Zara Kitson

Zara Kitson is a Scottish political activist who is a Scottish Green Party candidate in the 2016 Scottish Parliament election. She is co-convener of the Glasgow branch of the Greens. She has previously stood as a Scottish Green Party candidate in council and UK Parliament elections. She is an executive assistant at LGBT Youth Scotland. She is on the executive of Women for Independence.

Early life

Kitson comes from a mining family near Stirling,[1] She attended the University of Glasgow, graduating in 2007 with an MA in Public Policy.

Equality work

She is an executive assistant at the charity LGBT Youth Scotland.[2]

In November 2014, she was one of the public figures who participated in a campaign run by the Humanist Society Scotland to change the way that Relationships, Sexual Health and Parenthood (RSHP) Education are taught in Scotland.[3][4]

Political activist

Kitson was an organiser of So Say Scotland, a group aiming for a citizens' assembly, inspired by constitutional innovation in Iceland.[5] The approach to decisions to be taken by citizens directly instead of petitioning politicians.[6]

During the Scotland's independence referendum, Kitson was a member of the political organisation National Collective, which described itself as open and non-party group of artists and creatives.[7] She was the leading organiser of the “Yestival” concert tour.[8][9][10]

She is on the executive of Women for Independence.[11]

She launched her own small business, Dream Graft, which offered support to firms and communities that were facing change.[12]

Scottish Green Party

She joined the Scottish Greens in 2012.[13] She was selected as a green party candidate in the 2012 Stirling Council election, and polled fourth out of eight candidates, in a three-member ward.

In February 2015 she was announced as a candidate for the Glasgow North East in the 2015 UK general election.[14] She acknowledged that first past the post didn't suit the Greens.[15] It was the first time the greens had put forward candidates in every Glasgow seat at a General Election.[16] During the election campaign she took part in the BBC’s Generation 2015 project.[17][18]

Kitson was outspoken when it emerged that the Greens would be excluded from TV debates in the runup to the elections, based on Ofcom's interpretation.[19][20]

In October 2015, Kitson announced that she would stand for the female co-convener position in the Green party.[21] With Kitson standing against the incumbent Maggie Chapman, the election was the first serious competition for the post in the history of the Scottish Greens.[22] Kitson secured the backing of both Green MSPs Patrick Harvie and Alison Johnstone.[23][21] Kitson's challenge was seen off by Chapman who was re-elected as co-convener, after a month long ballot of the party's 9,000 members.[24]

Kitson is second behind Patrick Harvie on the Green's regional list for Glasgow in the Scottish Parliament election, 2016.[25]

References

  1. ↑ "Turning Scotland green". Holyrood. 5 October 2013. Retrieved 7 November 2015.
  2. ↑ Cardwell, Paul (18 September 2014). "New fundraising method helps charity break the silence". Third Force News. Retrieved 7 November 2015.
  3. ↑ "Relationships, Sexual Health and Parenthood Education". Humanist Society Scotland. Retrieved 7 November 2015.
  4. ↑ McLelland, Gary (25 November 2014). "LGBTI equality in education setting the record straight!". www.kaleidoscot.com. Retrieved 7 November 2015.
  5. ↑ "Dunfermline by-election: Conservative and Green candidates unveiled". BBC News. 20 September 2013.
  6. ↑ "Dunfermline by-election: Meet the candidates". The Scotsman. 15 October 2013. Retrieved 7 November 2015.
  7. ↑ Didcock, Barry (21 September 2014). "In some shape or form we will continue". The Herald. Retrieved 7 November 2015.
  8. ↑ Hennessey, Mark (8 August 2014). "Artists tour Scotland looking for a Yes to independence". The Irish Times. Retrieved 7 November 2015.
  9. ↑ Stewart, Catriona (6 July 2014). "Packed, positive and proud ... on the road with Yestival". The Herald. Retrieved 7 November 2015.
  10. ↑ McDermott, John (31 August 2014). "Scotland and the wish tree". Financial Times. Retrieved 7 November 2015.
  11. ↑ "Women for Independence National Committee Members 2015/16". Women for Independence. Retrieved 7 November 2015.
  12. ↑ "Factfile: The candidates". The Herald. 21 October 2013. Retrieved 7 November 2015.
  13. ↑ "Zara Kitson: On being green in 2015". News Net. 10 January 2015. Retrieved 7 November 2015.
  14. ↑ Paterson, Stewart (3 February 2015). "Seven Greens bid for city seats". Evening Times. Retrieved 7 November 2015.
  15. ↑ Paterson, Stewart; Rodger, Hannah (4 April 2015). "Greens look to flourish in Glasgow". Evening Times. Retrieved 7 November 2015.
  16. ↑ Paterson, Stewart (22 April 2015). "Election 2015: Greens pledge for youth". Evening Times. Retrieved 7 November 2015.
  17. ↑ Leslie, Calum (3 May 2015). "Young voters question Scottish election candidates". BBC News.
  18. ↑ "Opinionated: Young voters quiz the Scottish Greens". BBC News. 2 May 2015.
  19. ↑ Bradley, Jane (17 March 2015). "Greens give STV petition backing debate inclusion". The Scotsman. Retrieved 7 November 2015.
  20. ↑ "Greens warn STV: we could still resort to legal action to take part in general election TV leaders' debate". The Herald. 16 March 2015. Retrieved 7 November 2015.
  21. 1 2 Nutt, Kathleen (27 October 2015). "Activist challenges co-convenor of Greens for top post ahead of biggest election campaign". The National. Retrieved 7 November 2015.
  22. ↑ Nutt, Kathleen (5 November 2015). "Kitson puts a revival of Scottish Greens' links on to-do list". The National. Retrieved 7 November 2015.
  23. ↑ Learmonth, Andrew (6 November 2015). "Patrick Harvie backs Zara Kitson for co-convenor of the Greens". The National. Retrieved 7 November 2015.
  24. ↑ "Maggie Chapman re-elected co-convener of Scottish Greens". BBC News. 27 November 2015.
  25. ↑ Hinde, Dominic (22 November 2015). "The Battle for the soul of the Green Party in Scotland". The Sunday Herald. Retrieved 24 November 2015.

External links

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