New SNP MSP Michelle Campbell has used her first speech in the Scottish Parliament to pledge to stand up for communities across Renfrewshire North and Cardonald while making a passionate case for Scottish independence.
Speaking during the opening debates of the new parliamentary session, Campbell began by congratulating the Presiding Officer and fellow deputies before reflecting on the honour of becoming the first MSP for the newly-created constituency.
She paid tribute to her predecessors, including former First Minister Humza Yousaf and Natalie Don-Innes, thanking them for their service to constituents.
Campbell described the new constituency as one of “remarkable diversity”, stretching from Langbank, Bishopton, Erskine, Inchinnan and Renfrew to Penilee, Cardonald and North Pollok. She told MSPs she was determined to ensure residents knew they had “representation that matters to them”.
Drawing on her background as an NHS nurse of more than 20 years, Campbell said her experience caring for people “in life and in death” had shaped her views on public service and reinforced the need to protect and invest in Scotland’s health service.
The former councillor highlighted what she described as achievements under the SNP administration at Renfrewshire Council and pointed to the development of Glasgow’s first GP-led walk-in clinic in Cardonald as an example of investment in local healthcare.
Much of the speech focused on Scotland’s constitutional future, with Campbell arguing that the current settlement leaves Scotland unable to fully realise its ambitions.
She told Parliament that long-term investment and planning required greater certainty and claimed Scotland’s priorities were too often treated as secondary by Westminster governments.
Campbell also spoke about her own political journey, revealing that she voted “No” in the 2014 independence referendum before changing her mind during the campaign.
She said: “Everyone has their own journey to yes. Mine was not inherited. I grew up in a family where support for the union was the natural position.
“In 2012, I was no. But by 2014, something changed. It was like a light switch.”
The MSP argued that Scotland’s vote to remain in the European Union and the blocking of a second independence referendum had strengthened her belief in independence.
Concluding her speech, Campbell said the election result had delivered what she described as the largest pro-independence majority in the Parliament’s history and pledged to work towards what she called a “confident, fair, ambitious Scotland”.
| Michelle Campbell’s full maiden speech: The following is the full speech delivered by Michelle Campbell MSP in the Scottish Parliament:Presiding Officer, let me begin by congratulating you and fellow Presiding Officers on your new roles. I wish you all the very best as you guide this Parliament through the years ahead. As the newly elected member for the newly formed constituency of Renfrewshire North and Cardonald, I stand here deeply proud and genuinely honoured. I want to take a moment to thank my predecessors whose service helped to shape the communities I now represent. Former First Minister Humza Yousaf, now part of the Cardonald addition to the constituency, and Natalie Don-Innes in Renfrewshire North. Both have given years of commitment and care to their constituents. I thank them sincerely and wish them well for the future. Renfrewshire North and Cardonald is a constituency of remarkable diversity. From Langbank on the Clyde, through Bishopton, Erskine, Inchinnan, Renfrew and on to Penilee, Cardonald and North Pollok. I will not be walking that one any time soon, but I will be making my way around those communities to make sure that they know they have representation that matters to them. Each community has its own identity, its own strengths, its own aspirations. Having represented Erskine, Inchinnan and Bishopton in my role as a councillor, I am incredibly proud of what we have achieved as part of a strong SNP administration in Renfrewshire Council. I will continue to work collaboratively with councillors across the constituency to deliver the best possible outcomes for the people we serve. For over 20 years I have served as a nurse in the Scottish NHS. It has been one of the greatest privileges of my life to stand with people in their most vulnerable moments, in life and in death. That experience shapes everything I believe about public service. It reinforces the responsibility on all of us to protect, support and invest in a modern NHS that can adapt and respond to the needs of our people. But we face a brutal reality – a Westminster Government marching to the right, indifferent to Scotland’s priorities and dismissive of Scotland’s voice. Only with an SNP Government have we been able to shield our NHS, our public services and our communities from the worst of Westminster’s decisions – a Government that has stood as a barrier between our people and the chaos created at Westminster. In my constituency, I am proud to see the delivery of Glasgow’s first GP-led walk-in clinic in Cardonald. Having knocked on many doors in the lead-up to the election, I know how important and welcome this investment is for so many, offering diverse care and treatment on our communities’ doorsteps. But even the best devolved Government cannot protect Scotland from a Parliament that treats our mandate as optional, our resources as theirs to spend and our consent as irrelevant. This SNP Scottish Government’s ambitious plans require long-term certainty to ensure stability – the kind of stability that allows us to invest confidently, plan strategically and build for future generations rather than firefight the consequences of decisions made elsewhere. Scotland cannot deliver its full potential while operating within a constitutional settlement where the rules can be rewritten at any moment, where progress can be stalled by a Government that Scotland did not vote for, or where our national priorities are too often treated as secondary. These ambitions demand the full powers of independence, not a system where Scotland’s future is shaped by shifting political winds at Westminster rather than by the people who live and work here. Everyone has their own journey to yes. Mine was not inherited. I grew up in a family where support for the union was the natural position. In 2012, I was no. But by 2014, something changed. It was like a light switch. I voted yes, and from that moment my conviction has only strengthened. I believe firmly and unapologetically that Scottish independence is the only path by which our nation can truly flourish. My previous work as a former MP in Westminster only reinforced that belief. I saw at first hand the sheer absurdity of trying to make progress within an institution that still clings to its own pomp and ceremony as if that alone imparts wisdom. An institution more interested in its own traditions, its hierarchy and its own self-importance than the people it was built to serve. Regardless of the injustice presented, regardless of the need, Westminster’s instinct is always the same: protect Westminster. Scotland’s interests are, at best, an afterthought and too often an inconvenience. We have lived the consequences of that attitude. Scotland voted overwhelmingly to remain in the European Union, yet we were taken out of it anyway. Our voice was not just ignored, it was dismissed. When Scotland’s Parliament, elected by the people of Scotland, sought the democratic right to hold a second independence referendum, that request was blocked. Not debated, not negotiated, blocked. If a union is truly voluntary, then the people within it must have the right to choose. If that right is withheld, then it is not a voluntary union at all. We see this contempt in the refusal to work constructively with a Scottish Government elected time and time again by the people of Scotland. We see it in the sneers, inflammatory language such as “separatists”, a term used to belittle legitimate democratic aspirations. We see it in the way Scotland’s mandate is treated as optional, our resources as theirs to spend and our consent as irrelevant. But let me be clear, it is not the SNP nor the wider Yes movement that fuels division and hate. Scotland sees the reality of the union on offer and more than ever Scotland is saying no more. No more suffering from decisions made by a government we did not choose. No more having our Parliament’s hands tied behind its back. No more being made to feel lesser in our own nation. Scotland deserves better. Scotland is better. There is only one answer that makes sense and that is the full autonomous decision making of Scottish independence. Presiding Officer, the people of Scotland have returned the largest pro-independence majority this Parliament has ever seen. That mandate is clear. This Parliament is at its best when it works together for a confident, fair, ambitious Scotland. That is the Scotland I believe in. That is the Scotland I will fight for. And that is the Scotland we can build with independence. Thank you. |