| Ronnie Cowan | |
| Office: | Member of Parliament for Inverclyde |
| Party: | Scottish National Party |
| Term Start: | 7 May 2015 |
| Term End: | 30 May 2024 |
| Predecessor: | Iain McKenzie |
| Successor: | Constituency abolished |
| Birth Name: | Ronald Jack Cowan |
| Birth Date: | 6 September 1959 |
| Birth Place: | Inverclyde, Scotland |
Ronald Jack Cowan (born 6 September 1959) is a Scottish politician and member of the Scottish National Party. He served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Inverclyde from 2015 until 2024.[1]
Cowan was born in Greenock to Jimmy Cowan, a former Greenock Morton and Scotland footballer, and his wife, May.[2] [3] He was educated at Greenock Academy and, despite growing up in a Labour Party-supporting household, joined the Scottish National Party at the age of 16.[2] After leaving school, Cowan worked as a trainee computer operator at Playtex in Port Glasgow.
Before standing for parliament, Cowan was the owner of an IT service company.[2] During the campaign for the 2014 Scottish independence referendum, he ran the official "Yes" campaign in Inverclyde.[2]
At the 2015 election, Cowan overturned the 5,838-vote majority of incumbent Labour MP Iain McKenzie and turned it into a 11,063 majority for the SNP.[2]
He was re-elected in the snap election of 2017, but saw his majority significantly reduced to just 384 votes.[4] At the 2019 election, Cowan increased his majority to 7,512.[5]
In 2019, Cowan voted in favor of equal gay rights.[6] He is regarded as a critic of the gambling industry and has led a debate in Westminster highlighting harm caused by gambling advertising in sport.
Cowan was the SNP spokesperson for Infrastructure & Manufacturing at Westminster.[7] He currently sits on the Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee and has previously sat on the Transport Committee and Procedure Committee. He serves as Chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Industrial Hemp and CBD Products, as well as Vice Chair of the APPGs for Gambling Related Harm, Medical Cannabis under Prescription, and Commercial Sexual Exploitation.[8]
Cowan is a trustee of Intractable Epilepsy and Man On! Inverclyde.