William Kidd (born 24 July 1956) is a

Scottish National Party The Scottish National Party (SNP; ) is a Scottish nationalist and social democratic party. The party holds 61 of the 129 seats in the Scottish Parliament, and holds 9 out of the 57 Scottish seats in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, ...

(SNP) politician, and

Member of the Scottish Parliament Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP; ; ) is the title given to any one of the 129 individuals elected to serve in the Scottish Parliament. Electoral system The additional member system produces a form of proportional representation, where ...

(MSP) for the Glasgow Anniesland constituency since 2011, having previously represented the

Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...

region from 2007 to 2011. He is currently the convenor of the Cross Party Group on

Nuclear Disarmament Nuclear disarmament is the act of reducing or eliminating nuclear weapons. Its end state can also be a nuclear-weapons-free world, in which nuclear weapons are completely eliminated. The term ''denuclearization'' is also used to describe the pro ...

and deputy convenor of the Cross Party Group on Human Trafficking. He previously served as chief whip from 2012 to 2018 and as senior deputy whip from 2007 to 2012. Outside of Holyrood, Kidd also serves as co-president of the international organisation Parliamentarians for Nuclear Non Proliferation and Disarmament (PNND). He has represented PNND at the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...

, including delivering PNND's address to the 10th NPT Review Conference in August 2022. In 2016 Kidd was named, in his capacity as co-president, in a nomination of PNND for the

Nobel Peace Prize The Nobel Peace Prize (Swedish language, Swedish and ) is one of the five Nobel Prizes established by the Will and testament, will of Sweden, Swedish industrialist, inventor, and armaments manufacturer Alfred Nobel, along with the prizes in Nobe ...

. He was singled out for his dedicated work campaigning against nuclear weapons.

Early life

He was a clerk at the Clydebank District Council, before enrolling as a mature student. Before entering politics, Kidd also worked as a clerk at the Western Infirmary and Glasgow Dental Hospital for many years.

Political career

Kidd was the SNP candidate at the 1987 general election for Glasgow Hillhead but finished in fourth place with 2,713 votes, losing to

George Galloway George Galloway (born 16 August 1954) is a British politician, broadcaster, and writer. He has been leader of the Workers Party of Britain since he founded it in 2019, and is a former leader of the Respect Party. Until 2003, he was a member ...

of the Labour Party. Shortly afterwards, he left the SNP to become a founding member of the Scottish Socialist Party (unrelated to the current party of that name). He stood for the SSP at the 1989 Glasgow Central by-election, but later re-joined the SNP. He stood again for the SNP at Cunninghame South at the 2001 general election but finished in second place with 5,194 votes to Brian Donohoe of the Labour Party. At the

2003 2003 was designated by the United Nations as the International Year of Fresh water, Freshwater. In 2003, a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition 2003 invasion of Iraq, invaded Iraq, starting the Iraq War. Demographic ...

and

2007 Scottish Parliament election The 2007 Scottish Parliament election was held on Thursday 3 May 2007 to elect members to the Scottish Parliament. It was the third general election to the devolved Scottish Parliament since it was created in 1999. 2007 Scottish local elections, ...

s, he was the SNP candidate for Glasgow Anniesland, finishing in second place on both occasions. In 2007, he was elected as an MSP for the Glasgow region. The following day, he was also elected as a

councillor A councillor, alternatively councilman, councilwoman, councilperson, or council member, is someone who sits on, votes in, or is a member of, a council. This is typically an elected representative of an electoral district in a municipal or re ...

for the Drumchapel/Anniesland ward of

Glasgow City Council Glasgow City Council (Scottish Gaelic: ''Comhairle Baile Ghlaschu'') is the Local government in Scotland, local government authority for Glasgow, Glasgow City council area, Scotland. In its modern form it was created in 1996. Glasgow was former ...

. In 2009, he decided to concentrate on his Holyrood role and stood down as a Glasgow City councillor. In

2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...

, he was elected as MSP for Glasgow Anniesland, defeating the Labour candidate by only seven votes. In the 2016 election, Kidd retained the seat, this time with a majority of 6,153 votes. He Kidd won the seat for Anniesland again in 2021, this time winning 17,501 seats ahead of second-placed Scottish Labour candidate Eva Murray's 10,932. On 12 March 2025, he announced he would stand down at the

next Scottish Parliament election The next Scottish Parliament election is required to be held no later than Thursday 7 May 2026, to elect 129 members to the Scottish Parliament. It will be the seventh general election since the parliament was re-established in 1999. Six partie ...

. He is a past convenor of the SNP's Glasgow Regional Association.

References

External links

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profile
at SNP website {{DEFAULTSORT:Kidd, Bill 1956 births Living people Scottish trade unionists Scottish National Party MSPs Members of the Scottish Parliament 2007–2011 Members of the Scottish Parliament 2011–2016 Members of the Scottish Parliament 2016–2021 Members of the Scottish Parliament 2021–2026 Members of the Scottish Parliament for Glasgow constituencies