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Alison Thewliss

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Alison Thewliss
MSP
Official portrait, 2026
Minister for Community Care
Incumbent
Assumed office
21 May 2026
First MinisterJohn Swinney
Preceded byJenni Minto
SNP Home Affairs Spokesperson
in the House of Commons
In office
10 December 2022 – 5 July 2024
LeaderStephen Flynn
Preceded byStuart McDonald
Succeeded byPosition abolished
SNP Treasury Spokesperson
in the House of Commons
In office
7 January 2020 – 10 December 2022
LeaderIan Blackford
Preceded byKirsty Blackman
Succeeded byStewart Hosie
Member of the Scottish Parliament
for Glasgow Central
Incumbent
Assumed office
7 May 2026
Preceded byConstituency established
Majority9,991 (38.0%)
Member of Parliament
for Glasgow Central
In office
7 May 2015 – 30 May 2024
Preceded byAnas Sarwar
Succeeded byConstituency abolished
Personal details
Born (1982-09-13) 13 September 1982 (age 43)
Lanark, Scotland
PartyScottish National Party
SpouseJoe Wright
Children2
University of Aberdeen
Websitewww.alisonthewliss.scot

Alison Emily Thewliss (born 13 September 1982) is a Scottish politician who has served as a Member of the Scottish Parliament for Glasgow Central since 2026. A member of the Scottish National Party (SNP), she was a Member of Parliament in the British House of Commons for the equivalent seat from 2015 to 2024.

Born in Lanark, Thewliss studied at the University of Aberdeen, and from an early age became involved in politics, joining the SNP at seventeen. Having served as a researcher for Bruce McFee MSP, she was elected to local government in 2007, serving as a Glasgow City councillor for the Calton ward. Thewliss was elected to Westminster in the 2015 general election, where she represented the Glasgow Central constituency.

Thewliss served on the SNP's Westminster front opposition bench as the Treasury spokesperson from 2020 to 2022. She contested in 2022 leadership election for leader of the SNP in Westminster, but was defeated by Stephen Flynn. Flynn appointed Thewliss as home affairs spokesperson on his frontbench. In the 2024 general election, Labour won a landslide and Thewliss was one of many SNP MPs to lose her seat to Labour. In the 2026 Scottish Parliament election, she was elected to represent the Glasgow Central constituency.

Early life and career

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Alison Emily Thewliss was born in Lanark, South Lanarkshire, on 13 September 1982.[1]

Thewliss attended Carluke High School and studied Politics and International Relations at the University of Aberdeen.[2]

Thewliss was inspired to join the SNP at the age of seventeen following the 1997 Scottish devolution referendum. She was too young to vote in the referendum, but carried out an exit poll at a polling station as part of a Modern Studies project, which brought her into contact with representatives from Scottish political parties.[2] Whilst still a student, she became involved in canvassing for the SNP at the 2003 Scottish Parliament election. A few months later, she was employed as a researcher for Bruce McFee MSP.[2] By the time McFee had decided not to seek re-election in 2007, the party was looking for local election candidates. Thewliss agreed to stand for the Calton ward at the 2007 Glasgow City Council election which used a new multi-member ward system, and was one of 19 SNP candidates who gained seats previously held by Scottish Labour councillors under the previous single-member system.[2] She was re-elected in 2012, but stood down as a councillor after being elected as MP for Glasgow Central at the 2015 general election.[3][4][5]

Parliamentary career

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British House of Commons; 2015 to 2024

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Tax credits and the "rape clause"

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Official parliamentary portrait, 2017

Thewliss has campaigned on the issue of the government's revised tax credit policy restricting new claimants to two children from 2017, a policy which was introduced by then chancellor George Osborne in his July 2015 budget. She said shortly afterwards that the budget measure was "incredibly distasteful" as women who had been raped would need to justify their case when the child was their third.[6] A requirement from April 2017 is for an explanation, tagged a "rape clause", of a woman's "exceptional circumstances" in such cases.[7] Thewliss, who had intervened nine times in the Commons on the issue by January 2016, was among those who launched a poster campaign in Glasgow that month for the government to abandon the proposal.[8]

Thewliss sitting in the House of Commons, 2020

How women could claim was still unclear the month before the measure was introduced. Via parliamentary questions, Thewliss had found that the training of a "professional third party" was still not arranged. It had been recommended in a 2016 Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) consultation document.[7] Her request for an emergency parliamentary debate on the issue was rejected in March 2017.[9] As the policy came into force, she wrote of the women affected and government officials: "Will they accept her word, or will only a criminal conviction do? We don't yet know".[10]

In October 2020, Thewliss was elected to the SNP National Executive Committee.[11]

Leadership and selection contests

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Thewliss, Patrick Grady, Malawi's High Commissioner Thomas Bisika, Christine Jardine and Lord Jack McConnell at a Scotland Malawi Partnership event in 2024

In December 2022, Thewliss came second to Stephen Flynn in the contest to succeed Ian Blackford in leading the SNP group in Westminster, after which she became the SNP shadow Home Affairs spokesperson.[12][13][14][15]

