Michael Marra was elected as a councillor in Dundee's
Lochee ward in 2017. He stood down at the
2022 Scottish local elections. Marra previously worked for Scottish Labour Leader
Iain Gray as an adviser prior to and during the
2011 Scottish Parliamentary election. In the
2015 United Kingdom general election, he contested
Dundee West but lost to
Chris Law from the SNP. In November 2020, Marra was confirmed as a candidate on Labour's regional list for the North East, coinciding with his sister
Jenny Marra announcing that she would not seek re-election to the Scottish Parliament. On 8 May 2021 Marra was elected as a
Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for
North East Scotland. He had been appointed as Education and Skills spokesperson in Scottish Labour's campaign cabinet just before the
2021 Scottish Parliament elections. He was retained as Shadow Cabinet Secretary for Education and Skills after the election. He has described himself as being part of Labour's "soft left". In 2021 Michael Marra won the Holyrood magazine “One For The Watching” award, a newcomer award judged by a panel made up of senior MSPs, journalists, and Scotland’s two top pollsters. Marra backed the UK Government’s decision to introduce means-testing for the Winter Fuel Payment, voting in the Scottish Parliament against calls to reverse the decision. He is a member of the
Fabian Society's executive committee.
2026 Scottish Parliament election Marra was selected as the Scottish Labour candidate for the
Dundee City West constituency at the
2026 Scottish Parliament election, having led the party's policy development work and written its 2026 manifesto. At the election on 8 May 2026, he received 6,365 votes (24.56%) in Dundee City West, placing second behind the SNP's
Heather Anderson, who received 12,722 votes (49.10%). Marra was subsequently re-elected as a regional list MSP for North East Scotland.
Injury Time campaign Since 2021, Marra has been campaigning for
Alzheimer's disease in footballers to be classed as an industrial disease. A study carried out for the Football Association and the Professional Footballers’ Association in 2019 discovered that there was a five-fold increase in Alzheimer’s disease among the former players. Marra had said: “The Scottish Government must recognise that these injuries are a form of industrial disease and allow these players to access the support they need, and deserve.” == Personal life ==