Steven Alexander Paterson (born 25 April 1975) is a former Scottish National Party (SNP) politician who served as the

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members o ...

(MP) for

Stirling Stirling (; sco, Stirlin; gd, Sruighlea ) is a city in central Scotland, northeast of Glasgow and north-west of Edinburgh. The market town, surrounded by rich farmland, grew up connecting the royal citadel, the medieval old town with its me ...

between 2015 and 2017. He was not re-selected by the SNP to contest the Stirling seat at the 2019 general election.

Early life and education

Paterson was born in Stirling Royal Infirmary on 25 April 1975. He is the elder of two children born to Peter Paterson and Janice Paterson (''née'' McGill). His father was an English teacher at St Modan's High School in Stirling as well as a local historian and his mother was a nurse with the local health board. Paterson was educated at

Cambusbarron Cambusbarron is a village in Stirling, Scotland. In the 2001 census, it had a population of 3,224. There is evidence of settlement at the site since the Bronze Age, and several forts dating from the Iron Age have been found near the village. One ...

Primary School and

Stirling High School Stirling High School is a state high school for 11- to 18-year-olds run by Stirling Council in Stirling, Scotland. It is one of seven high schools in the Stirling district, and has approximately 972 pupils. It is located on Torbrex Farm Road, ...

. He then studied Publishing at Robert Gordon University in Aberdeen and History and Politics at Stirling University where he graduated with Honours.

Political career

In 2006, he was appointed as Media and Communications Manager to the SNP MSP

Bruce Crawford Robert Hardie Bruce Crawford (born 16 February 1955) is a Scottish National Party (SNP) politician who served as Cabinet Secretary for Parliamentary Business and Government Strategy from 2011 to 2012, having held the junior ministerial positi ...

. He was elected to

Stirling Council Stirling (; sco, Stirlin; gd, Sruighlea ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city in Central Belt, central Scotland, northeast of Glasgow and north-west of Edinburgh. The market town#Scotland, market town, surrounded by rich farmland, ...

in the 2007 Stirling Council election for the Stirling East ward where he topped the poll with 1,821 first preferences. In the 2012 Stirling Council election he was re-elected, again topping the poll, with 1,278 first preferences. In January 2013, Paterson was appointed deputy SNP group leader at Stirling Council. On 15 January 2015, he was chosen as the SNP candidate to contest

constituency at the general election on 7 May. He came first after receiving 23,783 first preference votes with a 45.6% share of the vote to achieve a 10,480 majority over Labour where their incumbent MP,

Anne McGuire Dame Anne Catherine McGuire (' Long; born 26 May 1949) is a Scottish Labour Party politician who served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Stirling from 1997 to 2015. She was the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Scotland from 2002 ...

, retired. On 30 June 2015, he announced his intention to stand down as Councillor for the Stirling East ward. On 1 July 2015, Paterson made his maiden speech in the House of Commons. He was appointed to the SNP Westminster Group's Defence Team which at the time was led by SNP Defence spokesperson

Brendan O'Hara Brendan O'Hara (born 27 April 1963) is a Scottish National Party (SNP) politician. He was elected Member of Parliament (MP) for the constituency of Argyll and Bute in 2015. He has been the SNP Spokesperson for International Development since ...

. Paterson was defeated at the 2017 General Election by the

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...

candidate Stephen Kerr who gained the seat by 148 votes.

Controversy

Paterson made national news in late 2016 by claiming expenses of £40 for dog care (This was later found to be an administrative error by one of his staff - Paterson did not own a dog.) and £640 for a chair (later found to be not for 1 chair but for all office furniture including several chairs and desks) and for being the UK's fifth most expensive MP, claiming almost £100,000 in just one year. A local councilor accused Paterson of showing a 'cavalier attitude to taxpayers’ money' whilst others remarked this was more likely to be down to travelling the constituency's vast distances each week to attend surgeries.

Early life and education

Political career

Controversy

References

External links