Willie Coffey


William Lynch Coffey is a Scottish politician. He has been a Scottish National Party Member of the Scottish Parliament for Kilmarnock and Loudoun since 2007.
Coffey studied at the University of Strathclyde where he obtained a degree in Computer Science. He subsequently worked as Software Development Manager and latterly as a Quality and Risk Manager with Learning and Teaching Scotland before his election to the Scottish Parliament. He has been a councillor on East Ayrshire Council.

Politics

He was first elected to Kilmarnock & Loudoun District Council in 1992 and subsequently to East Ayrshire Council in 1999, 2003 and 2007 before retiring from Local Government at the 2012 Local Elections.
He is the brother of former Provost and Cllr. Danny Coffey who came within 1,210 votes of winning Kilmarnock & Loudoun in 2003 and died on 26 February 2006. Their sister, Helen, held Danny's ward with an increased majority and a 5.6% swing from Labour.
Willie Coffey won the Kilmarnock & Loudoun seat for the SNP in May 2007 with a vote of 14,297 and a majority of 1,342. He serves on the Scottish Parliament's Audit Committee and has campaigned on numerous occasions to protect the Scotch whisky industry, particularly in his own area.