Brian Monteith (born 8 January 1958) is a British politician, public relations consultant and commentator. As a member of the

Scottish Conservatives The Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party (), known as Scottish Tories, is part of the UK Conservative Party (UK), Conservative Party active in Scotland. It currently holds 5 of the 57 Scottish seats in the House of Commons of the United Ki ...

, he was a

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 Mid Scotland and Fife region from

1999 1999 was designated as the International Year of Older Persons. Events January * January 1 – The euro currency is established and the European Central Bank assumes its full powers. * January 3 – The Mars Polar Lander is launc ...

2007 2007 was designated as the International Heliophysical Year and the International Polar Year. Events January * January 1 **Bulgaria and Romania 2007 enlargement of the European Union, join the European Union, while Slovenia joins the Eur ...

. Later a member of the

Brexit Party Reform UK is a right-wing populist political party in the United Kingdom. Nigel Farage has been Leader of Reform UK and Richard Tice deputy leader since 2024. It has five members of Parliament (MPs) in the House of Commons and one membe ...

, he was a

Member of the European Parliament A member of the European Parliament (MEP) is a person who has been Election, elected to serve as a popular representative in the European Parliament. When the European Parliament (then known as the Common Assembly of the European Coal and S ...

(MEP) for

North East England North East England, commonly referred to simply as the North East within England, is one of nine official regions of England. It consists of County DurhamNorthumberland, , Northumberland, Tyne and Wear and part of northern North Yorkshire. ...

from

2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

to 2020.

Early life and education

Monteith was born in January 1958 in

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

, Scotland. He was educated at Portobello High School and

Heriot-Watt University Heriot-Watt University () is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. It was established in 1821 as the School of Arts of Edinburgh, the world's first mechanics' institute, and was subsequently granted university status by roya ...

in Edinburgh. He was a member of the

Federation of Conservative Students The Federation of Conservative Students (FCS) was the student organisation of the British Conservative Party from the late 1940s to 1986. It was created to act as a bridge between the student movement and the Conservative Party. It produced seve ...

. He also organised a successful campaign to take Heriot-Watt out of the National Union of Students which they subsequently rejoined.

Early career

Following university Monteith initially worked as a researcher for

Thatcherite Thatcherism is a form of British conservative ideology named after Conservative Party (UK), Conservative Party leader Margaret Thatcher that relates to not just her political platform and particular policies but also her personal character a ...

London-based think tank, the

Centre for Policy Studies The Centre for Policy Studies (CPS) is a centre-right think tanks, think tank and advocacy group in the United Kingdom. Its goal is to promote coherent and practical policies based on its founding principles of: free markets, "small state," lo ...

. Monteith moved on to work in the

public relations Public relations (PR) is the practice of managing and disseminating information from an individual or an organization (such as a business, government agency, or a nonprofit organization) to the public in order to influence their perception. Pu ...

arena for Michael Forsyth Associates – Monteith shared a flat in London with his mentor and boss Michael Forsyth. Later Monteith set up Leith Communications public relations company in Edinburgh. The company however went bust in the early 1990s owing over £50,000 to creditors. This crisis forced Monteith to withdraw from standing for the

Scottish Conservative Party The Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party (), known as Scottish Tories, is part of the UK Conservative Party active in Scotland. It currently holds 5 of the 57 Scottish seats in the House of Commons, 30 of the 129 seats in the Scottish Par ...

against Labour's John Smith in Monklands East in the 1992 general election. Monteith went on to be the leader of the unsuccessful Think Twice "No-No" campaign in the

1997 Scottish devolution referendum The Scottish devolution referendum of 1997 was a pre-legislative referendum held in Scotland on 11 September 1997 over whether there was support for the creation of a Scottish Parliament with devolved powers, and whether the Parliament shou ...

which opposed the creation of the

Scottish Parliament The Scottish Parliament ( ; ) is the Devolution in the United Kingdom, devolved, unicameral legislature of Scotland. It is located in the Holyrood, Edinburgh, Holyrood area of Edinburgh, and is frequently referred to by the metonym 'Holyrood'. ...

Scottish Parliament

Monteith was elected to the

as a

Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party The Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party (), known as Scottish Tories, is part of the UK Conservative Party (UK), Conservative Party active in Scotland. It currently holds 5 of the 57 Scottish seats in the House of Commons of the United Ki ...

list member for the Mid Scotland and Fife region at the 1999 election. After election to the Scottish parliament Monteith developed a reputation as a

disciple of former Scottish Secretary Michael Forsyth. He later argued in favour of giving more financial powers to the Scottish Parliament and wanted to move his party in a different direction ideologically and strategically. Between 1999 and 2003 Montieth was the Conservative Party's Education, Arts, Culture & Sport spokesperson. In July 2005 Monteith resigned though as the Finance Spokesperson, stating that he wanted the freedom to discuss policy matters that "cut across other policy portfolios". Later that year the Scottish Conservative Party withdrew the whip from Monteith when it emerged that he had been briefing the media against the then Scottish Conservative leader David McLetchie regarding questions over McLetchie's £11,500 of claims for taxi expenses. In 2006 Monteith announced he would not stand again as an MSP, saying he "would rather return to commerce than be a one-man band swimming against the treacly tide of collectivism in the Scottish Parliament".

European Parliament

Monteith was elected as an MEP for the

in the

constituency at the

2019 European Parliament election in the United Kingdom The 2019 European Parliament election was the United Kingdom's component of the 2019 European Parliament election. It was held on Thursday 23 May 2019 and the results announced on Sunday 26 and Monday 27 May 2019, after all the other EU coun ...

. During the election campaign, it was revealed Monteith's candidature listed a French address as his principal place of residence on his nomination papers, a practice allowed in European Parliament elections. He later revealed that he would be relocating to the United Kingdom.

Other work

Monteith is a former chairman of English-Speaking Union Scotland and has had two stints working for the Botswanan government. Monteith is also an acquaintance of indicted American lobbyist

Jack Abramoff Jack Allan Abramoff (; born February 28, 1959) is an American lobbyist, businessman, film producer, writer, and convicted criminal. He was at the center of an extensive federal corruption investigation, which resulted in his conviction and 21 ...

. Monteith is also in the course of writing a second book and writes regularly for many newspapers including a regular opinion column for the ''

Edinburgh Evening News The ''Edinburgh Evening News'' is a daily newspaper and website based in Edinburgh, Scotland. It was founded by John Wilson (1844–1909) and first published in 1873. It is printed daily, except on Sundays. It is owned by National World, whic ...

''. He is also well known for being a supporter of Hibernian. His two sons are presently on the books of Edinburgh City. Monteith is currently the editor of ThinkScotland.org and communications director of the lobbyists Global Britain. From December 2015 Brian Monteith was seconded to Leave.EU for the duration of the referendum campaign. He lives in the commune of Trevien in the department of Tarn in southern

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

References

External links

*
Scotsman archive of Brian Monteith commentaries
{{DEFAULTSORT:Monteith, Brian 1958 births Living people People from Portobello, Edinburgh Alumni of Heriot-Watt University Scottish public relations people Conservative MSPs Independent MSPs Members of the Scottish Parliament 1999–2003 Members of the Scottish Parliament 2003–2007 Members of the Freedom Association People educated at Portobello High School Brexit Party MEPs MEPs for England 2019–2020 Politicians from Edinburgh Writers from Edinburgh