Ian Stewart Hudghton (born 19 September 1951) 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 who was President of the SNP from 2005 to 2020. 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 Scotland (1998–1999) and its successor constituency;
Scotland
Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...
from 1999 to 2019.
Political career
Hudghton joined the SNP in 1967.
He was a District and
Regional Councillor and the first elected leader of the unitary
Angus Council after its foundation in 1995/6. He had some success as an election agent for
John Swinney and
Allan Macartney.
He was first elected as a Member of the European Parliament in 1998, when he won his seat in a rare
European Parliamentary by-election, after the death of sitting SNP MEP
Allan Macartney.
Following the
2004 European elections, Hudghton became a member and Vice-President of the
European Free Alliance Group in the Parliament, which retained its own identity within the joint
Green-European Free Alliance Group.
He was a member of the Fisheries, Internal Market and Consumer Protection, and Transport and Tourism committees.
In September 2005, Hudghton was elected as President of the SNP, following the retirement of
Winnie Ewing.
He received a Lifetime Achievement Award at the inaugural SNP Annual Awards in November 2018.
He stood down as an MEP at the
2019 elections
The following elections were scheduled to occur in 2019. The International Foundation for Electoral Systems has a calendar of upcoming elections around the world, and the National Democratic Institute also maintains a calendar of elections in cou ...
.
See also
*
Alyn Smith (SNP) MEP
References
External links
Personal MEP website European Parliament historical profile
1951 births
Living people
Presidents of the Scottish National Party
People from Forfar
Scottish National Party MEPs
MEPs for Scotland 1994–1999
MEPs for Scotland 1999–2004
MEPs for Scotland 2004–2009
MEPs for Scotland 2009–2014
MEPs for Scotland 2014–2019
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