Jenny Young

Jenny Young is a Scottish politician who has served as a Member of the Scottish Parliament for Central Scotland and Lothians West since May 2026. She is a member of Scottish Labour.

Personal life Young is from Linlithgow, West Lothian. She read Modern and Medieval Languages (French and Spanish) at the University of Cambridge from 2013 to 2017.

Career Teaching Young worked as a teacher of French and Spanish in West Lothian Council secondary schools from 2018 to 2023.

Parliamentary research From 2023, Young worked as a researcher in the Scottish Parliament office of Michael Marra MSP, Labour MSP for North East Scotland and the party's Shadow Cabinet Secretary for Finance.

Candidate Party Votes Pauline Stafford Scottish National Party 13,594 Jenny Young Scottish Labour Party 8,007 David McLennan Reform UK 7,511 Peter Heggie Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party 2,091 Stephen Harte Scottish Liberal Democrats 1,937 Gus Ferguson British Unionist Party 227 Turnout 49.1%

Young was subsequently elected as a regional list MSP for Central Scotland and Lothians West, one of two Scottish Labour representatives for the region alongside Mark Griffin. It was her first elected office. On 26 May 2026, she was assigned responsibility for innovation, technology and tertiary education in the shadow cabinet of Anas Sarwar.

She made her maiden speech in the Holyrood Parliament on 4 June 2026 on the subject of children's education.