Patrick Grady

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Patrick Grady
MP
Official portrait of Patrick Grady MP crop 2.jpg
Official portrait, 2019
SNP Chief Whip
In office
9 June 2017 – 10 March 2021
LeaderIan Blackford
Preceded byMichael Weir
Member of Parliament
for Glasgow North
Assumed office
7 May 2015
Preceded byAnn McKechin
Majority5,601 (15.5%)
Personal details
Born
Patrick John Grady

(1980-02-05) 5 February 1980 (age 42)
Edinburgh, Scotland
Political partyScottish National Party (In Parliament)
Plaid Cymru
Alma materUniversity of Strathclyde
WebsiteOfficial website

Patrick John Grady (born 5 February 1980) is a Scottish National Party (SNP) politician.[1] He was elected at the 2015 UK general election as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Glasgow North.[2] He was re-elected for the same constituency in the 2017 general election on 8 June 2017, and in the 2019 general election on 12 December 2019.

Early life[]

He was born in Edinburgh, UK. He was brought up in Inverness and was educated at Inverness Royal Academy, before attending the University of Strathclyde.[3] Between 2011 and 2015, he worked as an advocacy manager for the Scottish Catholic International Aid Fund, and has also lived and worked in London and Malawi.

Political career[]

After joining the Scottish National Party in 1997, aged seventeen, he stood at the 2010 general election as the SNP candidate for Glasgow North.[4] In 2012, he was elected as National Secretary of the SNP until he stood down in 2016.[4] He headed the "Yes" campaign in the Kelvin area of Glasgow during the 2014 referendum on Scottish independence.[5]

After being elected to the House of Commons, he was appointed as SNP Westminster Spokesperson on International Development and was a member of the House of Commons Procedure Committee until the 2017 election.[6] Like several SNP MPs and MSPs, he also holds membership of Plaid Cymru, although this has no formal effect in the House of Commons.[7] After the 2017 election, he was appointed as Chief Whip of the SNP Westminster Group, and was re-appointed to this role after the 2019 election.[8] Grady resigned his position as Chief Whip in March 2021 to fight allegations of sexual harassment against two SNP researchers.[9][10][11][12]

Sexual misconduct allegations[]

In March 2021, it was described that a letter sent to the Speaker John Bercow in 2017 stated "A member of staff recently left the SNP who was groped sexually by Patrick Grady at last year's Christmas Party. There was another male staff member who was groped sexually by Mr Grady the same night of last year".[13]

Scottish Conservative MP John Lamont wrote to SNP Westminster Leader Ian Blackford in 2021 urging him to explain why no action was taken after sexual harassment allegations were made against Grady four years earlier, and why the party had not suspended him whilst the investigation was underway.[14]

In April 2021, Nicola Sturgeon confirmed that she was aware of a concern about Grady before a harassment complaint was made against him.[10]

References[]

  1. ^ "List of Members returned to Parliament at the General Election 2015 Scotland". The Edinburgh Gazette. 15 May 2015. Retrieved 3 June 2015.
  2. ^ Profile, bbc.co.uk; accessed 8 May 2015.
  3. ^ Leask, David (1 June 2015). "Analysis: SNP bucks trend for privately educated MPs". The Herald. Retrieved 5 May 2017.
  4. ^ a b "Patrick Grady". The SNP. Retrieved 27 April 2017.
  5. ^ Braiden, Gerry (18 September 2014). "Key battlegrounds: Glasgow". The Herald. Newsquest. Retrieved 5 May 2017.
  6. ^ "Patrick Grady MP". UK Parliament. Retrieved 27 April 2017.
  7. ^ "I sit on the SNP benches, but I'm a Plaid Cymru member too - Grady". BBC News. 19 March 2018. Retrieved 19 March 2018.
  8. ^ "Patrick Grady MP, Glasgow North - TheyWorkForYou". TheyWorkForYou. Retrieved 6 January 2018.
  9. ^ "SNP chief whip steps aside following harassment complaint". 10 March 2021 – via www.bbc.co.uk.
  10. ^ a b "Sturgeon 'aware of a concern' about MP Patrick Grady". 15 March 2021 – via www.bbc.co.uk.
  11. ^ "Patrick Grady stands down as SNP chief whip 'amid sexual harassment allegations'" – via www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk.
  12. ^ Barrie, Douglas (10 March 2021). "Patrick Grady stands down as SNP chief whip 'amid sexual harassment allegations'". www.standard.co.uk.
  13. ^ Crichton, Torcuil; Hutcheon, Paul (11 March 2021). "SNP MP poses with young workers on night he's accused of sexually harassing teen". Daily Record.
  14. ^ Settle, Michael (17 March 2021). "Scots Tories urge Blackford to explain why SNP did not act on sexual harassment complaint against MP". The Herald.

External links[]

Party political offices
Preceded by
William Henderson
 National Secretary of the Scottish National Party
2012–2016 		Succeeded by
Dr Angus MacLeod
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Member of Parliament for Glasgow North
2015–present 		Incumbent
Retrieved from ""