Mark Ruskell

Mark Ruskell was born on 14 May 1972. He was educated at Stevenson College, Edinburgh, a further education college in the city. He studied environmental science and biology at the University of Stirling, graduating with a Bachelor of Science (BSc) degree, and sustainable agriculture at the Scottish Agricultural College and University of Aberdeen, graduating with a Master of Science (MSc) degree.

In 2003 he was elected to represent Mid Scotland and Fife. He sat on the Scottish Parliament Environment and Rural Development Committee and served as its Deputy Convenor. He lost his seat in the 2007 elections.

In May 2012 he was elected to represent the Dunblane and Bridge of Allan ward of Stirling Council in the Scottish local elections, the first time the Scottish Green Party has had a representative on the council. He stepped down at the 2017 elections to concentrate on his role as a MSP. His party colleague Alasdair Tollemache replaced him as Councillor for Dunblane and Bridge of Allan at the 2017 poll.

His political career has involved fighting numerous campaigns for the Greens including standing in the 2001, 2010 and 2015 UK Westminster General Elections for Stirling and in every Scottish Parliament election since 1999. He was re-elected back to Holyrood in 2016 for the Mid-Scotland and Fife region and was appointed as spokesperson for Climate, Energy, and Environment. He sat as a Member of the Environment, Climate Change and Land Reform Committee during Session 5. He was re-elected to Holyrood in 2021 and during Session 6 has been a member of the Net Zero Energy and Transport Committee and the Constitution Europe and External Affairs Committee. He held responsibility as spokesperson for Climate, Energy, Transport, Environment and Culture during the Bute House Agreement period when the Scottish Greens were in a power sharing agreement with the Scottish Government. Since June 2024 he has been spokesperson for Transport and the Environment.