Philippa Whitford was first elected as the SNP MP for Ayrshire Central in 2015, being reelected in 2019 with a majority of 5,304.
The constituency of Central Ayrshire is found on the west coast of Scotland to the south west of Glasgow. The towns of Irvine, and Kilwinning are found at the top of the seat as its spreads down from the Firth of Clyde. Inland the seat contains the former mining villages of Annbank and Tarbolton. In the south, this seat contains the coastal town of Prestwick, known for its airport, and Troon, known for its championship golf course. The Scottish First Minister, Nicola Sturgeon, grew up in this constituency in Prestwick.
This constituency had been held by the Labour Party continuously between 1950 and 2015. However in 2015 the SNP gained this seat in their Scottish landslide of that year. Although this seat has remained in SNP hands since 2015, the Conservatives came quite close to winning here in 2017. The Labour vote has since collapsed dramatically in this area, and the party polled just 14% here in 2019.
Philippa Whitford is the SNP spokesperson on Health and Social Care at Westminster. She has announced that she is stepping down from Westminster at the next election.
Philippa Whitford was born in 1958 in Belfast and moved to Scotland as a child. She studied at the University of Glasgow, and later undertook doctoral research on Breast Cancer Immunology and monoclonal antibodies.
Whitford worked as a Consultant Breast Surgeon for many years before becoming a Member of Parliament. She is still a locum consultant who undertakes work with the Ayrshire and Arran Health Board.
In her early career, Whitford spent two years working as a medical volunteer in the Middle East, mainly at a UN sponsored hospital in Gaza, Palestine. In 2016, she returned to the Middle East, and spent the Parliamentary recess operating on Palestinian women suffering with breast cancer.
Whitford was once a member of the Labour Party, but left the party in protest against the Gulf War.
Dr Philippa Whitford is Chair of the All Party Parliamentary Groups on Vaccinations for All; and Germany. She is Vice Chair of the All Party Parliamentary Groups on Aerospace; Breast Cancer; Fisheries; Future Generations; Haemophilia and Contaminated Blood; Health in all policies; Heart Valve Disease; Space; State Pension Inequality for Women; Terminal Illness.
She is married with one son.
Email: philippa.whitford.mp@parliament.uk
Twitter: https://twitter.com/p_whitford_mp
Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/PhilippaWhitfordSNP?
