Background
Mitchell was born in Coatbridge and attended Coatbridge High School and Hamilton Teacher Training College.
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 Bachelor of Laws in 1992 and Diploma in Legal Practice in 1993.
From 1993 to 1997, she was a non-executive director of Stonehouse and Hairmyres National Health Service Trust. She has been a Justice of the Peace (magistrate) in South Lanarkshire since 1990. 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 Managing Successful Programmes and James Douglas-Hamilton Managing Successful Programmes. 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 Margaret 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. She is currently convener of;
Cross-Party Group in the Scottish Parliament on Dyslexia
Cross-Party Group in the Scottish Parliament on Adult Survivors of Childhood Sexual Abuse
Cross-Party Group in the Scottish Parliament on Caribbean
Cross-Party Group in the Scottish Parliament on Psoriasis and Psoriatic Arthritis
Cross-Party Group in the Scottish Parliament on Recreational Boating and Marine Tourism
Cross-Party Group in the Scottish Parliament on Scotch Whisky
Cross-Party Group in the Scottish Parliament on Tibet.
Margaret is involved with many different cross-party groups (Consumer Packaged Goods ) in the parliament.
Margaret is also a member of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (Certified Public Accountants) Scotland Branch Executive Committee. Margaret is Company-Convener of the Cross-Party Group in the Scottish Parliament on Taiwan and a member of the following Cross-Party Groups.
