Editing Sarah Boyack (section)

=== Member of the Scottish Parliament: 1999–2016 ===
Boyack was elected to the new [[Scottish Parliament]] in the [[1999 Scottish Parliament election|1999 election]] for the [[Edinburgh Central (Scottish Parliament constituency)|Edinburgh Central]] constituency. She was Minister for Transport and the Environment in the [[Scottish Executive]] from 1999 until 2000. Then, she was Minister for Transport and Planning from 2000 until 2001, during which time she introduced one of Scottish Labour's flagship policies of [[Free travel pass|free bus travel]] for people over 60 and disabled people.<ref name="lothianlife-20080522" />

Re-elected for her constituency in the [[2003 Scottish Parliament election]], Boyack was elected by MSPs as Convener of the Scottish Parliament [[Committees of the Scottish Parliament|Environment and Rural Development Committee]] in June 2003. In this role, she received the RSPB Goldcrest Award in November 2004 for the most outstanding contribution to the development of environmental policy in Scotland since devolution.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.rspb.org.uk/scotland/centenary/awards/index.asp|title=Centenary awards – The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051101191319/http://www.rspb.org.uk/scotland/centenary/awards/index.asp|archive-date=1 November 2005|accessdate=29 October 2014}}</ref> Later, in December 2005, she was named the Scottish Renewables Best Politician.<ref name="lothianlife-20080522" /> She stood down from the committee in January 2007, when she returned to the Scottish Executive as Deputy Minister for the Environment and Rural Development.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.scotland.gov.uk/News/Releases/2007/01/09112513 |title=New Communities Minister |publisher=Scotland.gov.uk |date=2007-01-09 |accessdate=2013-10-29}}</ref>

Boyack lost her Edinburgh Central constituency seat in the [[2011 Scottish Parliament election]] to [[Marco Biagi (politician)|Marco Biagi]] of the [[Scottish National Party]] (SNP). However, she was elected on the [[Lothian (Scottish Parliament electoral region)|Lothian]] regional list as one of seven additional members. Following a [[landslide victory]] by the SNP in the election, Boyack co-chaired a [[review of the Labour Party in Scotland]] with [[Jim Murphy]], commissioned by [[Ed Miliband]] in May 2011 and which reported back in Autumn of that year.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Wintour|first=Patrick|url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2011/may/11/ed-miliband-reivew-scottish-labour-party|title=Ed Miliband orders review of Scottish Labour party|date=2011-05-11|work=The Guardian|access-date=2020-03-14|language=en-GB|issn=0261-3077}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.thetimes.com/travel/destinations/uk-travel/scotland-travel/rivals-braced-for-labour-leadership-race-5xggh3z90p8|title=Rivals braced for Labour leadership race|work=[[The Times]]|access-date=2020-03-14|language=en|issn=0140-0460}}</ref>

On 28 October 2014, Boyack declared she would stand in [[2014 Scottish Labour leadership election|the upcoming election]] to become the [[Leader of the Scottish Labour Party]].<ref name="bbc-20141104">{{cite news |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-scotland-politics-29878869 |title=Profile: Sarah Boyack, Scottish Labour leadership candidate |publisher=BBC |date=4 November 2014 |accessdate=6 November 2014 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141110112652/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-scotland-politics-29878869 |archive-date=10 November 2014 |df=dmy-all }}</ref><ref name="bbc-20141028">{{cite news |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-scotland-politics-29802723 |title=Scottish Labour leadership: MSP Sarah Boyack is first candidate to stand |publisher=BBC |date=28 October 2014 |accessdate=6 November 2014 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141029033846/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-scotland-politics-29802723 |archive-date=29 October 2014 |df=dmy-all }}</ref> She came third to [[Jim Murphy]] and [[Neil Findlay]] with 9.24% of the vote.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-30461687 |title=MP Jim Murphy named Scottish Labour leader |publisher=BBC |date=13 December 2014 |accessdate=13 December 2014 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141213112020/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-30461687 |archive-date=13 December 2014 |df=dmy-all }}</ref>

She served as a member of the Parliament's Rural Affairs, Climate Change and Environment (RACCE) Committee during its scrutiny of the [[Land Reform]] Bill 2015. <ref>[[Rob Gibson|Gibson, Rob]] (2020), ''Reclaiming Our Land'', Highland Heritage Educational Trust, p. 219, {{isbn|9781527281813}}</ref>