00:00I thank the First Minister for the support that she has given to me and the family, not
00:07just in the past couple of weeks but in inquiring after Christina's health for so many months.
00:12I also thank the First Minister not just for the same thing—the constant concern for
00:18Christina's health, but in the way that he was able to manage her absence from government
00:22and, crucially, his two visits to the hospital, the first of which had a huge impact on Christina's
00:29who were there at that time. I also thank the members of the SNP group for their support
00:34over many months. I know that you are all hurting, as we are. I thank the party leaders
00:42and all those who have spoken. There is not a great deal left for me to say. You have
00:47hit all the right notes on what Christina was and what she was about.
00:51It might be invidious to do so, but I can mention three people very quickly. Kirstie,
00:55who was mentioned in the coffee bar, was always keen to hear about how Christina was doing.
01:02To Edward Mountain, similarly, who always inquired after Christina, notwithstanding his own
01:08issues with cancer. I also thank Jamie Greene, not just for what he said today but for the
01:12fantastic card that he sent to Christina. He will know and I will know what was in that,
01:16and that will stay between us. I also thank our constituents and all the groups who have
01:22been in touch. That was an absolutely incredible response. Christina was everything that people
01:26have said today. I know that sometimes, after somebody passes away, lots are said,
01:31but she was all those things. She was a feminist and a staunch supporter of the LGBTQ community.
01:37She was a staunch supporter of travellers when many people were not.
01:41I know that it is contentious, but it would not be true not to say it. Christina was a trans ally.
01:47Christina supported trans people.
01:53She was also—it is no surprise to anybody to hear me say this—a very staunch supporter
01:58of independence. Christina loved Scotland, its people, its culture and its history,
02:04but she also knew that many other people who did not believe in independence felt similarly
02:09strong about their country. That is why we saw such an absence of malice
02:14and vindictiveness on the part of Christina.
02:20It has been mentioned that Christina came from Easterhouse. She was extremely proud of the fact
02:25that she came from Easterhouse. She received some really snide comments when she was first elected,
02:29misogynistic and classist comments, but they just did not know the real Christina.
02:36I think that is where she imbibed her values of social justice.
02:40Many of us learn these things quite legitimately when we read or learn about politics. It was
02:45instinctive to Christina. It is who she was. She was also a very gifted artist. She was a poet.
02:52She wrote a fantastic poem for our granddaughter Maeve when she was born.
02:57She loved to travel. She loved to swim in a warm ocean. She was not for sitting by the pool. She
03:01wanted to be in the ocean. She loved science. There was a tribute to her paid by David Blanchflair,
03:05the astrophysicist, on Twitter, saying that he felt he had lost somebody who was
03:09extremely intelligent and fearless. She was also a very gifted photographer.
03:15I always thought Christina to be a stunningly attractive woman.
03:24The real measure of Christina was not where she looked, but it was in her mind and in her heart.
03:31She never walked by on the other side. The number of times that she was out
03:34when she was stopped by somebody in the street, either giving them money or food or her time.
03:39One time in Campbeltown, a drunken man had fallen down. She would not leave his side
03:43until the ambulance came. The newly born mother had just given birth to a child who had no money
03:49for a pram that Christina bought and also the bedclothes to go with it. Christina loved a cup
03:55of tea and two black sweeteners. In hospital, I had asked Christina if she wanted a cup of tea.
04:09It was not a great time for Christina. Unusually, I was the only person in the hospital at the time.
04:14She said,
04:15Yes, please, but make sure everyone else has got one. There was nobody else in the room,
04:19but that was their instinct.
04:21I want to reassure people—those who loved her most—that during the last week or so,
04:28Christina was never on her own. At every point, 24 hours a day, members of her family
04:40sat with her, held her hand and told her that she was loved. She was surrounded by love in that
04:45last week. When Christina was first elected and went to an event in central Scotland,
04:51she met an MP from a different party. Rather than meet him, she saw him—a large man—harrying
04:57this young woman, who was a Scottish Government comms officer, shouting at her. She stormed over
05:03and stood between them. She said,
05:06Your sighs, your shouting and your toxic masculinity don't intimidate me,
05:10so you can back off.
05:11I think it was back off that she said. It was something like that.
05:15If you were going to intimidate a woman, you did not do it around Christina McKelvie.
05:20She was, as we have heard, very proud to be an MSP and a Government minister.
05:24When she became a minister, I wrote on Twitter a line from Simon Garfunkel,
05:28Sail on, silver girl, your time has come to shine.
05:31And Christina sparkled, and she shined.
05:35In the chamber, she never hated anybody. I remember the worst thing I heard her say was
05:39to a Tory MSP. She asked the question why, if he had come to engage her in a battle of wits,
05:45he had come unarmed. It was meant in good humour, and it was taken in good humour.
05:51Liz Smith will remember the endless Thursday morning education debates in that session.
05:58In one of her contributions, Christina managed to get virtually every ABA title
06:03into her speech. She was great fun.
06:07Christina and I first spoke in 2001. I do not remember it, but Christina,
06:12who had a mind like a steel trap, remembers it. I was the leader of Clackmannanshire Council.
06:16Two of the members she was representing had been arrested at Fazz Lane, and she wanted
06:20to make sure that their employer, Clackmannanshire Council, did not further penalise them,
06:24which she made sure did not happen. She recollects saying that she found me to be
06:28opinionated and cocky, which just shows that sometimes Christina could be wrong as well.
06:35In 2007, at a pre-election rally for SNP candidates in Napier, I thought she was
06:42a stunningly attractive woman and way out of my league.
06:47I became a committee convener, and Christina was on the committee. I found a way to try
06:51and get on her good side. She hated being called Christine, and I apologise to Christine Graham
06:55if she is here. I was the person who jumped down the throat of anybody who had the audacity to
07:00call her Christine, and I bid to try and impress her as her defender. I am not sure if it worked,
07:05but it was 18 months before we got together, and Christina's phrase for that is,
07:10We found love in a hopeless place.
07:15I have often thought of Christina as a star. People have talked about how much fun she was.
07:19To me, she was glamorous, sparkly and fun. Of course, planets revolve around stars. I just
07:28do not know what a planet does when its star has been extinguished.
07:36She was a credit to her two sons, Lewis and Jack. She took such pride in her grandchildren,
07:43Leo and Maeve, and they will never be allowed to forget Christina. She was a credit to her
07:49community, to Easterhouse, to the Scottish Government, to this Parliament and to Scotland.
07:53She was more beautiful inside than outside.
07:57Apart from my children, Christina McKelvie was the best thing that ever happened to me.
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