HEARTBROKEN Keith Brown tearfully led tributes to his late partner Christina McKelvie as she was remembered during a poignant service at Holyrood this afternoon.
The SNP minister hailed her as “a star” during a motion of condolence to pay respect to the ex-Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse MSP, who tragically died last Thursday aged 57 after a brave battle with breast cancer.
The Scottish Parliament paid a special tribute to Christina McKelvie with a motion of condolence[/caption]
The late SNP Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse MSP died of breast cancer last week[/caption]
Keith Brown MSP led tributes to his partner as First Minister John Swinney remembered her as “one of parliament’s finest”[/caption]
Nicola Sturgeon hugged Mr Brown before describing Christina as an “incredible friend”[/caption]
The late mum-of-two’s colleagues and opposition politicians wore yellow roses as they paid tribute to her, with her sons, Jack and Lewis, and other loved ones looking on from the public gallery.
As Mr Brown entered the chamber, he was embraced by Nicola Sturgeon, who described her as a “remarkable human being” and an “incredible friend”.
In a touching tribute, the Clackmannanshire and Dunblane MSP said: “She was a feminist, she was a staunch supporter of the LGBTQ community, she was a staunch supporter of travellers when many people were not. And can I say, and I know it’s contentious, but it wouldn’t be true not to say it – Christina was a trans ally.
“She was also of course, and it’s no surprise for anybody to hear to say, a staunch supporter of independence. Christina loved Scotland, its people, its culture, its history, but she also knew that many other people, who didn’t believe independence, felt similarly strong about their country.
“And that is why I think you saw such an absence of malice and vindictiveness on the part of Christina. Also, it’s been mentioned that Christina came from Easterhouse.
“She was extremely of the fact that she came from Easterhouse. She received some really snide comments when she was first elected – misogynistic and classist comments.
“But they just did not know the real Christina. And I think that’s where she imbibed her values of social justice.
“Many of us learn these things when we read about politics or learn about politics. It was instinctive to Christina – it’s who she was.”
He added: “I have often thought of Christina as a star.
“People have talked about how much fun she was. To me, she was glamorous, sparkly and fun.”
Mr Swinney said that Christina was “deeply devoted to Scotland” and in a rare contribution in Holyrood Ms Sturgeon tearfully recalled her sharing stories of her sons, driving her home from Janey Godley’s funeral last November, and their close bond.
She said: ” When I made Christina a minister, I knew she would do a good job. But I did not anticipate the strength of the impact that she made.
As First Minister, whenever I encountered someone who worked in her policy field, they would invariably tell me that they loved her.
“No disrespect to my other ministers, but that was not normal. Second, she was the beating heart of her family.”
Scottish Tory leader Russell Findlay hailed her as a “force of nature”, while Scottish Labour deputy leader Jackie Baillie remembered her as “always smiling, always warm and, I found, always up for mischief”.
Scottish Greens co-leader Patrick Harvey remembered her as “a person who instinctively expressed compassion and kindness” and Lib Dem leader Alex Cole-Hamilton described her personality as “love, light and laughter”.
The service led to an outpouring of emotion from Christina’s colleagues and opposition politicians[/caption]
