Chou I-Pei Elected as Scottish Parliament Member in UK Local Elections, First Taiwanese Case【Interview】
In the UK local elections, Taiwanese-born Chou I-Pei was elected as a Member of the Scottish Parliament, marking the first time a Taiwanese person has achieved this. She was previously an Aberdeenshire Council member and intends to focus on promoting exchanges between Taiwan and Scotland.
📋 Article Processing Timeline
- 📰 Published: May 10, 2026 at 22:56
- 🔍 Collected: May 10, 2026 at 23:01 (5 min after Published)
- 🤖 AI Analyzed: May 10, 2026 at 23:04 (2 min after Collected)
Central News Agency
(Central News Agency reporter Chen Yun-Yu, London, 10th) The UK held local elections on the 7th, including a complete re-election of the Scottish Parliament, totaling 129 seats. The new members will be sworn in when the parliament opens on the 14th. Among them is a Taiwanese individual, Chou I-Pei from Aberdeenshire in northeast Scotland, making her the first Scottish Parliament member of Taiwanese origin.
This is the first time a Taiwanese person has been elected as a member of parliament since the UK implemented devolution and established the Scottish Parliament in 1999.
Before the vote count was completed on the evening of the 8th and Chou I-Pei's election was confirmed, she had already served as an Aberdeenshire Council member for four years.
In the Scottish Parliament, with the expansion of her constituency and entry into Scotland's highest level of public opinion and legislative bodies, Chou I-Pei will not only continue to voice the concerns of the people in her Northeast Scotland constituency but also intends to promote closer exchanges and cooperation between Taiwan and Scotland in areas such as economy, trade, technology, energy, education, and culture and arts.
Born in 1981, Chou I-Pei moved to Belgium with her parents, who were pursuing advanced studies, at the age of 8, and received French education in local schools. After marrying in 2012, she moved to the UK with her husband; in 2013, to accommodate her husband's work, they moved from England to Scotland and have resided there ever since.
Chou I-Pei has three children, the oldest nearly 12 and the youngest 8. After settling in the UK, Chou I-Pei primarily managed household affairs and educated her children at home until 2021, when her youngest child entered kindergarten. It was then, after being approached, that she decided to represent the Liberal Democrats and run in the Scottish local elections held in May 2022, winning a seat on the Aberdeenshire Council. At that time, all 32 local councils in Scotland were undergoing complete re-election.
"The cost of childcare in the UK is among the highest in Europe, and this needs to change," Chou I-Pei told the Central News Agency. After successfully being elected as a local council member in 2022, Chou I-Pei, who had previously almost exclusively focused on being a mother at home, suddenly had more people to care for. She admitted it was "really not easy" and that her life was very busy.
However, Chou I-Pei, who has been "enthusiastic about public welfare" since childhood and actively volunteered in primary school in Belgium, enjoys being busy with public affairs. Before entering politics, she participated as much as possible in community affairs in the UK, which led to her nomination to run later.
In an interview with the Central News Agency on the evening of the 9th, she said that for her, "entering politics" has the same initial intention as her volunteering since childhood; everyone is a part of society and needs to care more about society to make it better and jointly create a brighter future, which is not only for the abstract "society" but also for herself and the next generation.
Furthermore, Chou I-Pei said that another significant meaning of entering politics is "giving a voice to the voiceless." For her, politics starts with every individual, and towns and villages are the starting point of public politics. "People-centered" and "caring for everyone" are also among the main reasons she chose to join the Liberal Democrats. She and her party workers and supporters have been diligently working at the grassroots level throughout the year, rather than just appearing frequently during election season.
Chou I-Pei believes that the Liberal Democrats are a centrist party in the political spectrum, and the "middle way" that does not lean to the extreme left or right can cater to more people. While such an approach may not generate as much media attention as the right-wing Reform UK or the left-wing Green Party, it can lead to a longer and more stable path.
British election culture does not rely on passionate rallies, lively street canvassing, massive billboards or banners, or an array of promotional materials, but rather emphasizes spending time chatting with people door-to-door to understand voters' concerns and gain support.
