Christina McKelvie MSP
On Thursday, my colleague Christina McKelvie MSP, SNP Government Minister for Drugs and Alcohol Policy, sadly passed away.
She was 57 and had battled serious illness for many months.
First Minister John Swinney MSP spoke for Parliament when, following the news of Christina’s death, said:
“I am devastated to learn of the passing of Christina McKelvie – one of the kindest and most generous people I have ever met in my life.
“In all the years since I first met Christina, I have been so grateful to call her my friend and colleague and to benefit from her warmth and loyalty.
“Christina was fiercely proud of her Easterhouse roots, and she often spoke of how injustices her family experienced in her childhood had inspired her to join the trade union movement and enter elected politics.
“In her almost two decades as a Member of the Scottish Parliament, Christina put her values into action. Whether it was helping her constituents in Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse, serving as a highly respected committee convenor, or in the Ministerial posts she held, Christina was always a fierce champion for equality, social justice, for Scottish independence and for a better world.
“But for all her many political achievements, Christina was first and foremost deeply committed to her family. Everyone could see the joy that she and her partner Keith brought to each other’s lives, and she spoke so often over the years of her pride for her sons, and more recently her immense joy at becoming a granny.
“In recent years, when Christina returned to Parliament after treatment for breast cancer, she was determined to help those around her – using her platform to encourage women to check themselves and go to screening appointments.
“The Scottish National Party has lost one of its finest, and I have lost an outstanding Minister in my government.
“I know her loss will be felt right across the Parliament and among the countless constituents she supported over the years. Christina was such a big-hearted woman, with compassion and social justice at her core. Her political allies and opponents would agree - she truly was a force of nature.
“My thoughts and prayers are with Keith, her sons Jack and Lewis and her wider family and many friends.”
Christina was born on 4 March 1968. She was a long standing and active member of the SNP and became an MSP in 2007 latterly representing Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse from 2011.
She was Minister for Equalities from 2018 to 2023, when she became Minister for Culture, Europe and International Development, and Minister for Drugs and Alcohol Policy from February 2024.
Christina served as Convener or the European and External Relations Committee and a member of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe between 2016 and 2018, and then Convener of the Equalities and Human Rights Committee from September 2016 until she was appointed a Minister in 2018.
A book of condolence will remain open until after a motion of condolence is debated in the Parliament on a date yet to be decided.