Thewliss's constituency had no direct successor under the boundary review ahead of the 2024 general election, with its contents being distributed to five neighbouring constituencies.[16]

The SNP has no automatic presumption sitting candidates will be reselected. On 25 August 2023, Patrick Grady, then SNP MP for Glasgow North was not approved to stand in the 2024 general election.[17] In October 2023, Thewliss was one of five sitting SNP MPs involved in selection battles, running in both Glasgow North and Glasgow East. The latter, which contains the ward she had represented as a councillor, was against her SNP frontbench colleague David Linden, who had formerly worked for her.[18] Thewliss was eventually selected as SNP candidate for the Glasgow North seat, however she was defeated at 2024 general election by Labour's Martin Rhodes.[19]

Member of the Scottish Parliament; 2026 to present

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Thewliss was elected in Glasgow Central in the 2026 Scottish Parliament election.[20][21]

Personal life

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Thewliss is married to Joe Wright, a software developer.[22] The couple had a son in 2010[23] and a daughter in 2013.[24]

References

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  1. ^ Birth certificate of Alison Emily Thewliss, 13 September 1982, Lanark District 4697/68 5690. National Records of Scotland.
  2. ^ a b c d Garavelli, Dani (10 December 2016). "Alison Thewliss on juggling politics, children and campaigning". The Scotsman. Retrieved 10 May 2017.
  3. ^ Nutt, Kathleens (16 July 2015). "Meet your new Scottish MPs: #35 Alison Thewliss, Glasgow Central". The National. Retrieved 7 December 2016.
  4. ^ "List of Members returned to Parliament at the General Election 2015 Scotland". The Edinburgh Gazette. 15 May 2015. Retrieved 3 June 2015.
  5. ^ "Glasgow Central parliamentary constituency – Election 2015". BBC News. Retrieved 10 September 2016.
  6. ^ Brooks, Libby; Mason, Rowena (9 July 2017). "MP challenges child tax credit plan that could require women to prove rape". The Guardian. Retrieved 14 May 2017.
  7. ^ a b Walker, Peter (3 March 2017). "Rape exemption clause for tax credits 'in chaos', says MP Alison Thewliss". The Guardian. Retrieved 14 May 2017.
  8. ^ Brooks, Libby (17 January 2016). "SNP MP launches campaign against tax credit 'rape clause'". The Guardian. Retrieved 14 May 2017.
  9. ^ "Alison Thewliss MP's tax credit 'rape clause' call rejected". BBC News. 20 March 2017. Retrieved 14 May 2017.
  10. ^ Thewliss, Alison (6 April 2017). "No woman should have to prove they were raped to claim child benefit. What is this madness?". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 14 May 2017.
  11. ^ Learmouth, Andrew (30 November 2020). "SNP NEC results revealed: Michael Russell becomes party president". Retrieved 16 October 2021.
  12. ^ "Stephen Flynn elected as new SNP leader at Westminster". BBC News. 6 December 2022. Retrieved 3 October 2023.
  13. ^ Wilson, Ninian (3 December 2022). "Alison Thewliss has announced she will run to be the SNP's Westminster leader". Yahoo! News.
  14. ^ "Stephen Flynn elected as new SNP leader at Westminster". BBC News. 6 December 2022. Retrieved 6 December 2022.
  15. ^ SNP, the (10 December 2022). "The real opposition: meet your new SNP Westminster Frontbench". Scottish National Party. Archived from the original on 10 April 2024. Retrieved 11 December 2022.
  16. ^ Boundary Commission for Scotland (28 June 2023). "2023 Review of UK Parliament Constituency Boundaries in Scotland" (PDF). Retrieved 3 October 2023.
  17. ^ Boothman, John (7 September 2023). "Disgraced SNP MP Patrick Grady not selected for next election". The Times. ISSN 0140-0460. Retrieved 7 September 2023.
  18. ^ "SNP MPs face challengers in selection battles". BBC News. 2 October 2023. Retrieved 3 October 2023.
  19. ^ "General Election Results for Glasgow North 2024". BBC News. 5 July 2024.
  20. ^ "Former MPs and current SNP Westminster leader standing for Holyrood next May". Glasgow Times. 6 May 2025. Retrieved 7 June 2025.
  21. ^ Crowther, Zoe (6 July 2025). "One Year After The General Election: Where Are Former MPs Now?". PoliticsHome. Retrieved 29 April 2026.
  22. ^ "Big arrival looms for councillor". Glasgow Times. 16 October 2013. Retrieved 3 December 2022.
  23. ^ "Baby joy for councillor Alison, 27". Evening Times. Newsquest. 30 March 2012. Archived from the original on 18 May 2015. Retrieved 10 May 2015.
  24. ^ Franklin, Grace (19 September 2014). "Great new interest in politics as a result of the referendum". Local News Glasgow. Archived from the original on 9 January 2015. Retrieved 29 May 2015.
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