Richard James Baker (born 29 May 1974) 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 ...

Labour Party politician who has served as the Member of Parliament for

Glenrothes and Mid Fife Glenrothes and Mid Fife () is a constituency in Scotland in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament, represented by Richard Baker of the Labour Party since the 2024 general election. The seat was previously held by Peter Grant of the Scotti ...

since

2024 The year saw the list of ongoing armed conflicts, continuation of major armed conflicts, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Myanmar civil war (2021–present), Myanmar civil war, the Sudanese civil war (2023–present), Sudane ...

. Baker was previously 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 North East Scotland region.

Early life

Baker was born in Edinburgh to an

Episcopalian Anglicanism, also known as Episcopalianism in some countries, is a Western Christian tradition which developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protes ...

priest father and English teacher mother, and is

godson Within Christianity, a godparent or sponsor is someone who bears witness to a child's baptism (christening) and later is willing to help in their catechesis, as well as their lifelong spiritual formation. In both religious and civil views, ...

to the then Episcopalian

Bishop of Aberdeen The Bishop of Aberdeen (originally Bishop of Mortlach, in Latin Murthlacum) was the ecclesiastical head of the Diocese of Aberdeen, one of Scotland's 13 medieval bishoprics, whose first recorded bishop is an early 12th-century cleric named Nech ...

, Bruce Cameron. He was educated at the independent

St. Bees School St Bees School is a co-educational fee-charging school, located in the West Cumbrian village of St Bees, England. In 1583, it was founded by Edmund Grindal, the Archbishop of Canterbury, as a free grammar school for boys. The school remaine ...

in Cumbria and at

Aberdeen University The University of Aberdeen (abbreviated ''Aberd.'' in post-nominals; ) is a public research university in Aberdeen, Scotland. It was founded in 1495 when William Elphinstone, Bishop of Aberdeen and Chancellor of Scotland, petitioned Pope Al ...

. He was the elected president of the

National Union of Students Scotland The National Union of Students Scotland is an autonomous body within the National Union of Students (United Kingdom), National Union of Students (NUS). It is the national representative body of Scotland, and serves to protect and caring about ...

from 1998 till 2000 and before that the senior vice-president (an elected, full-time

sabbatical officer In the United Kingdom, a sabbatical officer is a full-time officer elected by the members of a students' union (or similar body such as students' association, students' representative council or guild of students), commonly at a higher education e ...

post) at the

University of Aberdeen The University of Aberdeen (abbreviated ''Aberd.'' in List of post-nominal letters (United Kingdom), post-nominals; ) is a public university, public research university in Aberdeen, Scotland. It was founded in 1495 when William Elphinstone, Bis ...

students' representative council (now

Aberdeen University Students' Association Aberdeen University Students' Association (often referred to as AUSA) is the students' association of the University of Aberdeen, an ancient university in the city of Aberdeen in North East Scotland. It organises recreational activities; provide ...

) in the academic year 1995/96. He is a former Scottish press officer of

Help the Aged Help the Aged was a United Kingdom based international charity founded in 1961 by Cecil Jackson-Cole and Hugh Faulkner to help disadvantaged older people who were affected by poverty, isolation and neglect. It merged with Age Concern in 2009 to f ...

. Baker is a member of Unite the Union and the Co-operative Party.

Political career

He was first elected in the

2003 Scottish Parliament election The 2003 Scottish Parliament election was the second election of members to the Scottish Parliament. It was held on 1 May 2003 and it brought no change in terms of control of the Scottish Government, Scottish Executive. Jack McConnell, the Sco ...

, when he was the youngest sitting MSP. He is a former member of Labour's Shadow Cabinet in the Scottish Parliament having served as the Shadow Cabinet Secretary for Justice and Shadow Cabinet Secretary for Finance. In the early part of 2014, he was selected as the Labour candidate for Aberdeen North in the

2015 UK general election The 2015 United Kingdom general election was held on Thursday, 7 May 2015 to elect 650 members of Parliament (MPs) to the House of Commons. The Conservative Party, led by Prime Minister David Cameron, won an unexpected majority victory of ten ...

, after current MP Frank Doran announced his retirement. However, he lost in the election to

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, ...

candidate

Kirsty Blackman Kirsty Blackman (; born 20 March 1986) is a Scottish National Party (SNP) politician serving as the Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), Member of Parliament (MP) for Aberdeen North (UK Parliament constituency), Aberdeen North since 2015 Unit ...

. In June 2015, Baker announced he would stand in the 2015 Scottish Labour Party deputy leadership election. When the result was announced, he had come third of the three candidates in a close contest with 30% of the vote. In September 2015, Baker announced he would be stepping down from the parliament at the 2016 election. He instead stood down early in January 2016 to take up a job with Age Scotland. As a list MSP, his seat was taken up by the next person on the Labour list for the North East Scotland region, Lesley Brennan. In July 2024, he was elected Member of Parliament for the new constituency of

in the

United Kingdom general election United Kingdom general elections (elections for the House of Commons) have occurred in the United Kingdom since the first in 1802. The members of the 1801–1802 Parliament had been elected to the former Parliament of Great Britain and Parliame ...

. It was revealed that Baker is also a landlord and rents out four apartments.

General Election 2024 - Glenrothes and Mid Fife result

Personal life

Baker married Claire Brennan in 2004, with whom he has a daughter. Claire has served as 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 ...

since 2007.

References

External links

*
Richard Baker MSP – Personal website

Scottish Labour Party – Crime & Justice
{{DEFAULTSORT:Baker, Richard 1974 births Living people Politicians from Edinburgh Alumni of the University of Aberdeen Labour MSPs People educated at St Bees School Members of the Scottish Parliament 2003–2007 Members of the Scottish Parliament 2007–2011 Members of the Scottish Parliament 2011–2016 Scottish Episcopalians Scottish public relations people Labour Party (UK) parliamentary candidates Scottish Labour MPs UK MPs 2024–present