Katy Clark

Katy Clark was born in Kilwinning on 3 July 1967.  Her early education was completed in Ayr attending both Ayr Grammar Primary School and Kyle Academy. She went on to study Law at the University of Aberdeen, and received her LLB in 1990. She continued with further academic study and gained her Diploma in Legal Practice from the University of Edinburgh in 1991.

Katy has been a member of the Labour Party since 1985. After qualifying as a solicitor Katy worked in private practise until 1998 in Edinburgh and Musselburgh. Following that she became a legal officer with UNISON and worked with them until she was elected as an MP for North Ayrshire and Arran in 2005.

Patricia Gibson

Councillor Patricia Gibson, 41, who worked as an English Teacher for 16 years before being elected to Glasgow City Council in 2007, has been selected as SNP Westminster Candidate for North Ayrshire & Arran.

She lives in Kilbirnie. Patricia is SNP spokesperson for Education in the city and has led the SNP on issues such as challenging Labour's school closures, protecting post offices and speaking out against Labour's increased class sizes and cutting of teacher numbers.

Gillian Cole-Hamilton

Gillian works as a primary 2 teacher. She stood for the Scottish Parliament for the Liberal Democrats in 2007 in the constituency of Edinburgh East and Musselburgh.

She is married to Alex and they have a 2 year old boy called Finlay. Gillian grew up in Dalkeith, just south of Edinburgh. She studied French and German at the University of Aberdeen and also spent some time living in Grenoble, France and Cologne, Germany.

As a student, Gillian helped to organise a convoy of educational aid to Kosovo. In Kosovo, Gillian stayed in the house of a teacher who had been forced to teach 'underground' as the Muslim children living in Kosovo were denied the right to education. She was also active in the campaign fighting against the introduction of Tuition Fees for students. It was during this campaign that Gillian became more interested in the Liberal Democrat party and, particularly, their approach towards the right of free education for everyone.