Chapman was born in 1979 in Salisbury, Rhodesia. Her family had moved from South Africa in 1978 for her father to take up the post of director at the college of music. She grew up there, educated at a mixed-race school, with the country having achieved independence as Zimbabwe while she was an infant. Her mother was a nurse who worked as a theatre sister and delivered babies. Chapman moved to Scotland to study Zoology at the University of Edinburgh, graduating in 2001. She went on to complete a Master's degree in Environmental Management at the University of Stirling in 2003, then returned to Edinburgh University to study for a PhD in Geography. In 2015 she clarified that she had not completed her doctoral studies. As a student she had been an activist for Edinburgh University Students' Association.
Professional life
Chapman has worked in the west of Scotland in Environmental Management, and as a community carer throughout Edinburgh. Until June 2015 she was a lecturer in cultural geography, environmental ethics and social justice at Edinburgh Napier University. She retains a role in teaching through her support for the Educational Institute of Scotland. In mid-2015 she took up a post at the Muslim Women's Resource Centre in Dundee.
Political career
Chapman was first elected as a councillor for the Leith Walk ward in the 2007 City of Edinburgh Council election, becoming one of the three first Green councillors in Edinburgh. She was re-elected in 2012. Later that year she became the first ever convener of the council's Petitions Committee. During her time as a councillor, Chapman has advocated for causes that include: the living wage, participatory budgeting, better private tenancy rights, and better support for non-profits. She has also organised and voted against the privatisation of council services and cuts to services. In June 2015, she announced she was standing down as a councillor, to concentrate on the Scottish Parliament election that was to be held in May 2016. She was selected as the party's lead candidate for the North East region. In November 2013, she was elected unopposed as the Scottish Greens' female co-convenor, succeeding Glasgow councillor Martha Wardrop, and was re-elected to the position in 2016. Chapman was the party's lead candidate in the 2014 European Parliament election in the United Kingdom for the Scotland constituency. She was not elected. Chapman is a socialist, environmentalist, anti-cuts activist, peace activist and feminist. She has been active in a number of political campaigns, including the Radical Independence Campaign. In September 2014, Chapman became a member of the Smith Commission into further devolution for the Scottish Parliament. She stood in the 2016 Scottish Parliament election as the party's lead candidate for the North East region but despite the Greens increasing their number of MSPs from two to six, Chapman was not elected. In 2019, she was once again selected as the party's lead candidate for the European Parliament election for the Scotland constituency. She was not elected. At the 2019 Scottish Green leadership election, Chapman lost to Lorna Slater.
In November 2014, she was elected as Rector of the University of Aberdeen after a vote by the student body of the University. She was installed as rector at a ceremony in March 2015, having intimated that she would be active in the role. Chapman ran for a second term in November 2017, but the election was annulled after allegations that her supporters had torn down posters belonging to rival candidates, which Chapman and her campaign team denied. A leaked document indicated that the election committee disagreed with the university's decision to annul the results as Chapman had not been given a right of reply to the allegations. In the end, the election was re-run in February 2018. Chapman won re-election, defeating Aberdeen law student Israr Khan by a margin of 1,248 votes to 891.
Personal life
Her father, Neil Chapman, was a professional classical musician. She has a sister, Catherine. She plays the fiddle and enjoys exploring Scotland.
