Paul McLennan


Paul Stewart McLennan is a Scottish politician who served as Minister for Housing between 2023 and 2025. A member of the Scottish National Party, he has been the Member of the Scottish Parliament for East Lothian since 2021.
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Political career

He has served as a local councillor for the Dunbar and East Linton multi-member ward of East Lothian Council since 2007 having previously been an unsuccessful candidate in earlier elections to single-member wards, and was both the SNP group leader and the council leader from 2007 to 2012. He has been a board member of NHS Lothian, the regional offices of Scottish Enterprise and the Commission on School Reform.
McLennan is East Lothian's first SNP MSP, with the constituency having been previously held exclusively by Scottish Labour for 22 years.
McLennan is married to his wife Sharron, with whom he has two children, Scott and Kirsty. He is a lifelong resident of Dunbar.
In June 2025, McLennan resigned as Housing Minister. In his resignation letter he said that following a "a recent, though thankfully short, period of ill health" he believed that he should stand down. He had been appointed to the position by Humza Yousaf in 2023.
McLennan is the SNP candidate for the redrawn East Lothian Coast and Lammermuirs constituency in the new Edinburgh and Lothians East region.