Jenni Minto
MSP
Affirming in 2021
Minister for Public Health and Women's Health
Assumed office
29 March 2023
First MinisterHumza Yousaf
Preceded byMaree Todd
Member of Parliament
for Argyll and Bute
Assumed office
7 May 2021
Preceded byMichael Russell
Majority8,963 (26.7%)
Personal details
BornNovember 1968 (age 55)[1] c
Elgin, Scotland[2]
Political partyScottish National Party

Jennifer Margot Minto (born 1968) is a Scottish National Party (SNP) politician who has been the Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for Argyll and Bute since 2021.[3] She has been serving as Minister for Public Health and Women's Health since March 2023.[4]

Career

Minto was educated at Madras College in St. Andrews,[5] and graduated with an MA in accountancy from the University of Aberdeen in 1989.[6] She qualified as a chartered accountant in 1992.[6]

Prior to being elected as an MSP, she worked at accountancy firm KPMG, and in accounts at BBC Scotland in Glasgow.[6] She later settled on the Isle of Islay, with management roles at the Islay Energy Trust and the Museum of Islay Life.[2]

Minto was elected as her party's candidate for the election by local SNP members in November 2020,[7] and entered parliament on 8 May 2021.[8]

From 17 June 2021 - 1 Feb 2023, she sat on the Rural Affairs Islands and Natural Environment Committee.[9]

As of 2022, she sits on the Constitution, Europe, External Affairs and Culture Committee, the Delegated Powers and Law Reform Committee, and the Rural Affairs and Islands Committee, as well as 15 cross-party groups including the Cross-Party Group in the Scottish Parliament on Creative Economy and Cross-Party Group in the Scottish Parliament on Tourism.[9]

In 2023, she was appointed to the Yousaf government as Minister for Public Health and Women's Health.[10]

Caledonian MacBrayne ferry delay

In the late 2010s, Scottish islanders began to complain that the ageing ferry fleet that connected them to the mainland had become increasingly unreliable.[11][12][13][14] During the winter of 2022 only one in three sailings to the island of Coll went ahead;[15] Hebridean shopkeepers kept receiving deliveries of rotten food;[16][17] while other islanders said they had missed doctors’ appointments, funerals and even the chance to say goodbye to dying loved ones because of cancelled sailings.[18][19][20]

In June 2022, Minto raised the issue in the Scottish Parliament; "I was impacted by a ferry breakdown on Monday, but thanks to the excellent CalMac staff, I and other ferry users were able to get on later ferries. Does the First Minister agree that the staff of CalMac work tirelessly to help all their customers when breakdowns happen?" Nicola Sturgeon agreed and said, "The CalMac staff do an excellent job, often in really difficult circumstances, so I want to recognise and acknowledge that".[21]

References

  1. ↑ Companies House, Companies House
  2. 1 2 Butcher, Ellis (24 November 2020). "SNP reveals Argyll and Bute candidate for Holyrood poll". Oban Times.
  3. ↑ "Argyll and Bute - Scottish Parliament constituency". BBC News. Retrieved 7 May 2021.
  4. ↑ "Full ministerial team confirmed". www.gov.scot. Retrieved 30 March 2023.
  5. ↑ Horne, Marc (24 May 2021). "MSPs four times as likely to have been educated at private school". The Times. Retrieved 3 June 2021.
  6. 1 2 3 "MSP for Argyll & Bute | Alumni Relations | The University of Aberdeen". www.abdn.ac.uk. Retrieved 18 March 2023.
  7. ↑ Richards, Xander (18 November 2020). "Jenni Minto: SNP announce winner of race for Michael Russell's Holyrood seat". The National.
  8. ↑ "Jenni Minto MSP, Argyll and Bute". TheyWorkForYou. Retrieved 18 March 2023.
  9. 1 2 "Jenni Minto". www.parliament.scot. Retrieved 18 March 2023.
  10. ↑ Paton, Craig (29 March 2023). "Yousaf says SNP is 'united' as he appoints supporters to his first Cabinet". Evening Standard. Retrieved 30 March 2023.
  11. ↑ "Scottish island ferry crossings cancelled as wind and rain batter West Coast". Archived from the original on 13 November 2019. Retrieved 19 April 2022.
  12. ↑ "Ferry service has racked up more than 4,500 cancelled sailings in the last three-and-half years". Archived from the original on 7 August 2019. Retrieved 19 April 2022.
  13. ↑ "Scots bride's wedding saved after ferry nightmare left ceremony on the rocks". 12 July 2019. Archived from the original on 15 June 2021. Retrieved 19 April 2022.
  14. ↑ "Ferry disruption hits Arran hotels | Scottish Licensed Trade News". 17 October 2019. Archived from the original on 7 May 2021. Retrieved 19 April 2022.
  15. ↑ "Islanders hire fishing boats and RIBs after CalMac cancellations | Wetherspoon chief goes on attack over VAT | Hospitality group launches recruitment drive". Archived from the original on 19 April 2022. Retrieved 19 April 2022.
  16. ↑ "'Ferries are our motorways': How these islanders feel cut off from Scotland". 8 April 2022. Archived from the original on 19 April 2022. Retrieved 19 April 2022.
  17. ↑ "How are ferry problems affecting people on Barra?". BBC News. 10 March 2022. Archived from the original on 19 April 2022. Retrieved 19 April 2022.
  18. ↑ "Missed funerals and helicopter transfers as ferries misery grows". Archived from the original on 19 April 2022. Retrieved 19 April 2022.
  19. ↑ "Counting up cost of ferry chaos". Archived from the original on 31 May 2022. Retrieved 19 April 2022.
  20. ↑ "'We feel stranded, marooned, abandoned': Arran islanders forced to leave because ferry service is so bad". Archived from the original on 13 April 2022. Retrieved 19 April 2022.
  21. ↑ "Meeting of the Parliament (Hybrid)". Parliament.scot. Retrieved 10 August 2022.


This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.