Martin Docherty-Hughes


Martin John Docherty-Hughes is a Scottish National Party politician. He has been the Member of Parliament for West Dunbartonshire since 2015. He defeated incumbent Gemma Doyle, winning 30,198 votes and 59.0%.

Early life and education

Docherty-Hughes was raised by his parents in Clydebank, and began working from the age of 16. He studied at the Glasgow College of Food Technology, now City of Glasgow College, graduating with an HND in Business Administration in 1997. He subsequently obtained a degree in Politics from the University of Essex and attended the Glasgow School of Art for his master's degree. On finishing his studies Martin returned to Clydebank and worked for a decade for the West Dunbartonshire Community and Volunteering Services.

Political career

He joined the Scottish National Party in 1991, and was elected the following year as Scotland's youngest councillor to the-then Clydebank District Council on May 1992, at the age of 21, until 31 March 1996. He was elected to the third seat of the Anderston/City ward of the Glasgow City Council on 3 May 2012 polling 1,057 votes and 19.9% and exceeding the quota on the second count, becoming a Bailie until 14 May 2015.
In February 2015, he was selected as the SNP candidate for the West Dunbartonshire constituency in the 2015 UK general election. He defeated the sitting MP, Gemma Doyle. As a consequence of his election to Parliament, he stepped down from his position on Glasgow City Council.
He changed his name from Docherty to Docherty-Hughes after getting married in January 2016.