While this election method seems "quiet," it may be closer to true public opinion and perhaps more brutal: dissatisfied voters can directly express their anger to specific parties or politicians, or even slam the door shut. Campaign team members of the ruling Labour Party once complained to the media that they often had to spend a lot of effort overcoming public antipathy towards party leader and Prime Minister Keir Starmer before they could truly engage in conversation.
Chou I-Pei said that during her Scottish Parliament election campaign, the most common concerns she heard from the public were infrastructure and public services, including education and healthcare.
In addition, economic and urban-rural development and energy transition are also important issues in northeast Scotland, including how to achieve a reasonable balance between "net-zero carbon emissions" and "national energy security."
Northeast Scotland is a key hub for the UK energy industry, and Aberdeen has long been known as the "oil capital of Europe." However, the rich oil and natural gas reserves in the local North Sea waters have faced significant suppression in development in recent years due to net-zero carbon emission goals.
However, several military conflicts around the world in recent years have repeatedly highlighted the importance of energy supply chain resilience; Scotland's oil and natural gas reserves can help the UK achieve a higher degree of "energy independence."
Chou I-Pei emphasized that carbon reduction must be gradual, and any energy development and supply plans should be reviewed according to scientific principles, with individual considerations, rather than being indiscriminately prohibited or given a green light.
Scotland has accumulated deep technical and human resources expertise in the fossil energy industry and has also expanded its development of renewable energy in recent years, including hydrogen energy, as well as wind and tidal power generation.
Chou I-Pei believes that cooperation between Taiwan and Scotland in the energy sector has great development potential, and the related technology and talent training cooperation are also issues she hopes to strengthen in the Scottish Parliament.
As for which committee she will join in parliament, this is still awaiting internal party discussions and the completion of internal parliamentary procedures. Committee chairs will be elected at the first meeting of each committee.
The Scottish Parliament election once again saw the Scottish National Party (SNP) win the most seats (58 seats). However, the SNP's seats decreased by 6 compared to the previous Scottish Parliament election held in May 2021, while Reform UK surged from 0 to 17 seats. The Liberal Democrats won 10 seats, an increase of 6 from the previous election.
Similar trends can also be seen in the Welsh Parliament. Although Plaid Cymru became the largest party, winning the second-highest number of seats.
(Central News Agency reporter Chen Yun-Yu, London, 10th) The UK held local elections on the 7th, including a complete re-election of the Scottish Parliament, totaling 129 seats. The new members will be sworn in when the parliament opens on the 14th. Among them is a Taiwanese individual, Chou I-Pei from Aberdeenshire in northeast Scotland, making her the first Scottish Parliament member of Taiwanese origin.
This is the first time a Taiwanese person has been elected as a member of parliament since the UK implemented devolution and established the Scottish Parliament in 1999.
Before the vote count was completed on the evening of the 8th and Chou I-Pei's election was confirmed, she had already served as an Aberdeenshire Council member for four years.
In the Scottish Parliament, with the expansion of her constituency and entry into Scotland's highest level of public opinion and legislative bodies, Chou I-Pei will not only continue to voice the concerns of the people in her Northeast Scotland constituency but also intends to promote closer exchanges and cooperation between Taiwan and Scotland in areas such as economy, trade, technology, energy, education, and culture and arts.
Born in 1981, Chou I-Pei moved to Belgium with her parents, who were pursuing advanced studies, at the age of 8, and received French education in local schools. After marrying in 2012, she moved to the UK with her husband; in 2013, to accommodate her husband's work, they moved from England to Scotland and have resided there ever since.
Chou I-Pei has three children, the oldest nearly 12 and the youngest 8. After settling in the UK, Chou I-Pei primarily managed household affairs and educated her children at home until 2021, when her youngest child entered kindergarten. It was then, after being approached, that she decided to represent the Liberal Democrats and run in the Scottish local elections held in May 2022, winning a seat on the Aberdeenshire Council. At that time, all 32 local councils in Scotland were undergoing complete re-election.
