Colin James Clark (born 20 May 1969) is a Scottish politician who served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Gordon from

2017 2017 was designated as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development by the United Nations General Assembly. Events January * January 1 – Istanbul nightclub shooting: A gunman dressed as Santa Claus opens fire at the ...

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 ...

. He is 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 ...

Early life

Clark was educated at Turriff Academy, a comprehensive 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 ...

. He worked in business and agriculture until his election to the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the Bicameralism, bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of ...

Political career

During the 2015 UK general election campaign, Clark's

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, ...

opponent in Gordon, Alex Salmond, recorded in his diary: "The Tory candidate, Colin Clark, cuts an impressive figure but his politics are far too dry for this area. If the constituency were composed entirely of michty fairmers then he might be the ideal candidate. But it isn't and he is not." Clark then contested the East Aberdeenshire constituency at the 2016 Holyrood elections, and finished second to

Gillian Martin Gillian Anne Martin is a Scottish politician who has served as Cabinet Secretary for Climate Action and Energy since June 2025. She previously served as Minister for Climate Action between 2023 and 2025, and as Acting Cabinet Secretary for N ...

of the SNP with a 29% share of the vote. Clark was elected to Aberdeenshire Council at a 2016 by-election and re-elected in May 2017, shortly before the 2017 snap general election, at which he was elected as the MP for Gordon with a majority of 2,607 votes over former

First Minister of Scotland The first minister of Scotland () is the head of government of Scotland. The first minister leads the Scottish Government, the Executive (government), executive branch of the devolved government and is th ...

Alex Salmond Alexander Elliot Anderson Salmond ( ; 31 December 1954 – 12 October 2024) was a Scottish politician who served as First Minister of Scotland from 2007 to 2014. A prominent figure in the Scottish nationalist movement, he was Leader of the Sc ...

. In January 2019, Clark was appointed Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Department for Work and Pensions. He also sat on the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Backbench Committee. On 27 July 2019, Clark was appointed Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Scotland and a

Lord Commissioner of the Treasury In the United Kingdom there are at least six Lords (or Ladies) Commissioners of His Majesty's Treasury, serving as a commission for the ancient office of Treasurer of the Exchequer. The board consists of the First Lord of the Treasury, the Second ...

in the

first Johnson ministry The first Johnson ministry began on 24 July 2019 when Queen Elizabeth II invited Boris Johnson to form a new government, following the resignation of the predecessor Prime Minister Theresa May. May had resigned as Leader of the Conserv ...

. Clark was unseated at the

2019 United Kingdom general election The 2019 United Kingdom general election was held on Thursday 12 December 2019, with 47,074,800 registered voters entitled to vote to elect 650 Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), Members of Parliament (MPs) to the House of Commons of the Un ...

by the SNP candidate Richard Thomson, who won with a narrow majority of 819 votes.

Later career

Clark was blocked by

Ruth Davidson Ruth Elizabeth Davidson, Baroness Davidson of Lundin Links, (born 10 November 1978), is a Scottish politician. A member of the House of Lords since 2021, she was Leader of the Scottish Conservative Party from 2011 to 2019 and Leader of the S ...

from standing at the

2021 Scottish Parliament election The 2021 Scottish Parliament election took place on 6 May 2021 under the provisions of the Scotland Act 1998. It was the sixth Scottish Parliament election since the parliament was re-established in 1999. 129 Member of the Scottish Parliament, ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Clark, Colin 1968 births Living people Alumni of Heriot-Watt University People educated at Turriff Academy Politicians from Aberdeen Scottish Conservative MPs 21st-century Scottish farmers UK MPs 2017–2019