Hansard

It is with great sadness that I rise to move the motion in my name to honour my colleague and friend Christina McKelvie MSP and to express our thanks for the profound effect that she had on all our lives. I thank the other parties in the chamber for offering their debating time today to allow more of my party colleagues to make their tributes. It is an act of generosity that is deeply valued by us all.

Last week, I used the term “force of nature” to describe Christina’s life. Although it is a frequently used term, in Christina's case, it was entirely justified. She was born in Glasgow in the late 1960s, and was very proud of her Easterhouse roots. Growing up, she saw at first hand her fair share of injustice affecting her family and her community. She also saw the very best in people; in particular, she drew enormous inspiration from her mum, her dad and her grandparents. Over the years, Christina spoke a lot about how those experiences had shaped her beliefs and her values, and made her determined to address the injustice that she had witnessed as a child.

Christina’s dad was diagnosed with motor neurone disease when she was just nine years old. She saw not only how her mum cared for her dad with such love as his illness progressed, but how she worked nights to support her four children at a time when there was scandalously little support available from the state.

Christina associated a yellow rose with her late mother. You, Presiding Officer, my colleagues and many others are, as I am, wearing the yellow rose in their honour today. For the last week of Christina’s life, her family placed a yellow rose by her side.

I have been rereading an interview that Christina gave a few years ago, in which she recounted the day that her dad learned of his MND diagnosis. He came to her school, rounded up Christina and her siblings and told the protesting headteacher that, although his kids could come to school any day, they could not always spend a day with their dad. He then took them to the cinema to see “Star Wars”.

On what was a devastating day, I think that I understand the lesson that Christina’s dad wanted to impart to his young children. Judging by the way that Christina recounted that story all those years later, it is clear that she did, too. Every day counts, and we should make every day count. That was certainly how Christina went on to live her life.

Christina began her career in social work services and entered the trade union movement as a member of Unison. Elected politics beckoned. Entering this Parliament in 2007, Christina quickly made her mark as one of its most energetic and engaging members. She was a tireless champion and campaigner for the Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse constituency that she loved. Her efforts for her constituents who were struggling, particularly with energy bills, stand out for me as something that she did on behalf of some of the most vulnerable in her community.

In 2018, alongside her council colleague Julia Marrs, Christina worked with Scottish Power to establish a quick credit voucher scheme to support those in fuel poverty. The scheme allowed constituents attending food banks to access vital heating or power to cook their food, and having successfully trialled it in Hamilton, Scottish Power rolled it out in other areas. To date, the plan has helped around 20,000 families or individuals. Christina did not seek personal credit for that wonderful initiative, but it is clear that she was absolutely crucial to its creation.

Christina’s achievements in Parliament and in ministerial office are no less impressive. She was rightly proud of her work as convener of two committees: the European and External Relations Committee and the Equalities and Human Rights Committee.

As you mentioned, Presiding Officer, she sponsored the very first wear it pink day in the Scottish Parliament in support of Breast Cancer Now, long before her own diagnosis. Many an image-conscious parliamentary colleague—there are some—will recall that feeling of absolute trepidation as Christina, armed with all sorts of pink paraphernalia, would hunt down members to ensure that they all played their part in the campaign to raise awareness of breast cancer. I can confidently say that the only person on the planet who could persuade me to wear endless pink paraphernalia would be Christina McKelvie.

Christina campaigned for better support for people living with MND in honour of her late father. She was a key parliamentary supporter of the Time for Inclusive Education campaign, which led to inclusive education being embedded in every school in Scotland. The diligent persuasion that Christina undertook—quietly—was crucial in my decision to make it happen.

Christina fought to support those at risk of domestic abuse by championing Clare’s law, which allows the disclosure of previous violent and abusive behaviour. She worked to tackle the stigma surrounding menopause. She launched the world’s first strategy to tackle loneliness and social isolation. She campaigned to improve the lives of Gypsy Travellers in Scotland. She fought to protect girls by introducing legislation banning female genital mutilation.

Every cause to which Christina devoted herself was underpinned by the core values that she held throughout her life: equalities, fairness and social justice. She was a lifelong campaigner on nuclear disarmament, a proud feminist, a staunch socialist, a committed trade unionist, a nationalist and an internationalist, deeply devoted to Scotland realising her potential as an independent nation at the heart of Europe. In all, Christina did make every day count.

Even in recent years, when facing her cancer diagnosis, Christina was still thinking of others. She publicly encouraged women to check themselves and to attend their screening appointments. She was so passionate about trying to improve the lives of others through her work as Minister for Drugs and Alcohol Policy that she was determined not to step back from her duties until she absolutely had to last summer.

Christina was a much-loved member of the SNP family, but it was of course her own family that brought her the greatest happiness in her life. Everyone who knew Christina and her partner—our parliamentary colleague and my party’s deputy leader, Keith Brown—could see how much happiness they brought each other. She spoke always of her pride in her sons, Jack and Lewis, as they grew up, and, more recently, Christina had the unbridled joy of becoming a granny. I express my deepest sympathy and that of the Government to all of Christina’s family and friends at their very personal loss.

In Christina’s heart, there was room for all of us. She was one of the kindest and most generous people I have ever met in my life. My Government has lost an outstanding minister, my party has lost one of its finest parliamentarians, and many people—of all parties and of none—have lost a true friend. However, I know that we will all feel the glow of Christina’s warmth for years to come.

There are tough days in political leadership. If you were ever having one, Christina McKelvie would make you feel better, with warmth, hope, encouragement and always with laughter. I am so profoundly grateful that my life has been blessed by the friendship and the love of one of Parliament’s finest: Christina McKelvie.

I move,

That the Parliament expresses its deep sadness at the death of Christina McKelvie MSP; offers its profound sympathy and condolences to her family and friends, and recognises her significant and widely appreciated contribution to Scottish politics and public life through years of dedicated service to her constituents in Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse, as a champion for social justice, as a convener of two Scottish Parliament committees, and as a Scottish Government minister since 2018.

[Applause.]