Siobhian Brown | |
Honorific-Suffix: | MSP |
Office: | Minister for Victims and Community Safety |
Term Start: | 29 March 2023 |
Predecessor: | Elena Whitham |
Birth Place: | London, England[1] |
Birth Date: | 20 October 1972[2] [3] |
Party: | Scottish National Party |
Office1: | Convener of the COVID-19 Recovery Committee |
Termstart1: | 23 June 2021 |
Termend1: | 30 March 2023 |
Office2: | Member of the Scottish Parliament for Ayr |
Predecessor2: | John Scott |
Majority2: | 170 (0.4%) |
Termstart2: | 7 May 2021 |
Firstminister: | Humza Yousaf John Swinney |
Deputy1: | Murdo Fraser |
Siobhian Brown (born 20 October 1972) is a politician in Scotland, serving as Minister for Victims and Community Safety since 2023[4] and a Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for Ayr since 2021.[5] A member of the Scottish National Party (SNP), she was a councillor for the Ayr West ward of South Ayrshire Council.[6] [7]
Brown joined the Scottish National Party the day after the 2014 Scottish independence referendum. She was elected to South Ayrshire Council for the Ayr West ward in the 2017 Scottish local elections.
In November 2020, she was selected as the SNP's candidate for the Ayr constituency in the 2021 Scottish Parliament election.[8] In May 2021, she was elected as a member of the Scottish Parliament for Ayr with a majority of 170 votes, defeating the incumbent John Scott who had been the Scottish Conservatives' longest serving MSP.[9]
Brown has served as Convener of the COVID-19 Recovery Committee since June 2021.[10]
In 2023 Brown was appointed as Minister for Victims and Community Safety by Humza Yousaf.[11] [12]
Born in London to Scottish parents, Brown emigrated to Sydney, Australia when she was three years old.[1] After working in Spain, Italy, London and Scotland,[13] she moved to Ayrshire—where her parents are from—in 1999.[14] Brown has four children (including a step-daughter),[1] with her youngest being born when she was 44 years old. In 2016 she founded the South Ayrshire Babybank and remains a volunteer for the organisation.[15]