THE dust is starting to settle following last week’s political shake-up, and there’s a new cohort of MPs entering Westminster.
Labour now hold a majority of Scottish seats in Westminster, whilst the SNP are down to just nine MPs.
The political landscape of the country is now dramatically different – but which of Scotland’s MPs have connections to the trade union movement?
First off, there’s Tracy Gilbert, the new Scottish Labour MP for Edinburgh North and Leith.
Gilbert (below) beat the SNP’s Deidre Brock by 7268 votes and wrote on social media that she was “proud to be in Westminster representing the community I love”.
She has been the Scottish regional secretary for Usdaw (Union of Shop, Distributive and Allied Workers) since May 2021.
Johanna Baxter was elected as the new Scottish Labour MP for Paisley and Renfrewshire South, where she beat the SNP’s Jacqueline Cameron by 19,583 votes to 13,056.
Baxter (below) was the Scotland regional officer for Unison until her election on July 4.
In Cumbernauld and Kirkintilloch, Scottish Labour’s Katrina Murray won the seat from Stuart McDonald – treasurer of the SNP – by 4000 votes.
Murray is a member of Unison and has been vice chair of Labour’s national policy forum representing CLP’s (Constituency Labour Party) and regional parties since November.
READ MORE: Scottish Government given no detail on Labour's new 'council of nations'
Elsewhere, Richard Baker was elected as Scottish Labour MP for Glenrothes and Mid Fife after beating the SNP’s John Beare at 15,994 votes to 13,040.
Baker is a member of Unite and was formerly an MSP for the North East Scotland region.
Industrial reaction
Unite has secured an 11.9% pay increase for more than 100 workers at Edinburgh airport following a dispute with employers.
Meanwhile, ScotRail services across the country are facing disruption amid an ongoing pay dispute with train drivers.
The union Aslef said it would recommend a ballot of its members for industrial action, and that some train drivers would no longer work extra Sunday shifts and overtime.
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