Quick Facts
Biography
Patricia Josephine Ferguson (born 24 September 1958, Glasgow) was a Labour Member of the Scottish Parliament for Glasgow Maryhill and Springburn, a seat which she held since 2011, having previously (1999-2011) been an MSP for the then Glasgow Maryhill constituency. She lost her seat to the SNP's Bob Doris at the 2016 Scottish Parliament election.
Background
Ferguson was educated at Garnethill Convent Secondary School in Glasgow, and at Glasgow College of Technology, where she obtained an HNC in Public Administration.
Prior to entering the Scottish Parliament, she worked as a health service administrator, with the Scottish Trades Union Congress and with the Scottish Labour Party.
Member of the Scottish Parliament
After being elected as MSP for Glasgow Maryhill in May 1999 she was Deputy Presiding Officer of the Scottish Parliament and, more recently, as a member of the Parliament's Standards and Procedures Committees. She led the British-Irish Parliamentary Body delegation.
She was first appointed to the Scottish Executive Cabinet in November 2001 as Minister for Parliament when Jack McConnell became First Minister and was re-appointed as Minister for Parliamentary Business after the 2003 election. She became Minister for Tourism, Culture and Sport in October 2004.
In 2006, her name was included on a variant of a Nigerian scam email after a high-profile trip to Malawi as part of her Scottish Executive brief.
She is married to former Labour MSP Bill Butler.