Paul McLennan

Paul McLennan
McLennan in 2023
Minister for Housing
Assumed office
29 March 2023
First MinisterHumza Yousaf
John Swinney
Preceded byMargaret Burgess
Member of the Scottish Parliament
for East Lothian
Assumed office
7 May 2021
Preceded byIain Gray
Majority1,179 (2.5%)
Personal details
Born1966 (age 57–58)
Dunbar, Scotland
Political partyScottish National Party
SpouseSharron McLennan
Children2

Paul Stewart McLennan is a Scottish politician serving as Minister for Housing since 2023.[1] A member of the Scottish National Party (SNP), he has been the Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for East Lothian since 2021.[2]

He has served as a local councillor for the Dunbar and East Linton multi-member ward of East Lothian Council since 2007[3] having previously been an unsuccessful candidate in earlier elections to single-member wards,[4] and was both the SNP group leader and the council leader from 2007 to 2012. He has been a board member of NHS Lothian, the regional offices of Scottish Enterprise and the Commission on School Reform.[3]

McLennan is East Lothian's first SNP MSP, with the constituency having been previously held exclusively by Scottish Labour for 22 years.[5]

McLennan is married to his wife Sharron, with whom he has two children, Scott and Kirsty. He is a lifelong resident of Dunbar.[6]

A photo of Paul McLennan taken in Haddington in 2023
  1. ^ "Full ministerial team confirmed". www.gov.scot. Retrieved 1 April 2023.
  2. ^ "East Lothian - Scottish Parliament constituency". BBC News.
  3. ^ a b Elect Paul McLennan for East Lothian, Scottish National Party, 2 February 2021
  4. ^ Scottish Council Elections 2003 (page 48 on PDF, page 28 on scan), H. M. Bochel, D. T. Denver
  5. ^ "SNP's Paul McLennan elected East Lothian's new MSP". East Lothian Courier. 7 May 2021.
  6. ^ "Scottish Parliament Election 2021: Statement from East Lothian constituency SNP candidate Paul McLennan". East Lothian Courier. 3 May 2021. Retrieved 2 May 2023.