Kenneth Gibson

Kenneth James Gibson (born 8 September 1961) is a Scottish politician serving as the Convenor of the Finance and Public Administration Committee since 2021. A member Scottish National Party (SNP), he has been the Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for Cunninghame North since 2007, having previously represented the Glasgow electoral region from 1999 to 2003. Career Born in Paisley, Gibson served as an SNP councillor in Glasgow for Mosspark from 1992 to 1999, becoming the first ever party representative in the city to serve successive terms. Following the defection of three Labour councillors and a by-election win, Gibson (also known as 'Kenny') became Leader of the Opposition on Glasgow City Council from January 1998 until being replaced on the council by his mother Iris in the election of 1999. Gibson was first elected to the Scottish Parliament at the 1999 Scottish Parliament election as a list member for Glasgow electoral region. Despite these efforts, he failed to win re-election in 2003. In 2004, Gibson was third on the SNP's list for election to the European Parliament. In 2007, he was chosen to contest the constituency of Cunninghame North, winning that seat from Labour by the smallest margin in Scotland of 48 votes. In the subsequent 2011 SNP landslide election, Gibson secured a comfortable majority of 6,117 over Allan Wilson, the same Labour candidate, and former Scottish Minister, he had defeated by so slight a margin in 2007.