Annabelle Ewing's Commitment to Gaelic Language and Heritage

Annabelle Ewing, the Scottish National Party candidate for Ochil and South Perthshire, has built a career around the belief that Scotland's linguistic diversity is a national asset. Among her causes, the revival of Scottish Gaelic holds a particularly visible place, shaping both her parliamentary activity and her community engagement.

For Australian readers, the effort to sustain Gaelic resonates with parallel movements closer to home. From language reclamation supporting the Wiradjuri people of New South Wales to community-led revitalisation in Melbourne and Brisbane, Australians know the long arc required to keep an indigenous tongue alive across generations. Ewing's approach mirrors what these communities have learned: that policy, funding, education and cultural pride must work together.

A lawyer by training and a former MP who has served Scotland at Westminster, Ewing brings a methodical, evidence-led style to her advocacy. She frames Gaelic as a living language with relevance for tourism, broadcasting, education and the creative economy, not a relic of the past.

The following sections explore how Ewing promotes Gaelic through her background, parliamentary work, partnerships, education advocacy, cultural events and her wider vision for an independent Scotland.

A personal foundation in Gaelic heritage

Ewing's connection to Gaelic runs through family history and the communities she represents. While Ochil and South Perthshire sits outside the Gaelic-speaking Highlands, many residents have family ties to those regions. She has spoken publicly about recognising this diasporic identity, where grandparents carried songs, prayers and place names into Lowland life.

She has acknowledged that fluency is not a prerequisite for advocacy. Like many Scots, she grew up surrounded by Gaelic words in the landscape, from hill names to clan lore, and she describes this as a quiet inheritance shaping her sense of responsibility.

In community meetings across Dunfermline, Alloa and Bridge of Allan, Ewing highlights small but meaningful ways residents can support the language, from attending local classes to backing Gaelic-arts programming.

Parliamentary work at Westminster

In the UK Parliament, Ewing has used every available avenue to keep Gaelic on the political agenda. She has raised questions about funding for Gaelic-medium education, the future of BBC Alba and the implementation of the Gaelic Language (Scotland) Act 2005. Her interventions focus on outcomes: how many new speakers are created, whether broadcasters meet their duties, and how local authorities support cultural infrastructure.

She has engaged with Bòrd na Gàidhlig, urging greater transparency in how grant funding reaches grassroots initiatives. For Perthshire constituents, this has meant follow-up correspondence about bilingual signage, publications and heritage trails in towns such as Crieff and Auchterarder.

Her style is forensic but courteous, producing a record of consistent engagement rather than token gestures, a pattern that aligns with the steady incremental work favoured by language revivalists in places such as Canberra and Hobart.

Partnerships with cultural organisations

Outside Parliament, Ewing maintains active relationships with the organisations that deliver Gaelic on the ground. She has visited Sabhal Mòr Ostaig, the Gaelic-medium college on the Isle of Skye, praising its model of combining higher education, creative industries and community learning.

Closer to her constituency, she has worked alongside Fèis movements, which provide tuition in traditional music and Gaelic song for young people, and has championed funding for youth programmes introducing children to the language through art, drama and sport.

Her involvement with Comunn na Gàidhlig has included campaigns for the protection of Gaelic place names and the promotion of Gaelic as a workplace skill. Ewing regularly points out that bilingual professionals are an asset in sectors from healthcare to tourism.

Championing Gaelic-medium education

Education sits at the heart of Ewing's Gaelic strategy. She has backed funding for Gaelic-medium primary provision and for training teachers who can deliver immersive education. In chamber debates, she has highlighted shortages of qualified staff and called for a long-term workforce plan.

Her position is that immersion works. Comparable contexts, including Māori-medium schooling in Aotearoa New Zealand and Welsh-medium education across the border, demonstrate that immersion produces confident bilingual citizens. Ewing uses this international evidence to argue for similar ambition in Scotland.

For families in Ochil and South Perthshire, Ewing has been a point of contact for information about Gaelic-medium schooling options, including travel-to-learn arrangements and after-school clubs. Her office also distributes learning packs during constituency surgeries.

Gaelic in the creative economy and broadcasting

A distinctive feature of Ewing's advocacy is her focus on the creative industries. She argues Gaelic has a commercial future in television, radio, publishing, music and digital content, and that the public sector should be a willing partner. Her interventions on BBC Alba and Radio nan Gàidheal stress the importance of consistent, ring-fenced budgets.

She has attended and promoted events such as the Royal National Mòd, where competitions in poetry, song and instrumental performance bring together learners and fluent speakers. Ewing sees these gatherings as both celebration and infrastructure, sustaining standards that motivate new learners.

Ewing has drawn attention to Celtic festivals in places such as Sydney and Adelaide, where Australian audiences of Scottish descent celebrate Gaelic alongside Irish and Welsh traditions. These festivals, she notes, demonstrate a global appetite for Celtic culture and offer opportunities for collaboration between Scotland and the Scottish-Australian community.

A shared international vision for language revival

Ewing's Gaelic advocacy is shaped by a global perspective. She has spoken about lessons Scotland can draw from language movements in Wales, Ireland, Aotearoa New Zealand and Australia's own Indigenous programmes. From community language nests in remote parts of the Northern Territory to revitalisation efforts in Perth and Darwin, there is a shared understanding that sustained political will matters.

Her argument is that independence would give Scotland the full powers to design a coherent national strategy for Gaelic. In the meantime, she presses for every available lever, from local authority duties to broadcasting policy, to benefit the language.

The result is an approach combining practical constituency-level work with a longer political vision. Ewing's commitment to Gaelic is woven through her legal background, parliamentary record and engagement with cultural organisations, showing how elected representatives can be genuine stewards of a nation's linguistic heritage.

If you share Annabelle Ewing's belief that Gaelic deserves a strong future, support her campaign for Ochil and South Perthshire today. Sign up for updates, volunteer your time, or donate to fund community outreach and voter contact across the constituency. Your involvement helps ensure that voices advocating for Scotland's languages, communities and independence are heard at Westminster and beyond.