Winnie Ewing was born to Christiana Bell Anderson and George Woodburn, a small business owner. There isn’t much information about her parents on the Internet yet.
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Winnie was educated at Battlefield School and Queen’s Park Secondary School. In 1946, she matriculated at the University of Glasgow where she graduated with an MA and LLB. Although relatively inactive in politics at that time, she joined the Students Nationalists.
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Image Credit: The Telegraph
Ewing was elected to the European Parliament in the 1979 elections, representing the Highlands and Islands. In the parliament, she acquired the nickname, Madame Ecosse because of her advocacy of Scottish interests in Brussels. In 1987, she became the President of the Scottish National Party, succeeding Ian Hudgton.
She also served as Vice President of the European Radical Alliance and by 1995, had become Britain’s longest-serving MEP. In the first elections to the Scottish Parliament, she was elected to serve as MSP for Highlands and Islands.
As the oldest qualified member, it was her duty to preside over the opening of the Scottish Parliament.
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