Margaret Ferrier

Margaret Ferrier
Official portrait, 2021
Member of Parliament for Rutherglen and Hamilton West
In office 12 December 2019 – 1 August 2023
Preceded by	Ged Killen
Succeeded by	Michael Shanks
In office 7 May 2015 – 3 May 2017
Preceded by	Tom Greatrex
Succeeded by	Ged Killen
Personal details
Born	(1960-09-10) 10 September 1960 (age 63) Glasgow, Scotland
Political party	Independent (since 2020)
Other political affiliations	Scottish National Party (2011–2020)
Children	1
Education	Holyrood Secondary School

Margaret Ferrier (born 10 September 1960) is a Scottish politician who served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Rutherglen and Hamilton West from 2015 to 2017, and again from 2019 to 2023. She was first elected to the House of Commons at the 2015 general election as the Scottish National Party (SNP) candidate for the constituency. She lost her seat to Ged Killen of the Labour Party at the 2017 general election but regained it at the 2019 election.

In 2020, Ferrier was suspended by the SNP and had the party whip withdrawn for breaching COVID-19 lockdown rules. She continued to sit as an independent MP. Nicola Sturgeon, the SNP leader and first minister of Scotland, called on Ferrier to resign her parliamentary seat. She was arrested in January 2021 and charged with "culpable and reckless conduct",^[1] for which she pleaded guilty and was later sentenced to community service. In 2023, she was suspended from Parliament for 30 days and a recall petition was opened in Rutherglen and Hamilton West, which unseated her and triggered a by-election. This was the first successful recall petition in Scotland under the Recall of MPs Act 2015.