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| Paul Sweeney MP | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Shadow Minister for Scotland | |
|
Assumed office 3 July 2017 | |
| Leader | Jeremy Corbyn |
| Shadow Sec. | Lesley Laird |
| Member of Parliament for Glasgow North East | |
|
Assumed office 8 June 2017 | |
| Preceded by | Anne McLaughlin |
| Majority | 242 (0.7%) |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 16 January 1989 |
| Website | Official |
Paul John Sweeney (born 16 January 1989) is a Scottish Labour & Co-operative Party politician. He has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Glasgow North East since the snap 2017 general election, where he defeated sitting MP Anne McLaughlin of the SNP by 242 votes, overturning the 39% swing against Labour in 2015, which was a record swing in a UK general election.
Political career
Sweeney joined the Labour Party at the age of 16 and first became an active campaigner during the 2009 Glasgow North East by-election.
While working in the shipyards he joined the Unite and GMB trade unions, later joining PCS whilst at Scottish Enterprise. He is also on the executive committee of the Scottish Fabian Society. Sweeney came to prominence during the 2014 Scottish independence referendum, after he organised an open letter signed by young shipyard workers opposing the break-up of the UK, and subsequently spoke at a rally alongside Gordon Brown on the eve of the referendum.
Sweeney's first experience of standing as an election candidate was in the 2016 Scottish Parliament election, where he placed twelfth on the Scottish Labour Party's regional list for West Scotland.
In the 2017 general election he stood for Glasgow North East where a 12% swing to Labour led to him defeating Anne McLaughlin of the SNP by 242 votes. McLaughlin had taken the seat from Labour in the 2015 general election and she had been elected with a 39% swing, which was the largest swing in a general election. The seat and its predecessors had previously been held by Labour MPs since George Hardie in 1935.
On 3 July 2017, he was appointed by Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn as the Shadow Under-Secretary of State for Scotland. During the 2017 Scottish Labour leadership election, Sweeney endorsed Richard Leonard, who was ultimately the successful candidate.
