Scott John Ainslie (born 27 December 1968) is a British politician and actor. He was elected as a

Green Party A green party is a formally organized political party based on the principles of green politics, such as environmentalism and social justice. Green party platforms typically embrace Social democracy, social democratic economic policies and fo ...

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

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

in the 2019 European parliamentary election. He held this role until the United Kingdom's withdrawal from the EU. Ainslie is also a councillor representing

St Leonard's Ward Streatham St Leonard's is an electoral ward in the London Borough of Lambeth, United Kingdom. The ward has existed since the creation of the borough on 1 April 1965 and was first used in the 1964 London local elections, 1964 elections. It returns ...

on the

Lambeth Council Lambeth London Borough Council, which styles itself Lambeth Council, is the local authority for the London Borough of Lambeth in Greater London, England. It is a London borough council, one of the 32 in London. The council has been under Labour ...

in London since 2014. Ainslie was the Green candidate for the new constituency of

Streatham and Croydon North Streatham and Croydon North is a constituency in Greater London represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It is currently represented by Steve Reed of the Labour and Co-operative Party, who currently serves a ...

in the

2024 United Kingdom general election The 2024 United Kingdom general election was held on Thursday, 4 July 2024 to elect all 650 members of the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons. The opposition Labour Party (UK), Labour Party, led by Keir Starmer, won a lan ...

, coming in second place with 17.1% of the vote.

Early life and education

Scott John Ainslie was born on 27 December 1968 in Edinburgh. He grew up in a

council flat A council house, corporation house or council flat is a form of British public housing built by local authorities. A council estate is a building complex containing a number of council houses and other amenities like schools and shops. Constru ...

, and has one younger sister. Ainslie graduated from

Edinburgh Napier University Edinburgh Napier University () is a public university in Edinburgh, Scotland. Napier Technical College, the predecessor of the university, was founded in 1964, taking its name from 16th-century Scottish mathematician and philosopher John Napie ...

with an economics degree. After graduating he studied at the drama school

Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts, formerly Mountview Theatre School, is a drama school in Peckham, south London, England, founded in 1945. Mountview Academy provides specialist vocational training in acting, musical theatre and actor musicians ...

on a scholarship. He moved to

Streatham Streatham ( ) is a district in south London, England. Centred south of Charing Cross, it lies mostly within the London Borough of Lambeth, with some parts extending into the neighbouring London Borough of Wandsworth. Streatham was in Surrey ...

in London in 1997.

Acting career

Ainslie is also an actor. His acting roles include appearances in independent horror film '' The Zombie Diaries'' (2006), anthology horror film '' Little Deaths'' (2011), and musical adaptation '' Local Hero'' (2019).

Political career

Ainslie has been a

Councillor in the

London Borough of Lambeth Lambeth () is a London borough in South London, England, which forms part of Inner London. Its name was recorded in 1062 as ''Lambehitha'' ("landing place for lambs") and in 1255 as ''Lambeth''. The geographical centre of London is at Frazi ...

since 2014, representing the

. From 2018 to 2022, he was the Opposition Lead on Standards and Monitoring. Since 2022, Ainslie has been leader of the Green Group on Lambeth Council. Ainslie stood as a candidate for the

in the 2019 European parliamentary election. He was first on his party's list and was elected as its only MEP in the

constituency. In the

European Parliament The European Parliament (EP) is one of the two legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and informally as the Council of Ministers), it ...

, Ainslie was a member of the

Committee on Transport and Tourism A committee or commission is a body of one or more persons subordinate to a deliberative assembly or other form of organization. A committee may not itself be considered to be a form of assembly or a decision-making body. Usually, an assembly o ...

, and was part of the delegation to the ACP–EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly. In the 2019 general election, Ainslie was the Green Party candidate for the South London-based seat of

, where he finished in fourth with 4.5% of the vote. Ainslie stood in one of the successors of the Streatham seat, Streatham and Croydon North in the 2024 general election, coming in second place with 17.1% of the vote.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ainslie, Scott 1968 births UK councillors 2014–2018 UK councillors 2018–2022 UK councillors 2022–2026 Living people MEPs for England 2019–2020 Green Party of England and Wales MEPs Green Party of England and Wales parliamentary candidates Green Party of England and Wales councillors Councillors in the London Borough of Lambeth British male film actors