James McGregor Fairlie 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 has been Minister for Agriculture and Connectivity since February 2024. Fairlie has also served as the

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 Perthshire South and Kinross-shire since May 2021.

Early life

In 1996, as a sheep farmer, Fairlie launched Perth Farmers' Market. His father Jim Fairlie was a senior member of the SNP for several decades and stood as a candidate without success in several elections; his brother

Andrew Andrew is the English form of the given name, common in many countries. The word is derived from the , ''Andreas'', itself related to ''aner/andros'', "man" (as opposed to "woman"), thus meaning "manly" and, as consequence, "brave", "strong", "c ...

(died 2019) was a renowned chef.

Political career

Fairlie was a co-founder of Farmers4Yes, a pro-

Scottish independence Scottish independence (; ) is the idea of Scotland regaining its independence and once again becoming a sovereign state, independent from the United Kingdom. The term Scottish independence refers to the political movement that is campaignin ...

campaign group. In September 2020, Fairlie announced his intention to seek election to 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'. ...

. On 8 May 2021 he was elected as a

(MSP) for Perthshire South and Kinross-shire. In February 2023, he issued a statement explaining that he would continue to support

Kate Forbes Kate Elizabeth Forbes (born 6 April 1990) is a Scottish politician who has served as deputy first minister of Scotland, Deputy First Minister of Scotland and Cabinet Secretary for Economy and Gaelic since May 2024. A member of the Scottish Natio ...

in her campaign to become leader of the SNP, despite disagreeing with her views on social political issues like marriage equality and abortion rights. In February 2024, the First Minister announced that Fairlie would join the

Scottish Government The Scottish Government (, ) is the executive arm of the devolved government of Scotland. It was formed in 1999 as the Scottish Executive following the 1997 referendum on Scottish devolution, and is headquartered at St Andrew's House in ...

as Minister for Agriculture and Connectivity. The Scottish Parliament voted on 20 February to approve the appointment.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Fairlie, Jim Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Scottish National Party MSPs Members of the Scottish Parliament 2021–2026 Scottish farmers People from Perth and Kinross