James Hume Walter Miéville Stone (born 16 June 1954) is a

Scottish Liberal Democrat The Scottish Liberal Democrats () is a liberal, federalist political party in Scotland, part of UK Liberal Democrats. The party holds 5 of the 129 seats in the Scottish Parliament, 6 of the 57 Scottish seats in the House of Commons and 86 of 1, ...

politician who has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross since

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 ...

. He is Chair of the

Petitions Committee The Petitions Committee is a parliamentary committee of the House of Commons of the United Kingdom. Its role is to oversee petitions submitted to Parliament, including both electronically through the UK Parliament petitions website, and traditi ...

. 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 constituency of Caithness, Sutherland, and Easter Ross. He held the seat from the opening of the Scottish Parliament in 1999, until he stood down in 2011. He served as the Liberal Democrat Spokesperson for Defence from 2019 to 2022 and has served as Spokesperson for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport from 2020 to 2024.

Early life and career

James Stone was born on 16 June 1954 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 ...

. He went to school in

Tain Tain ( ) is a royal burgh and parish in the County of Ross, in the Scottish Highlands, Highlands of Scotland. Etymology The name derives from the nearby River Tain, the name of which comes from an Indo-European root meaning 'flow'. The Gaelic n ...

, before being privately educated at

Gordonstoun Gordonstoun School ( ) is an elite co-educational Private school (United Kingdom), private school for boarding and day pupils in Moray, Scotland. Two generations of British royalty were educated at Gordonstoun, including Prince Philip, Duke of Ed ...

. While at school his parents founded Highland Fine Cheeses in 1967. He studied History and Geology at the

University of St Andrews The University of St Andrews (, ; abbreviated as St And in post-nominals) is a public university in St Andrews, Scotland. It is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, oldest of the four ancient universities of Scotland and, f ...

and graduated in 1977. Upon graduation, he worked in a variety of fields including fish gutting, on a building site, teaching English on the Italian island of Sicily and the oil industry. He previously served in the

Army Reserves A military reserve force is a military organization whose members (reservists) have military and civilian occupations. They are not normally kept under arms, and their main role is to be available when their military requires additional ma ...

Political career

Councillor

Stone was first elected to Ross and Cromarty District Council in 1986, serving until its abolition in 1996. He served as a member of the

Highland Council The Highland Council (' ) is the local authority for Highland, one of the 32 council areas of Scotland. The council is based at the Highland Council Headquarters in Inverness. History The Highland area had been created as an administrative a ...

from its creation in 1995 until his election as MSP in 1999. At the 2012 Local Government Elections, he returned to the Highland Council as councillor for the Tain and Easter Ross Ward.

Scottish Parliament

As an MSP, Stone was the Scottish Liberal Democrat Party spokesperson on Housing and the Deputy Party spokesman on Health. He participated in the UK television programme,

University Challenge ''University Challenge'' is a British television quiz programme which first aired in 1962. ''University Challenge'' aired for 913 episodes on ITV from 21 September 1962 to 31 December 1987, presented by quizmaster Bamber Gascoigne. The BBC ...

, as part of the Scottish Parliament's team. He stood down from the Scottish Parliament at the 2011 election. Jamie Stone

In 2016, he stood for election at the

2016 Scottish Parliament election The 2016 Scottish parliament election was held on Thursday, 5 May 2016 to elect 129 members to the Scottish Parliament. It was the fifth Next Scottish Parliament election, election held since the devolved parliament was established in 1999. It ...

, for

Caithness, Sutherland and Ross Caithness, Sutherland and Ross (Gaelic: ''Gallaibh, Cataibh agus Ros'') is a constituency of the Scottish Parliament covering the northern part of the Highland council area. It elects one Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) by the first past ...

which was largely his former seat after boundary changes were made in 2011. He finished in second place.

Parliamentary career

Stone was elected as the Member of Parliament for Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross at the 2017 general election, winning with 35.8% of the vote and a majority of 2,044 votes. On 16 June 2017, he was announced as the

Liberal Democrat Several political parties from around the world have been called the Liberal Democratic Party, Democratic Liberal Party or Liberal Democrats. These parties have usually followed liberalism as ideology, although they can vary widely from very progr ...

spokesman for Scotland. On 12 October 2017 he was transferred to the role of Armed Forces spokesman in a reshuffle. Official portrait of Jamie Stone crop 2

Stone had been re-elected for the Tain and Easter Ross Ward at the 2017 Local Government elections a month earlier. He resigned his seat on Highland Council after he was elected as an MP. Since his election, Stone has raised various local issues in the House of Commons such as the provision of healthcare facilities in the

Scottish Highlands The Highlands (; , ) is a historical region of Scotland. Culturally, the Highlands and the Scottish Lowlands, Lowlands diverged from the Late Middle Ages into the modern period, when Scots language, Lowland Scots language replaced Scottish Gae ...

. Stone has also sponsored early day motions to investigate allegations of abuse by

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on behalf of

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and has supported the rollout of free, early years childcare. During the 2019 general election, Stone campaigned with the Liberal Democrats slogan 'Stop Brexit', saying “This General Election is our best chance to elect a government to stop Brexit". He was re-elected as MP for Caithness, Sutherland and Easter at the 2019 general election with an increased vote share of 37.2% and a decreased majority of 204. At the

2024 general election This is a list of elections that were held in 2024. The National Democratic Institute also maintains a calendar of elections around the world. * 2024 United Nations Security Council election * 2024 national electoral calendar * 2024 local electo ...

, Stone was again re-elected, with an increased vote share of 49.4% and an increased majority of 10,489. On 9 September 2024, Jamie Stone was elected unopposed as Chair of the

Personal life

Stone is married and has three children, one son and two daughters, both of whom also attended the University of St Andrews. He is also a keen gardener and an expert on edible

fungi A fungus (: fungi , , , or ; or funguses) is any member of the group of eukaryotic organisms that includes microorganisms such as yeasts and mold (fungus), molds, as well as the more familiar mushrooms. These organisms are classified as one ...

References

External links

* *
Highland Fine Cheeses
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Stone, Jamie 1954 births Living people Alumni of the University of St Andrews Scottish Liberal Democrat councillors Liberal Democrat MSPs Members of the Scottish Parliament 1999–2003 Members of the Scottish Parliament 2003–2007 Members of the Scottish Parliament 2007–2011 UK MPs 2017–2019 UK MPs 2019–2024 UK MPs 2024–present Scottish Liberal Democrat MPs Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Highland constituencies People educated at Tain Royal Academy People educated at Gordonstoun