# Karen Gillon

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Not to be confused with [Karen Gillan](/source/Karen_Gillan).

Scottish Labour Party politician

Karen Gillon Gillon in 2011 Member of the Scottish Parliament for Clydesdale In office 6 May 1999 – 22 March 2011 Preceded by Constituency established Succeeded by Aileen Campbell Personal details Born Karen Macdonald Turnbull (1967-08-18) 18 August 1967 (age 58) Jedburgh, Scotland Party Scottish Labour Spouse James Gillon ​ (m. 1999)​ Children 3

**Karen Macdonald Gillon** (*[née](/source/Birth_name#Maiden_and_married_names)* **Turnbull**; born 18 August 1967) is a [Scottish Labour Party](/source/Scottish_Labour_Party) politician who served as [Member of the Scottish Parliament](/source/Member_of_the_Scottish_Parliament) (MSP) for the constituency of [Clydesdale](/source/Clydesdale_(Scottish_Parliament_constituency)) from [1999](/source/1999_Scottish_Parliament_election) to [2011](/source/2011_Scottish_Parliament_election).

## Early life and career

Gillon was born in 1967 in [Edinburgh](/source/Edinburgh) to Edith Turnbull. She was educated at the state comprehensive [Jedburgh Grammar School](/source/Jedburgh_Grammar_School) before going on to study at the [University of Birmingham](/source/University_of_Birmingham). Before entering politics, she worked in community education.[1][2][3] From 1997 until 1999, she served as personal assistant to [Helen Liddell](/source/Helen_Liddell) [MP](/source/Member_of_parliament).

## Political career

Gillon was elected in the [1999 Scottish Parliament election](/source/1999_Scottish_Parliament_election), taking 16,755 votes (43.02%). She was re elected in [2003](/source/2003_Scottish_Parliament_election) with 14,800 votes (46.62%) and in [2007](/source/2007_Scottish_Parliament_election) with 13,835 votes (41.5%). She served as Labour's spokesperson on [rural development](/source/Rural_development) until her defeat in 2011.

Gillon was co-chair of the *Cross Party Group on Malawi* and worked with civic society across Scotland and in the constituency of Clydesdale, to develop better links between the two countries. She was defeated in the [2011 Scottish Parliament election](/source/2011_Scottish_Parliament_election) by the candidate from the SNP, [Aileen Campbell](/source/Aileen_Campbell), by 4,216 votes (14.1%).

## Personal life

Gillon is married to James Gillon with whom she has two sons and one daughter.[2] Gillon is a [Christian](/source/Christian) and has described the [Beatitudes](/source/Beatitudes) as the best example in the Bible of turning prayer into action.[4]

## References

1. **[^](#cite_ref-1)** ["Jedburgh Grammar Achievers (1)"](https://web.archive.org/web/20141216223444/http://www.schoolsproject.co.uk/rolemodelproject/schoolpgs/Scotland/1sbord/sbordsch/jedgrm/jedgrmpgs/jedgrm1.htm). *schoolsproject.co.uk*. Archived from [the original](http://www.schoolsproject.co.uk/rolemodelproject/schoolpgs/Scotland/1sbord/sbordsch/jedgrm/jedgrmpgs/jedgrm1.htm) on 16 December 2014. Retrieved 9 August 2015.

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-:0_2-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-:0_2-1) ["Gillon, Karen Macdonald"](https://www.ukwhoswho.com/view/10.1093/ww/9780199540884.001.0001/ww-9780199540884-e-17174). *Who's Who*. [doi](/source/Doi_(identifier)):[10.1093/ww/9780199540884.013.U17174](https://doi.org/10.1093%2Fww%2F9780199540884.013.U17174). [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-0-19-954088-4](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-19-954088-4). Retrieved 9 May 2020.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-3)** "Man blamed for Borders finance fiasco set to answer questions". *The Scotsman*. 5 November 2001.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-4)** *Together We Pray*. Edinburgh: Saint Andrew Press. 2018. pp. 136–138. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-0-7152-0996-7](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-7152-0996-7).

## External links

- Scottish Parliament profiles of MSPs: [Karen Gillon](https://www.parliament.scot/msps/current-and-previous-msps/karen-gillon)

Scottish Parliament New constituency Member of the Scottish Parliament for Clydesdale 1999–2011 Succeeded by Aileen Campbell

v t e Former Labour Party MSPs By date first representing Scottish Labour in the Scottish Parliament 1999 Wendy Alexander Scott Barrie Sarah Boyack Rhona Brankin Bill Butler Malcolm Chisholm Cathie Craigie Margaret Curran Susan Deacon Donald Dewar Helen Eadie Patricia Ferguson Sam Galbraith Karen Gillon Trish Godman Rhoda Grant Iain Gray Hugh Henry John Home Robertson Janis Hughes Gordon Jackson Sylvia Jackson Cathy Jamieson Margaret Jamieson Andy Kerr Johann Lamont Marilyn Livingstone Jack McConnell Lewis Macdonald Angus MacKay Kate Maclean Ken Macintosh Maureen Macmillan Paul Martin John McAllion Frank McAveety Tom McCabe Baron McConnell of Glenscorrodale Henry McLeish Michael McMahon Duncan McNeil Des McNulty Alasdair Morrison Bristow Muldoon Mary Mulligan Elaine Murray Irene Oldfather Peter Peacock Cathy Peattie Richard Simpson Elaine Smith Elaine Thomson Mike Watson Ian Welsh Karen Whitefield Allan Wilson 2001 Brian Fitzpatrick 2003 Richard Baker Marlyn Glen Christine May 2005 Charlie Gordon 2007 Baron Foulkes of Cumnock James Kelly John Park David Stewart David Whitton 2011 Claudia Beamish Kezia Dugdale Mary Fee Neil Findlay Hanzala Malik Jenny Marra Margaret McCulloch Margaret McDougall Siobhan McMahon Anne McTaggart Graeme Pearson John Pentland Drew Smith 2012 Jayne Baxter 2013 Cara Hilton 2014 Alex Rowley 2016 Lesley Brennan Monica Lennon Richard Leonard Colin Smyth 2021 Foysol Choudhury Pam Duncan-Glancy Paul O'Kane Mercedes Villalba Martin Whitfield 2025 Davy Russell

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Karen Gillon](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karen_Gillon) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karen_Gillon?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.