"The cost of childcare in the UK is among the highest in Europe, and this needs to change," Chou I-Pei told the Central News Agency. After successfully being elected as a local council member in 2022, Chou I-Pei, who had previously almost exclusively focused on being a mother at home, suddenly had more people to care for. She admitted it was "really not easy" and that her life was very busy.
However, Chou I-Pei, who has been "enthusiastic about public welfare" since childhood and actively volunteered in primary school in Belgium, enjoys being busy with public affairs. Before entering politics, she participated as much as possible in community affairs in the UK, which led to her nomination to run later.
In an interview with the Central News Agency on the evening of the 9th, she said that for her, "entering politics" has the same initial intention as her volunteering since childhood; everyone is a part of society and needs to care more about society to make it better and jointly create a brighter future, which is not only for the abstract "society" but also for herself and the next generation.
Furthermore, Chou I-Pei said that another significant meaning of entering politics is "giving a voice to the voiceless." For her, politics starts with every individual, and towns and villages are the starting point of public politics. "People-centered" and "caring for everyone" are also among the main reasons she chose to join the Liberal Democrats. She and her party workers and supporters have been diligently working at the grassroots level throughout the year, rather than just appearing frequently during election season.
Chou I-Pei believes that the Liberal Democrats are a centrist party in the political spectrum, and the "middle way" that does not lean to the extreme left or right can cater to more people. While such an approach may not generate as much media attention as the right-wing Reform UK or the left-wing Green Party, it can lead to a longer and more stable path.
British election culture does not rely on passionate rallies, lively street canvassing, massive billboards or banners, or an array of promotional materials, but rather emphasizes spending time chatting with people door-to-door to understand voters' concerns and gain support.
While this election method seems "quiet," it may be closer to true public opinion and perhaps more brutal: dissatisfied voters can directly express their anger to specific parties or politicians, or even slam the door shut. Campaign team members of the ruling Labour Party once complained to the media that they often had to spend a lot of effort overcoming public antipathy towards party leader and Prime Minister Keir Starmer before they could truly engage in conversation.
Chou I-Pei said that during her Scottish Parliament election campaign, the most common concerns she heard from the public were infrastructure and public services, including education and healthcare.
In addition, economic and urban-rural development and energy transition are also important issues in northeast Scotland, including how to achieve a reasonable balance between "net-zero carbon emissions" and "national energy security."
Northeast Scotland is a key hub for the UK energy industry, and Aberdeen has long been known as the "oil capital of Europe." However, the rich oil and natural gas reserves in the local North Sea waters have faced significant suppression in development in recent years due to net-zero carbon emission goals.
However, several military conflicts around the world in recent years have repeatedly highlighted the importance of energy supply chain resilience; Scotland's oil and natural gas reserves can help the UK achieve a higher degree of "energy independence."
Chou I-Pei emphasized that carbon reduction must be gradual, and any energy development and supply plans should be reviewed according to scientific principles, with individual considerations, rather than being indiscriminately prohibited or given a green light.
Scotland has accumulated deep technical and human resources expertise in the fossil energy industry and has also expanded its development of renewable energy in recent years, including hydrogen energy, as well as wind and tidal power generation.
Chou I-Pei believes that cooperation between Taiwan and Scotland in the energy sector has great development potential, and the related technology and talent training cooperation are also issues she hopes to strengthen in the Scottish Parliament.
As for which committee she will join in parliament, this is still awaiting internal party discussions and the completion of internal parliamentary procedures. Committee chairs will be elected at the first meeting of each committee.
The Scottish Parliament election once again saw the Scottish National Party (SNP) win the most seats (58 seats). However, the SNP's seats decreased by 6 compared to the previous Scottish Parliament election held in May 2021, while Reform UK surged from 0 to 17 seats. The Liberal Democrats won 10 seats, an increase of 6 from the previous election.
Similar trends can also be seen in the Welsh Parliament. Although Plaid Cymru became the largest party, winning the second-highest number of seats.