Mhairi Black, a current 4th year undergraduate student within the School, has become Britain’s youngest Member of Parliament in modern times.

Mhairi successfully stood in the Paisley & Renfrewshire South constituency for the Scottish National Party and achieved a swing of 32.9% to secure the seat. She defeated the Rt. Hon Douglas Alexander, a former Labour Cabinet Minister and the shadow foreign secretary in the last Parliament.

A fellow undergraduate student, Kyle Thornton, also stood in the UK General Elections, standing for the Conservatives in the Glasgow South constituency. Kyle, a former Chair of the Scottish Youth Parliament, came third in the seat, achieving nearly 10% of the popular vote.

Commenting on the involvement of current School students in the UK General Election, the Head of School, Professor Christopher Carman, said:

"The University has a large and distinguished alumni who have gone onto serve in the House of Commons, the Scottish Parliament and European Parliament, and have held some of the very highest offices of state."

"I am delighted that our current students are already engaging in political life so actively and that one of our students, Mhairi Black, was successfully elected as the youngest Member of Parliament at least since the Great Reform Act of 1832."

"Over the last ten years dramatic changes have swept across the British political system, which last year’s Scottish independence referendum and the latest UK General Elections have brought to the fore. Students and staff within the School of Social & Political Sciences are at the cutting edge of these changes, researching the latest political dynamics and shaping the future of British politics."

First published: 11 May 2015

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