KEITH Brown, the depute leader of the SNP, has issued a statement after the death of his long-term partner Christina McKelvie.
McKelvie, the Scottish Government minister for drugs policy, passed away on Thursday morning.
She had taken medical leave last August to undergo treatment for secondary breast cancer.
Brown paid tribute in a statement to a “beloved mum, partner and gran”, as well as an accomplished parliamentarian.
“Christina was an MSP from 2007, serving her constituents in Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse, from 2011. She convened two committees before becoming a minister in 2018.
“She loved her job, and she loved her party and was always a champion for the people of Scotland and an advocate for social justice and for Scotland to be an independent nation in Europe.
“To us, she was our beloved mum, partner and gran to Maeve and Leo.
“She was always hard working and enthusiastic and lit up every room she was in with her positivity and bright smile. She was always proud of her working class roots in Easterhouse and often said she could not have dreamt of becoming a government minister for the Scottish Government.
“We are immensely proud of all Christina achieved. She was passionate about many issues, including advocating for people living with MND [motor neurone disease] and sponsoring the first Wear It Pink at the Scottish Parliament in support of Breast Cancer Now many years before her own diagnosis with breast cancer, after which she used every opportunity to encourage women to check themselves and go to screening appointments.
“As a parliamentarian, she was proud of her work as convener of two Committees – European and External Relations and then the Equalities Committee which added Human Rights to its title and remit under her convenership.
“She also championed policy and legislation through promoting ‘Clare’s Law’ – to allow the disclosure of previous violent and abusive behaviour to those at risk.
“As a Minister, she launched the world's first strategy to tackle social isolation and loneliness as a health issue, tackled the stigma surrounding menopause, and introduced legislation banning FGM [female genital mutilation].
“As a constituency MSP, Christina worked hard to support her constituents and many local groups and absolutely loved every part of Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse. Christina was also a committed trade unionist and long-standing member of Unison from her time working in social work services in Glasgow.
“Today, we have lost our much loved Christina and know she will be very much missed by all our family and also her many, many friends, staff and constituents.”
