Mark McDonald

Councillor Mark McDonald MSP, MA, MLitt
Member of the Scottish Parliament for North East Scotland
Incumbent
Assumed office 5 May 2011
Personal details
Born	7 June 1980 (1980-06-07) (age 31) Inverurie, Aberdeenshire
Nationality	Scottish
Political party	Scottish National Party
Residence	Dyce, Aberdeen
Alma mater	University of Dundee University of Aberdeen
Committees	Public Audit Committee Public Petitions Committee

Mark McDonald (born 7 June 1980) is a Scottish National Party (SNP) politician and Member of the Scottish Parliament for the North East Scotland region. ^[1]

Education and Early Career

McDonald was educated at Dyce Primary School and Dyce Academy. He gained an MA in Politics from the University of Dundee (2002) and an MLitt in Strategic Studies from the University of Aberdeen (2003).^[2] He is a Life Member of Dundee University Debating Union. From 2003 to 2011 he worked as a Personal Assistant to MSPs Richard Lochhead, Maureen Watt, and Nigel Don. He was elected to Aberdeen City Council in 2007 at the age of 26 representing the Dyce/Bucksburn/Danestone ward having unsuccessfully contested a 2004 by-election in the city.^[2] McDonald was the SNP candidate for Aberdeen South in the 2010 UK general election.^[2]

Scottish Parliament

McDonald was elected to the Scottish Parliament in the 2011 election from the North East Scotland regional list ^[3] with the SNP taking 52.71% of the vote. As the Scottish National Party had already won all ten constituency seats in the region, it came as a surprise to McDonald who famously appeared at the declaration wearing jeans and a t-shirt.^[3] He made his maiden speech on 2 June 2011 during a debate on Green Energy. He currently sits on the Public Audit Committee, the Public Petitions Committee and serves as Parliamentary Liaison Officer to the Cabinet Secretary for Finance, Employment and Sustainable Growth. In September 2011, McDonald announced he was to bring forward a Member's Bill on High Hedge Disputes^[4]

References

1. ^ The Scottish Parliament - Current Members - Mark McDonald
2. ^ ^{a b c} "Mark McDonald". Daily Telegraph. http://ukpolitics.telegraph.co.uk/Aberdeen+South/Mark+McDonald. Retrieved 15 May 2011. 
3. ^ ^{a b} "Scottish election: North East Scotland list results - Casually dressed SNP candidate elected". www.scotsman.com. 6 May 2011. http://news.scotsman.com/aberdeen/Scottish-election-North-East-Scotland.6763673.jp. Retrieved 15 May 2011. 
4. ^ BBC News - MSP Mark McDonald makes bid to tackle 'hedge rage'

Persondata
Name	Macdonald, Mark
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	7 June 1980
Place of birth	Inverurie, Aberdeenshire
Date of death
Place of death