New Glasgow Lord Provost commits to Malawi
09 August 2022
The SMP was delighted to meet with Cllr Jacqueline McLaren, the new Lord Provost of Glasgow, on the 8th August to discuss the Scotland-Malawi friendship. Lord Provost McLaren accepted the SMP’s invitation to serve as Hon Co-President of the Scotland Malawi Partnership, a role that successive Lord Provosts of the city have held since 2004.
The Lord Provost spoke of her own involvement in earlier Glasgow City Council Malawi initiatives and very kindly offered the continued support of her office to the bilateral relationship.
The SMP has over 130 members in the city of Glasgow, including 36 schools. The new Lord Provost has a strong interest in these school partnerships and the SMP will work with the Lord Provost’s office to increase the number of young people in Glasgow who have the opportunity to get involved in the Scotland-Malawi friendship, including through new digital channels.
The SMP is hugely grateful to Cllr McLaren and Glasgow City Council for their continued support. Since 2004 the Lord Provosts of Glasgow and Edinburgh have together served as the Hon Co-Presidents of the SMP, with the President of Malawi and HRH the Princess Royal serving as the Hon Co-Patrons.
A great strength of the bilateral relationship is the constructive synergy which exists between governmental and non-governmental Malawi links. Local government is a key element of this synergy, connecting civic activism with government, and the SMP is delighted to have 17 of Scotland’s 32 local authorities as members. Thanks to the leadership and support of successive Lord Provosts, Edinburgh and Glasgow (Scotland’s largest cities) are at the very centre of the bilateral relationship. We are hugely grateful for the use the Edinburgh and Glasgow City Chambers for SMP events and meetings.
Cllr Jacqueline McLaren was appointed Glasgow Lord Provost in May 2022. As Lord Provost, she serves as Lord Lieutenant and Glasgow’s First Citizen, in a role dating back to the 1450s.
The SMP is meeting the new Edinburgh Lord Provost on the 9th August.