Updated 4 June with Scottish Green health team

Updated 10 June with Scottish Liberal Democrat health and care lead

The identities of the MSPs to be spokespeople for the five opposition parties at Holyrood have begun to be revealed.

The list includes health and care stalwarts as well as others newly elected to the Scottish parliament.

Scottish Labour

Jackie Baillie, Scottish Labour’s deputy leader, has been named by party leader Anas Sarwar as Scottish Labour’s Health and Care spokesperson, a role that she has had for several years.

Supporting her, Joe Long will be Community Care and Mental Wellbeing spokesperson while Irshad Ahmed will shadow Public Health and Sport.

Joe Long is a former academic who holds a PhD in social anthropology from the University of Aberdeen. He helped set up a research programme at the charity Scottish Autism and later served as the organisation's Director of Practice and Innovation.

Irshad Ahmed is an Edinburgh-based father-of-three and a local businessman. He started his first business, a convenience store, more than 30 years ago and has been heavily involved in community activism.

Reform UK

The joint second largest part at Holyrood, Reform UK has named Helen McDade as its health lead.

After graduating from Edinburgh University, Ms McDade worked as a veterinary surgeon then, following the birth of her children, campaigned at the Scottish parliament for better treatment and support for people with ME. She later worked in environmental organisations, leading a campaign to protect Scotland’s peatlands, helping secure recognition of Wild Land Areas as a national asset.

Scottish Greens

Kayleigh Kinross-O’Neill will be the Scottish Green’s lead health spokesperson supported by the part’s co-leader Gillian Mackay who will be the party’s Public Health and Sport spokesperson, and Cara McKee who will be spokesperson for Community Care.

A wheelchair user, after graduating from Edinburgh University Ms Kinross-O’Neill worked for Euan’s Guide, the Tripadvisor equivalent for disabled people, and Inclusion Scotland, as well as supporting Lorna Slater MSP in the Scottish Parliament.

Cara McKee worked as a social policy researcher for the Scottish government before moving to be a local librarian in North Ayrshire. She is a published poet.

Scottish Conservatives

Miles Briggs returns to the health and care role for the Scottish Conservatives. Mr Briggs is a longtime health and care campaigner and co-convener for many years of the parliament’s Cross-Party group on Cancer.

Scottish Liberal Democrats

Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Alex Cole-Hamilton named Adam Harley as health and care spokesperson.

At 18, Adam Harley trained as an actor at RADA. He was employed as senior communications officer with the Cystic Fibrosis Trust from 2018 to 2021 where he says in his election campaign materials that he "played a key part in the campaign to secure life-saving drugs for people with cystic fibrosis". Most recently he has been head of the parliamentary office for the Liberal Democrats at Holyrood.

Read more: Care Reform Bill: a step, not a leap; New social care minister appointed; Minister: NCS has exposed "polar opposite" views; Are ministers divided on council care service exit?

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