Patricia Marwick (née Lee; born 5 November 1953) is a Scottish politician who served as Presiding Officer of the Scottish Parliament from 2011 to 2016. She was a Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) from 1999 to 2016. Elected as a member of the Scottish National Party (SNP), she suspended her membership in 2011 upon her election as presiding officer, following the tradition of the presiding officer being nonpartisan. Born in Cowdenbeath and raised in Fife, she worked for Shelter Scotland before becoming a politician. In the first ever Scottish Parliament election, Marwick ran as an SNP candidate for the Central Fife constituency, but came second to Henry McLeish. Although she failed to win the seat in two elections, she was elected as an additional member for the Mid Scotland and Fife region. In the 2007 Scottish Parliament election, she defeated Scottish Labour's Christine May, and was elected to served as the MSP for Central Fife. Following the 2011 election to the 4th Scottish Parliament, Marwick was elected to the newly drawn Mid Fife and Glenrothes constituency. With the SNP's outright majority, she was elected as the fourth Presiding Officer of the Scottish Parliament. Marwick is the first woman to hold the position of office. As the Presiding Officer is a non-partisan role, she was forced to relinquish her party affiliation. She stood down from the Scottish Parliament in the 2016 election and the from 2016 to 2020, she served as chair of the NHS Fife board. Early life and career Patricia Lee was born on 5 November 1953 in Cowdenbeath and was brought up in Fife, one of seven siblings. She worked as Public Affairs Officer for Shelter Scotland, a charity for homeless people, from 1992 to 1999. Member of the Scottish Parliament At the 1999 Scottish Parliamentary election, Marwick was elected as a member for the Mid Scotland and Fife region. She served on the SNP opposition frontbench team as Deputy Business Manager (1999–2000), Shadow Minister for Local Government (2004), Business Manager and Chief Whip (2004–2005) and Shadow Minister for Housing (2005–2007). Marwick served as a member of the Scottish Parliament's Standards, Justice and Home Affairs, Equal Opportunities, Local Government and Communities committees and as convenor of the Waverly Railway (Scotland) Bill committee (2004–06). At the 2003 Scottish Parliamentary election she contested the Central Fife seat and, although she narrowly failed to win the seat, she was re-elected