13.
Roseanna Cunningham stood down as an MP in 2001, to concentrate on the Scottish Parliament.
14.
John Swinney announced his resignation as leader of the SNP on 22 June 2004, and on the same day, Roseanna Cunningham announced that she would be a candidate in the subsequent election for the party leadership.
15.
Roseanna Cunningham announced on 21 August 2020 that she would step down as an MSP in the 2021 Scottish election.