Meeting of the Parliament 02 April 2025
On behalf of my colleagues and my party, I commend the First Minister for his warm, heartfelt and personal tribute to our late parliamentary colleague Christina McKelvie. In previous remarks, Mr Swinney said that Christina’s
“political allies and opponents would agree—she truly was a force of nature”,
a point that he repeated today. Well, we do agree, and we are grateful for the chance to pay our respects to the force of nature that was Christina McKelvie.
On Christina’s website is the following quote:
“My aim is to be an accessible MSP, available to respond to my constituents’ needs whenever and wherever possible”,
and that is exactly what she did. She will be missed by her constituents in Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse, and she will be missed by those who worked with her as she performed her duties as an MSP and as a minister. She will be missed by politicians from all parties, including my own.
In his tribute to his partner, Keith Brown said that she was
“proud of her working class roots in Easterhouse and often said she could not have dreamt of becoming a government minister”.
Her success is a fitting legacy and is confirmation that, no matter where you come from, you can aim high and you can succeed.
As a member of this Parliament, Christina made great use of her opportunity. As the First Minister said, she hosted Parliament’s first wear it pink event in support of Breast Cancer Now, long before she was diagnosed with the disease that took her life. One of her greatest achievements was promoting Clare’s law, which allows the police to disclose whether someone’s current or ex-partner has a history of violence or abuse. That has made a huge difference to so many lives.
I conclude by telling Christina’s partner, Keith Brown, her beloved family, who have joined us today, and her colleagues that they are in our thoughts. We cannot ease their pain, but we hope that the esteem in which Christina was held brings them some small comfort at this difficult time. [Applause.]
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