Cockab Stewart, Scotland’s first elected black woman

AGI – cocob stewart She is the first black woman to be elected to the Scottish Parliament in its 22-year history. A former teacher, an independence activist for more than twenty years, 53-year-old One of the most important faces of the Scottish National Party (SNP),

Stewart, who had already tried to run in five separate elections, won the Glasgow Kelvin constituency, trailing the Green candidate by more than 5,000 preferences.

After the victory, she thanked her constituents, stating that it was “an honor” for her to be the first black woman to cross this milestone. “It’s taken a long time, but I can tell all the women and girls out there that the Scottish Parliament now belongs to them all,” and then adds that it “definitely won’t last”.

Party leader Nicola Sturgeon said that “He couldn’t be more proud of the achievement“and said she was thrilled to see Kaukab Stewart elected.”

Stewart, in an interview with the BBC before the election, spoke of his passion for politics that arose with his first candidacy in the 1999 elections against Donald Dewar. “The SNP was very different at the time. We didn’t expect to win, but that adventure devastated me. And that fire continued to burn for the next several decades.”