William John Graham Scott (born 7 June 1951) is a
Scottish
Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including:
*Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland
*Scottish English
*Scottish national identity, the Scottish ide ...
farmer and former
Scottish Conservative politician. He was the
Member of the Scottish Parliament
Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP; gd, Ball Pàrlamaid na h-Alba, BPA; sco, Memmer o the Scots Pairliament, MSP) is the title given to any one of the 129 individuals elected to serve in the Scottish Parliament.
Electoral system
The add ...
(MSP) for
Ayr from
2000
File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from ...
to
2021
File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October 2021 coup in Sudan; Crowd shortly after t ...
.
Background
Born in
Girvan
Girvan ( gd, Inbhir Gharbhain, "mouth of the River Girvan") is a burgh and harbour town in Carrick, South Ayrshire, Scotland. Girvan is situated on the east coast of the Firth of Clyde, with a population of about 6,450. It lies south of Ayr, ...
, Scott was educated at
Barrhill Primary in
South Ayrshire
South Ayrshire ( sco, Sooth Ayrshire; gd, Siorrachd Àir a Deas, ) is one of thirty-two council areas of Scotland, covering the southern part of Ayrshire. It borders onto Dumfries and Galloway, East Ayrshire and North Ayrshire. On 30 June ...
and
George Watson's College in
Edinburgh
Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...
. He has a Bachelor of Science degree for Civil Engineering from the
University of Edinburgh
The University of Edinburgh ( sco, University o Edinburgh, gd, Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in post-nominals) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Granted a royal charter by King James VI in 15 ...
.
Scott played for the
Wigtownshire Rugby Club from 1969 to 1973, a hobby he enjoys to this day.
Scott established the Ayrshire Farmers Market in 1999 and founded the Scottish Association for Farmers in 2001. He tends to his farm in Balkissock outside of
Ballantrae
Ballantrae is a community in Carrick, South Ayrshire, Scotland. The name probably comes from the Scottish Gaelic ''Baile na Tràgha'', meaning the "town by the beach". Ballantrae has a primary school. The beach consists of shingle and sand and ...
in South Ayrshire, whilst also owning a flat in the town of Ayr.
Political career
Scott stood as the Conservative candidate for
Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley at the
1999 Scottish Parliament election
The first election to the devolved Scottish Parliament, to fill 129 seats, took place on 6 May 1999. Following the election, the Labour Party and the Liberal Democrats formed the Scottish Executive, with Labour Member of the Scottish Parliam ...
, finishing third behind Labour and the Scottish National Party with 8,123 votes (19.8%). He has served as constituency MSP for Ayr since winning the constituency in a
by-election in 2000. He was returned to Parliament at the
2003 Scottish Parliamentary election and again, with an increased majority, at the
2007 Scottish Parliamentary election. At the
2011 and
2016 elections
The following elections occurred in the year 2016.
Africa
Benin Republic
*2016 Beninese presidential election 6 March 2016
Cape Verde
* 2016 Cape Verdean presidential election 2 October 2016
Chad
* 2016 Chadian presidential election 10 A ...
he retained the constituency with a reduced majority, despite seeing his vote increase by 3,564 between 2007 and 2016.
Scott declared his support for
Ruth Davidson
Ruth Elizabeth Davidson, Baroness Davidson of Lundin Links (born 10 November 1978), is a Scottish politician who served as Leader of the Scottish Conservative Party from 2011 to 2019 and Leader of the Scottish Conservative Party in the Scottis ...
in the
Scottish Conservative leader election. On 11 May 2011, he was elected by MSPs to serve as one of the two Deputy Presiding Officers of the Scottish Parliament. He served until 2016 when he was unsuccessful in his attempt to become
Presiding Officer.
Scott was the Scottish Conservative spokesperson for sustainable development between 2016 and 2021, having previously served as spokesperson for the environment from 2001 until 2003 and as spokesperson on rural affairs from 2007 until 2011. He was appointed as the
convener of the Delegated Powers and Law Reform Committee of the Scottish Parliament in June 2016. In 2021, he lost his seat to the
Scottish National Party
The Scottish National Party (SNP; sco, Scots National Pairty, gd, Pàrtaidh Nàiseanta na h-Alba ) is a Scottish nationalist and social democratic political party in Scotland. The SNP supports and campaigns for Scottish independence from ...
's
Siobhian Brown.
Scott was appointed
Officer of the Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations,
and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...
(OBE) in the
2022 New Year Honours for political and public service.
Controversy
Scott came under fire after it emerged that he profited from wind energy investments – despite his party having previously opposed the development of such projects. The Register of Interests for Mr Scott states: "From 6 March 2009 part of the Farm’s income comes from a contract with CRE Energy Ltd to provide access over the farm for the purpose of building and maintaining a windfarm".
References
External links
*
Profileat www.southayrshireconservatives.org.uk
{{DEFAULTSORT:Scott, John
1951 births
Living people
People from Girvan
Scottish farmers
People educated at George Watson's College
Alumni of the University of Edinburgh
Conservative MSPs
Members of the Scottish Parliament 1999–2003
Members of the Scottish Parliament 2003–2007
Members of the Scottish Parliament 2007–2011
Members of the Scottish Parliament 2011–2016
Members of the Scottish Parliament 2016–2021
Deputy Presiding Officers of the Scottish Parliament
Officers of the Order of the British Empire