Mason has lived in the East End of Glasgow for the past 20 years, and was elected as the councillor for the Garrowhillward in Glasgow City Council at a by-election in 1998, and was re-elected in 1999 and 2003. He rose to become the Leader of the Opposition in Glasgow City Council, and led the SNP Council Group on the majority Labour-run Council between 1999 and 2008. He was the SNP's longest serving Glasgow councillor, and during his term, he led many protests against Labour's moves to weaken effective opposition by altering the council committee system. In his ward, he attended a wide variety of community groups, including Garrowhill and Swinton Community Councils, local school boards, tenants association, and Garrowhill Action Partnership. He was also on the management committee of Tenant Controlled Housing, which aims to give local tenants control of their housing, in place of Glasgow Housing Association.
On 30 June 2008, David Marshall, Labour MP for Glasgow East, resigned from the UK Parliament on the grounds of ill-health, thereby triggering a by-election. The decision by Labour to call a quick by-election was partly attributed to Labour's troubled finances and fears of an SNP campaign building up enough momentum. John Mason was selected as SNP candidate for Glasgow East on 3 July. During the by-election, the candidate stance on abortion was displayed on noticeboards in catholic churches; Mason was reported to be opposed to abortion occurring for social reasons. Mason won the by-election in a surprise victory, defeating the Labour candidate Margaret Curran, MSP for Glasgow Baillieston. He overturned a Labour majority of more than 13,500 to win the seat on a swing of more than 22%. It was Labour's third-safest seat in Scotland. Mason resigned his council seat immediately after his election as MP. Mason served as the SNP's Westminster spokesperson on Work and Pensions during his tenure as an MP. From 2009 until losing his seat in 2010, he also sat on the House of Commons' Select Committee on Administration. In an interview with the Guardian newspaper in April 2010, when questioned about his Protestant religious beliefs, and how that could conflict with the rights of others in the UK, Mason acknowledged the difficulty that this issue raised with him, informing the newspaper that he had been warned to leave this issue alone by his party,
In the 2011 Scottish Parliament election, he won the Glasgow Shettleston constituency with a majority of 586 votes. During the debate on same-sex marriage in Scotland, Mason was widely condemned for raising a motion stating that no person or organisation should be forced to be involved or to approve of same-sex marriage. In January 2015 he spoke in parliament in favour of young Earth creationism. He was re-elected in 2016.
Controversies
In February 2016, he publicly asked "How is national debt different from national deficit?" on Twitter, prompting The Spectator to say that he "appears to lack a basic understanding of finance". In January 2017, he tweeting "Girls don't always say yes first time" leading to criticism that his comments were sexist and trivialised "rape culture" by Scottish Labour leaderKezia Dugdale, the Scottish Conservatives and the President of NUS Scotland, Vonnie Sandlan. Mason defended his comment as innocent and reflected the fact that "asking a girl for a relationship or to dinner, they don't always say yes the first time." In February 2017, The First Minister of Scotland, Nicola Sturgeon apologised to the families of three Scottish IRA murder victims after Mason had claimed members of the terrorist organisation could be considered freedom fighters. Mason apologised for his comments after a meeting with the SNP's Scottish Parliament chief whip Bill Kidd. In May 2018, Mason was criticised for comparing the child sexual abuse by former Celtic F.C. employees to tax avoidance schemes. Mason defended his comments. In September 2019, he tabled a motion called "Both Lives Matter", which called for abortion to be restricted. In March 2020, he came under criticism for refusing to follow Scottish Government advice and keeping his parliamentary office open to the public during the COVID-19 pandemic. In May 2020, he came under fire for proposing a motion that the Scottish Parliament should "recognise the sacrifices" the armed forces make, the Parliament should "believe that some people use Armed Forces' Day to celebrate military might and power for the promotion of what considers to be an unhealthy British nationalism". Leading to criticism from opposition parties that it was "deeply disrespectful" to the armed forces. Mason defending his proposed motion stating: "I think my motion is clear in that I fully support the armed forces and am happy that we celebrate them."
Personal interests
Mason is a supporter of the Scottish football club Clyde F.C.. His other interests include involvement in Easterhouse Baptist Church, hill-walking, camping, and reading Scottish history.
