Chris Ballance (born on 7 July 1952) is a

playwright A playwright or dramatist is a person who writes plays. Etymology The word "play" is from Middle English pleye, from Old English plæġ, pleġa, plæġa ("play, exercise; sport, game; drama, applause"). The word "wright" is an archaic English ...

and Scottish Green politician who has been a councillor for the Aird and Loch Ness wards in the Highland Council since 2022. He was also a

Member of the Scottish Parliament Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP; gd, Ball Pàrlamaid na h-Alba, BPA; sco, Memmer o the Scots Pairliament, MSP) is the title given to any one of the 129 individuals elected to serve in the Scottish Parliament. Electoral system The ad ...

(MSP) for the

South of Scotland South of Scotland may refer to: * The southern portion of Scotland ** Geography of Scotland * South of Scotland (Scottish Parliament electoral region) * South of Scotland (European Parliament constituency) * South of Scotland District (rugby union) ...

region from 2003 to 2007.

Biography

Born in

Worcester Worcester may refer to: Places United Kingdom * Worcester, England, a city and the county town of Worcestershire in England ** Worcester (UK Parliament constituency), an area represented by a Member of Parliament * Worcester Park, London, Englan ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

, he owned and managed a second-hand bookshop in Wigtown, won a

Scotsman Fringe First Award The Edinburgh Festival Fringe (also referred to as The Fringe, Edinburgh Fringe, or Edinburgh Fringe Festival) is the world's largest arts and media festival, which in 2019 spanned 25 days and featured more than 59,600 performances of 3,841 dif ...

at the

Edinburgh Festival Fringe The Edinburgh Festival Fringe (also referred to as The Fringe, Edinburgh Fringe, or Edinburgh Fringe Festival) is the world's largest arts and media festival, which in 2019 spanned 25 days and featured more than 59,600 performances of 3,841 dif ...

in 1990, and wrote sketches for

Radio Scotland Radio Scotland was an offshore pirate radio station broadcasting on 1241 kHz mediumwave (242 metres), created by Tommy Shields in 1965. The station was on the former lightship L.V. ''Comet'', which had been fitted out as a radio station in ...

Political career

He was elected to the

Scottish Parliament The Scottish Parliament ( gd, Pàrlamaid na h-Alba ; sco, Scots Pairlament) is the devolved, unicameral legislature of Scotland. Located in the Holyrood area of the capital city, Edinburgh, it is frequently referred to by the metonym Holyro ...

2003 File:2003 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The crew of STS-107 perished when the Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated during reentry into Earth's atmosphere; SARS became an epidemic in China, and was a precursor to SARS-CoV-2; A des ...

. He held a seat on the Parliament's ''Enterprise and Culture Committee'' and was the Green's Parliamentary business manager and speaker on nuclear issues, culture, and peace. He stood again in the 2007 election but was not re-elected. In August 2007 he was appointed to the

Scottish Broadcasting Commission The Scottish Broadcasting Commission ( gd, Coisisean craolaidh na h-Alba, sco, Scots Braidcastin Commeesion) was established by the Scottish Government in August 2007. Its purpose is to conduct an independent investigation into television produc ...

established by the Scottish Executive. Ballance stood as a Green candidate in the Aird and Loch Ness ward for the

2017 Highland Council election The 2017 Highland Council election was held on 4 May 2017 to elect members of the Highland Council. The election used the 21 wards created under the Local Governance (Scotland) Act 2004; each ward elected three or four councillors using the sin ...

. He stood again in

2022 File:2022 collage V1.png, Clockwise, from top left: Road junction at Yamato-Saidaiji Station several hours after the assassination of Shinzo Abe; 2022 Sri Lankan protests, Anti-government protest in Sri Lanka in front of the Presidential Secretari ...

and was elected as a councillor.

Personal life

He is a member of the

Society of Friends Quakers are people who belong to a historically Protestant Christian set of denominations known formally as the Religious Society of Friends. Members of these movements ("theFriends") are generally united by a belief in each human's abili ...

(

Quakers Quakers are people who belong to a historically Protestant Christian set of denominations known formally as the Religious Society of Friends. Members of these movements ("theFriends") are generally united by a belief in each human's abil ...

Plays

* ''Water of Life'' (1989) * ''Bread and Water'' (1997) * ''Hope Deferred'' (1997) * ''Viva La Diva'' (2001) * ''It's My Party'' (2007)

References

External links

* Scottish Green Party MSPs 1952 births Living people Scottish dramatists and playwrights Scottish Quakers Scottish pacifists English Quakers English dramatists and playwrights Members of the Scottish Parliament 2003–2007 English male dramatists and playwrights People from Wigtown {{MSP-stub