Karen Gillon was born in Edinburgh in 1967 and attended Jedburgh Grammar School. She studied at Birmingham University where she obtained a Certificate in Youth and Community Work in 1991. Karen is married to Jim, has two sons, James and Matthew, and a baby daughter, Johann. She currently lives in Carluke.

During the 1990s she was an active member of Unison and she served on the STUC General Council and the Labour Party Scottish Executive. At this time she also worked as a youth worker in Blantyre, North Lanarkshire and later as a Community Education Worker with North Lanarkshire Council. In 1997 she began work as Personal Assistant to Rt. Hon Helen Liddell MP and 1999 became the first woman to be elected to the Scottish Parliament as MSP for Clydesdale.

In her spare time Karen likes to spend time with her family. Her hobbies include cooking, flower arranging, sports and an unexplainable obsession with Cliff Richard.

Karen is currently Shadow Minister for Rural Development and is a member of the Parliament’s Environment and Rural Development committee.

She is also co-convenor of the Cross Party Group on Malawi and works with people across Scotland to develop an ongoing partnership between the two countries.

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