Michael Matheson | |
---|---|
![]() Official portrait, 2023 | |
Cabinet Secretary for NHS Recovery, Health and Social Care | |
In office 29 March 2023 – 8 February 2024 | |
First Minister | Humza Yousaf |
Preceded by | Humza Yousaf |
Succeeded by | Neil Gray |
Cabinet Secretary for Net Zero, Energy and Transport[a] | |
In office 26 June 2018 – 29 March 2023 | |
First Minister | Nicola Sturgeon |
Preceded by | Office established |
Succeeded by | Màiri McAllan |
Cabinet Secretary for Justice | |
In office 21 November 2014 – 26 June 2018 | |
First Minister | Nicola Sturgeon |
Preceded by | Kenny MacAskill |
Succeeded by | Humza Yousaf |
Minister for Public Health | |
In office 20 May 2011 – 21 November 2014 | |
First Minister | Alex Salmond |
Preceded by | Shona Robison |
Succeeded by | Maureen Watt |
Member of the Scottish Parliament for Falkirk West | |
Assumed office 3 May 2007 | |
Preceded by | Dennis Canavan |
Majority | 11,280 (35.1%) |
Member of the Scottish Parliament for Central Scotland | |
In office 6 May 1999 – 3 May 2007 | |
Personal details | |
Born | Michael Stephen Matheson 8 September 1970 Glasgow, Scotland |
Political party | Scottish National Party |
Spouse |
Susan Totten (m. 2005) |
Children | 3 |
Alma mater | Queen Margaret University The Open University |
Profession | Occupational therapist |
Michael Stephen Matheson (born 8 September 1970) is a Scottish politician who has been a Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) since 1999, first representing the Central Scotland region and, since 2007, the Falkirk West constituency. Matheson previously served in the Scottish government as Cabinet Secretary for NHS Recovery, Health and Social Care from 2023 to 2024, Cabinet Secretary for Net Zero, Energy and Transport[a] from 2018 to 2023, and Cabinet Secretary for Justice from 2014 to 2018.
A graduate of the Queen Margaret University and The Open University, Matheson worked as an occupational therapist in local government, before his election to Holyrood in the 1999 Scottish Parliament election. He served successively as the SNP's shadow deputy minister for justice and rural development and shadow minister for culture and sport. Matheson ran unsuccessfully, twice, for the Falkirk West constituency, however, remained as an additional member for the Central Scotland region until the 2007 election, when he won the Falkirk West seat. He sat on the SNP's backbenches from 2007 until 2011, when he was appointed Minister for Public Health in First Minister Alex Salmond's second government, supporting Nicola Sturgeon, and later Alex Neil, in their role as Health Secretary.
Following the appointment of Sturgeon as First Minister, she promoted Matheson to the Scottish Cabinet as the Justice Secretary. In a 2018 Scottish Cabinet reshuffle, he was appointed to the new post of Cabinet Secretary of Transport, Infrastructure and Connectivity. The office was retitled as the Cabinet Secretary for Net Zero, Energy and Transport in Sturgeon's third administration, as part of her government's effort to tackle the climate emergency.
Following Sturgeon's resignation and the appointment of Humza Yousaf as First Minister, Matheson was appointed Cabinet Secretary for NHS Recovery, Health and Social Care in 2023. Following a scandal surrounding the misuse of a Parliamentary iPad while on a family holiday, which incurred £11,000 in roaming charges, Matheson resigned as Health Secretary in February 2024. Matheson was subsequently banned from Holyrood for 27 days and had his salary withdrawn for 54 days, the heaviest sanction ever awarded to an MSP.
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