Labour MSP Rhona Brankin to quit Holyrood at next election

Rhona Brankin MSP has served as a Labour MSP for 11 years now and at the tender age of 60 has decided enough is enough and she plans to hang up her jacket and retire from Holyrood, although she doesn't seem to rule out other roles in public life.

Rhona Brankin, said:

"After 30 years of being active in the Labour Party, I feel the time has come to step aside from frontline politics."

The former Labour Scottish Executive minister said she wanted to spend more time with her family and take up other roles in public life.

Rhona served as deputy minister for culture and sport, deputy minister for environment and rural development in the early years of the Scottish Executive.
She then went on to be deputy minister for health & community care and minister for communities.

Rhona Brankin is a former chair of the Scottish Labour party and was a member of the Constitutional Convention that drew up the blueprint for the Scottish Parliament.

She recently took over as convener of Holyrood's Public Petitions Committee when her Labour colleague Frank McAveety MSP stepped down after making inappropriate comments when the microphone was still on about a female in the public benches during a debate in Holyrood.

Rhona Brankin's current Midlothian seat will disappear at the election in May next year, with a new Midlothian North and Musselburgh constituency emerging after boundary changes.