EAST Renfrewshire councillor Paul O’Kane has told of his pride after becoming the first openly gay man to represent Labour at Holyrood.
Mr O’Kane, currently the council’s deputy leader, was elected to the Scottish Parliament on Saturday via the West Scotland regional list.
And he hopes his success will show young people they “can be anything they want to be.”
Following a “whirlwind” few days, he has been settling in at Holyrood and believes there is real excitement around a “very diverse” parliament.
Mr O’Kane wants to focus on Covid-19 recovery, strong public services, and equalities.
He also said a gay male Labour MSP has “been a long time coming” – highlighting how the party had scrapped Section 28, which banned the promotion of homosexuality in schools.
“It should have happened a lot sooner,” added Mr O’Kane. “I’m certainly not going be the last.”
And, in a message to the LGBT community, he said: “No matter what happens, things do get better.”
The new parliament also has the first permanent wheelchair-using MSP –Labour’s Pam Duncan-Glancy – and the first two women of colour – Kaukab Stewart, of the SNP, and Pam Gosal, of the Tories.
Ms Gosal is also the first Sikh to be elected to the Scottish Parliament.
Mr O’Kane was the fourth Labour candidate on the West Scotland list but moved up to third after Jackie Baillie held onto her Dumbarton seat.
Labour then picked up three seats on the list, meaning Mr O’Kane was elected alongside Neil Bibby and Katy Clark.
He admits to having “butterflies” in his stomach as he waited for the result to be announced but said he had people “cleverer than me crunching the numbers” and became more confident as Saturday progressed.
“So many people put their trust in the Labour Party,” said Mr O’Kane. “For me, it’s about how do I repay that trust?”
Overall, Labour dropped two seats at the Holyrood election but Mr O’Kane believes party leader Anas Sarwar has steadied the ship.
He said there needs to be a consensus around Covid-19 recovery, as the pandemic has affected everyone’s lives.
Quoting Mr Sarwar, he added that people should work together – and it “doesn’t matter if you’re Yes, No, Leave or Remain.”
Mr O’Kane has worked alongside the Nationalists at council level, serving as deputy while the SNP’s Tony Buchanan is leader in East Renfrewshire.
He intends to continue to represent his constituents in the Newton Mearns North and Neilston council ward for his whole five-year term, which runs until next May.
However, plans for how he will operate will be brought to a full council meeting in June – and he could step down as deputy leader.
Mr O’Kane added: “I think the deputy leader role needs to have someone who concentrates all their time to it.”
