Margaret Mitchell (Scottish politician)
Janet Margaret Mitchell is a Scottish Conservative politician, and has been a Member of the Scottish Parliament for Central Scotland since 2003.Early life
Mitchell was born in Coatbridge and attended Coatbridge High School and Hamilton Teacher Training College. From 1974 to 1990, she worked as a primary school teacher in Airdrie and Bothwell, before studying at the School of Law of the University of Strathclyde, where she graduated with an LL.B. in 1992 and Diploma in Legal Practice in 1993. From 1993 to 1997, she was a non-executive director of Stonehouse and Hairmyres NHS Trust. She has been a Justice of the Peace in South Lanarkshire since 1990.Political career
From 1988 to 1996, she was a member and Conservative Group Leader of Hamilton District Council, and from 1999-2002 was a special advisor to Scottish Conservative Party Leader David McLetchie MSP and James Douglas-Hamilton MSP.
In the Scottish election on 3 May 2007, she failed in her bid to win the Hamilton South constituency, being defeated by Labour's Tom McCabe. However, she was elected as a regional member for the Central Scotland region. She was appointed deputy Scottish Conservative Spokeswoman on Justice, until 2007 when she became Convenor of the Parliament's Equal Opportunities Committee, a role which she held until 2011 after which Mitchell was appointed as the Scottish Conservative Local Government Spokesperson.
In September 2013, Margaret was re-appointed as the Scottish Conservative Justice Spokesperson and sits on the parliament’s Justice Committee and the Justice Sub-Committee on Policing. Margaret is also a member of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association Scotland Branch Executive Committee.
In June 2016, Mitchell voted for the United Kingdom to leave the European Union.
