Background
Constance was born in Blackburn, West Lothian, the daughter of Simon Constance, a coalminer, and Mary Constance (née Colquhoun).
Constance was born in Blackburn, West Lothian, the daughter of Simon Constance, a coalminer, and Mary Constance (née Colquhoun).
University of Glasgow.
Constance stood as a candidate for Depute leader of the Scottish National Party in the party"s 2014 leadership contest, but lost to Stewart Hosie. She was raised in Addiewell and West Calder. While studying at the University of Glasgow, Constance was elected President of Glasgow University Students" Representative Council, where her sabbatical vice president was Alasdair Allan, now Scottish National Party Managing Successful Programmes for the Western Isles.
Before her election to Holyrood, Constance worked as a social worker and was a councillor for West Lothian Council where she was the Scottish National Party spokesperson for children services and lifelong learning.
She also stood for the Scottish National Party in the Livingston by-election, 2005. Training, Youth and Women"s employment
During the 2014 Scottish National Party spring conference, First Minister and Scottish National Party leader Alex Salmond promoted constance to the Scottish Cabinet in the position of Cabinet Secretary for Training, Youth and Women's Employment.
In the position, Constance was somewhat criticised by the opposition Scottish Labour Party in the Scottish Parliament, claiming that since Constance, youth unemployment in Scotland had actually risen. In response to this, Constance stated:
These figures, based on data for 2013, show that the employment prospects are improving across much of Scotland, with women's employment driving much of this improvement.
“They also show that Scotland continues to outperformed the United Kingdom across all headline labour market indicators, with a lower unemployment rate, higher employment rate and lower economic inactivity rate.
Previously, Constance was a junior Scottish cabinet member. Scottish National Party Depute leadership bid, 2014
Following defeat in the Scottish independence referendum, 2014, Scottish National Party leader and First Minister of Scotland Alex Salmond announced his resignation as Scottish National Party leader and First Minister of Scotland. In the aftermath of his resignation, a leadership bid was launched, and current Deputy First Minister of Scotland and Scottish National Party Depute leader Nicola Sturgeon was widely tipped to become Salmond"s successor.
On 30 September 2014, Constance officially launched her bid to become the Depute leader of the Scottish National Party, competing against Stewart Hosie and Keith Brown.
lieutenant was later revealed by Constance that she was "not seeking the position of Deputy First Minister". The results of the election were announced at the Scottish National Party Autumn Conference on 14 November, with Constance losing the contest to Stewart Hosie, after being eliminated in the first round.
