Joan McAlpine

Joan McAlpine ( born January 28, 1962 in Gourock ) is a Scottish politician and member of the Scottish National Party ( SNP).

Life

McAlpine attended St Columba's Comprehensive School in Greenock, and then studied Scottish history and economic history at the University of Glasgow. Then she went to the City University in London and earned a diploma in journalism. Subsequently, she worked as a journalist and editor for various newspapers, including The Scotsman, The Herald and the Scottish edition of the Sunday Times. It also operates the award-winning blog Go Lassie Go and co-authored with the socialist Tommy Sheridan the book A Time to Rage. 1999 McAlpine has been honored as a Scottish Journalist of the Year and received the 2011 Oliver Brown Award. She is married to the musician Pat Kane and mother of two.

Political career

McAlpine was press adviser to the SNP and also wrote speeches for the First Minister Alex Salmond. In the 2011 parliamentary elections McAlpine ran for the first time for the SNP. However, this applied not to the direct mandate of a constituency but was placed on the Regional Evaluation of the SNP for choosing South Scotland region. As a result of the election result, she received one of the four list seats in this election the SNP region and moved for the first time in the Scottish Parliament.

Works

• T. Sheridan, J. McAlpine: A Time to Rage, Polygon, 1994 ISBN 978-0-748-66174-9.