Siobhian Brown

Siobhian Brown (born 20 October 1972) is a politician in Scotland, serving as Minister for Victims and Community Safety since 2023^[4] and a Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for Ayr since 2021.^[5] A member of the Scottish National Party (SNP), she was a councillor for the Ayr West ward of South Ayrshire Council.^[6][7] She quit being a councillor in 2022 after several months as both a Member of Parliament and councillor simultaneously.^[8]

Siobhian Brown MSP
Official portrait, 2021
Minister for Victims and Community Safety
Incumbent
Assumed office 29 March 2023
First Minister	Humza Yousaf John Swinney
Preceded by	Elena Whitham
Convener of the COVID-19 Recovery Committee
In office 23 June 2021 – 30 March 2023
Deputy	Murdo Fraser
Member of the Scottish Parliament for Ayr
Incumbent
Assumed office 7 May 2021
Preceded by	John Scott
Majority	170 (0.4%)
Personal details
Born	(1972-10-20) 20 October 1972 (age 52)[1][2] London, England[3]
Political party	Scottish National Party

Political career

Brown joined the Scottish National Party the day after the 2014 Scottish independence referendum. She was elected to South Ayrshire Council for the Ayr West ward in the 2017 Scottish local elections.^[6]

Scottish Parliament

In November 2020, she was selected as the SNP's candidate for the Ayr constituency in the 2021 Scottish Parliament election.^[9] In May 2021, she was elected as a member of the Scottish Parliament for Ayr with a majority of 170 votes, defeating the incumbent John Scott who had been the Scottish Conservatives' longest serving MSP.^[10]

Brown has served as Convener of the COVID-19 Recovery Committee since June 2021.^[11]

In 2023 Brown was appointed as Minister for Victims and Community Safety by Humza Yousaf.^[12][13] She later recounted that she was "extremely surprised" by Yousaf's decision to appoint her minister, as she stood by Kate Forbes, who was criticised for her disavowal of the Gender Recognition Reform Bill (GRR) on religious grounds.^[14]

Personal life

Born in London to Scottish parents, Brown emigrated to Sydney, Australia when she was three years old.^[3] After working in Spain, Italy, London and Scotland,^[15] she moved to Ayrshire—where her parents are from—in 1999.^[16] Brown has four children (including a step-daughter),^[3] with her youngest being born when she was 44 years old.^[6] In 2016 she founded the South Ayrshire Babybank and remains a volunteer for the organisation.^[17]