Mark McDonald is a
Scottish National PartyThe Scottish National Party is a social-democratic political party in Scotland which campaigns for Scottish independence from the United Kingdom....
(SNP) politician and
Member of the Scottish ParliamentMember of the Scottish Parliament is the title given to any one of the 129 individuals elected to serve in the Scottish Parliament.-Methods of Election:MSPs are elected in one of two ways:...
for the
North East Scotland regionNorth East Scotland is one of the eight electoral regions of the Scottish Parliament which were created in 1999. Nine of the parliament's 73 first past the post constituencies are sub-divisions of the region and it elects seven of the 56 additional-member Members of the Scottish Parliament...
.
Education and Early Career
McDonald was educated at Dyce Primary School and
Dyce AcademyDyce Academy is one of two state schools within the town of Dyce, a small suburb of the city of Aberdeen, Scotland with it serving as the sole provider of secondary education. Dyce Academy's catchment area includes Dyce and much of the surrounding country, including the village of Newmachar .The...
. He gained an
MAA Master of Arts in Scotland can refer to an undergraduate academic degree in humanities and social sciences awarded by the ancient universities of Scotland – the University of St Andrews, the University of Glasgow, the University of Aberdeen and the University of Edinburgh, while the University of...
in Politics from the
University of DundeeThe University of Dundee is a university based in the city and Royal burgh of Dundee on eastern coast of the central Lowlands of Scotland and with a small number of institutions elsewhere....
(2002) and an
MLittThe Master of Letters is a postgraduate degree.- United Kingdom :The MLitt is a postgraduate degree awarded by a select few British and Irish universities, predominantly within the ancient English and Scottish universities.- England :Within the English University system MLitts are not universally...
in Strategic Studies from the
University of AberdeenThe University of Aberdeen, an ancient university founded in 1495, in Aberdeen, Scotland, is a British university. It is the third oldest university in Scotland, and the fifth oldest in the United Kingdom and wider English-speaking world...
(2003). He is a Life Member of Dundee University Debating Union. From 2003 to 2011 he worked as a Personal Assistant to
MSPsMember of the Scottish Parliament is the title given to any one of the 129 individuals elected to serve in the Scottish Parliament.-Methods of Election:MSPs are elected in one of two ways:...
Richard LochheadRichard Neilson Lochhead is the Scottish Government's Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs and the Environment and the Scottish National Party Member of the Scottish Parliament for Moray.-Background and early career:...
,
Maureen WattMaureen Watt is a Scottish National Party Member of the Scottish Parliament for North East Scotland since 2006.Born in Aberdeen to a farming family, she was a secondary school teacher in Social Studies in England and moved back to Scotland to work in the oil sector.She was sworn in as MSP on 19...
, and
Nigel DonNigel Don MSP is a Scottish politician. He was the successful SNP candidate for Angus North and Mearns in the 2011 Scottish Parliamentary election...
. He was elected to
Aberdeen City CouncilAberdeen City Council represents the Aberdeen City council area of Scotland.The council area was created in 1996, under the Local Government etc. Act 1994...
in 2007 at the age of 26 representing the Dyce/Bucksburn/Danestone ward having unsuccessfully contested a 2004 by-election in the city. McDonald was the SNP candidate for
Aberdeen SouthAberdeen South is a burgh constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, and it elects one Member of Parliament by the first past the post system of election...
in the 2010 UK general election.
Scottish Parliament
McDonald was elected to the
Scottish ParliamentThe Scottish Parliament is the devolved national, unicameral legislature of Scotland, located in the Holyrood area of the capital, Edinburgh. The Parliament, informally referred to as "Holyrood", is a democratically elected body comprising 129 members known as Members of the Scottish Parliament...
in the 2011 election from the
North East Scotland regionalNorth East Scotland is one of the eight electoral regions of the Scottish Parliament which were created in 1999. Nine of the parliament's 73 first past the post constituencies are sub-divisions of the region and it elects seven of the 56 additional-member Members of the Scottish Parliament...
list with the SNP taking 52.71% of the vote. As the
Scottish National PartyThe Scottish National Party is a social-democratic political party in Scotland which campaigns for Scottish independence from the United Kingdom....
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. 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