Career
She attended the University of Glasgow and the University of Strathclyde, and was a teacher before being elected as Member of Parliament (MP) for East Dunbartonshire at the October 1974 election, by just 22 votes, when she was known as Margaret Bain. At one point she burst into tears in the House of Commons when a devolution proposal was defeated. With the downturn in SNP electoral fortunes at the 1979 Election she lost her seat in the House of Commons. She unsuccessfully contested the Strathkelvin and Bearsden constituency at the 1983 Election.
She then worked as a freelance journalist before being re-elected to Westminster at the 1987 election to represent Moray, by which time she was known as Margaret Ewing. She held this seat until standing down at the 2001 general election to concentrate on Holyrood. She stood for the leadership of the SNP in 1990 but lost out to Alex Salmond despite the backing of many prominent SNP members (such as Jim Sillars).
In 1999, at the first Scottish Parliament Election she was returned to represent Moray. She was returned again in 2003.
In August 2005 she had announced that she was not seeking reelection in the 2007 Scottish Parliament elections. The SNP comfortably retained her vacant seat at the by-election which took place on 27 April 2006.
Read more about this topic: Margaret Ewing
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