Ronnie Cowan | |
---|---|
Member of Parliament for Inverclyde | |
Assumed office 7 May 2015 | |
Preceded by | Iain McKenzie |
Majority | 7,512 (18.8%) |
Personal details | |
Born | Ronald Jack Cowan
[1] 6 September 1959 Inverclyde, Scotland |
Political party | Scottish National Party |
Ronald Jack Cowan (born 6 September 1959) is a Scottish politician and member of the Scottish National Party. He has served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Inverclyde since the 2015 general election, [2] having been re-elected in 2017 and 2019. [3]
Cowan was born in Greenock to former Greenock Morton and Scotland footballer Jimmy Cowan [4] and his wife, May. [5] He was educated at Greenock Academy and, despite growing up in a Labour Party-supporting household, joined the Scottish National Party at the age of 16. [5]
Before standing for parliament, Cowan was the owner of an IT service company. [5] During the campaign for the 2014 Scottish independence referendum, he ran the official "Yes" campaign in Inverclyde. [5]
At the 2015 election, Cowan overturned the 5,838-vote majority of incumbent Labour MP Iain McKenzie and turned it into a 11,063 majority for the SNP. [5]
He was re-elected in the snap election of 2017, but saw his majority significantly reduced to just 384 votes. [6] At the 2019 election, Cowan increased his majority to 7,512. [7]
In 2019 Cowan voted in favor of equal gay rights. [8]