Kirsten Oswald

Background

Kirsten Oswald was born in Dundee and grew up in Carnoustie where she attended Carnoustie High School.

Education

She attended Glasgow University where she studied History.

Career

Her mother is Helen Oswald, Provost of Angus. Oswald was head of Human Resources at South Lanarkshire College for 12 years. She became active in the Scottish National Party during the 2014 Scottish independence referendum, serving on the committee of her local Women for Independence group where she was responsible for local food bank collections.

On 30 January 2015, it was announced that Oswald would stand as the Scottish National Party candidate for the Westminster constituency of East Renfrewshire in the 2015 May election.

During her campaign, she was criticised for sending letters to Conservative voters asking for their support to beat Labour. Oswald stated that her letters served to contrast voter values with negative campaign tactics from the Conservatives that focused on keeping the Scottish National Party out of power.

Achievements

• She won the vote with a majority of 3,718, taking the seat from Scottish Labour leader Jim Murphy.

Membership

56th United Kingdom Parliament]

She has been the Member of Parliament Member of Parliament for East Renfrewshire since May 2015.