Anne Begg

Dame Margaret Anne BeggDBE (born 6 December 1955) is a British Labour Party politician, who served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Aberdeen South between 1997 and 2015.

She was the first permanent wheelchair user in the House of Commons since 1880.

Education and career

Begg was educated at the Damacre Primary School (Brechin), Brechin High School and the University of Aberdeen where she earned an MA in History and Politics. From Aberdeen College of Education (merged with the Dundee College of Education in 1987 to become the Northern College of Education then became the Faculty of Education of the University of Aberdeen in December 2001), she gained a Secondary Teaching Certificate in 1978.

From 1978 she taught history and English at the Webster's High School in Kirriemuir. She joined the Labour Party in 1983. In 1988 she became the principal teacher of English at the Arbroath Academy. In the same year she won the Disabled Scot of the Year Award.

Begg was selected to stand for election for Labour through an all-women shortlist. and when Aberdeen South (like many seats) fell to Labour in their landslide victory at the 1997 general election, she was listed as one of the Blair Babes. She defeated the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Scottish Office Raymond Robertson. In 2001, she became the first Labour MP to retain the Aberdeen South seat.