Steven Alexander Paterson (born 25 April 1975) is a former

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 ...

(SNP) politician who served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Stirling between 2015 and 2017. He was not re-selected by the SNP to contest the Stirling seat at the 2019 general election.

Early life and education

Paterson was born in Stirling Royal Infirmary on 25 April 1975. He is the elder of two children born to Peter Paterson and Janice Paterson (''née'' McGill). His father was an English teacher at

St Modan's High School St Modan's Roman Catholic High School is an S1-S6 Catholic high school in Stirling, Scotland. History In September 1933, St Modan's High School was officially opened by Archbishop McDonald of St Andrew's and Edinburgh. It was located in Barnsda ...

in Stirling as well as a local historian and his mother was a nurse with the local health board. Paterson was educated at Cambusbarron Primary School and Stirling High School. He then studied Publishing at

Robert Gordon University Robert Gordon University, commonly called RGU, is a public university in the city of Aberdeen, Scotland. It became a university in 1992, and originated from an educational institution founded in the 18th century by Robert Gordon (philanthropist), ...

in Aberdeen and History and Politics at

Stirling University The University of Stirling (, gd, Oilthigh Shruighlea (abbreviated as Stir or Shruiglea, in post-nominals) is a public university in Stirling, Scotland, founded by royal charter in 1967. It is located in the Central Belt of Scotland, built w ...

where he graduated with Honours.

Political career

In 2006, he was appointed as Media and Communications Manager to the SNP MSP Bruce Crawford. He was elected to Stirling Council in the

2007 Stirling Council election Elections to Stirling Council were held on 3 May 2007, the same day as the other Scottish local government elections and the Scottish Parliament general election. The election was the first one using seven new wards created as a result of the ...

for the Stirling East ward where he topped the poll with 1,821 first preferences. In the 2012 Stirling Council election he was re-elected, again topping the poll, with 1,278 first preferences. In January 2013, Paterson was appointed deputy SNP group leader at Stirling Council. On 15 January 2015, he was chosen as the SNP candidate to contest Stirling constituency at the

general election A general election is a political voting election where generally all or most members of a given political body are chosen. These are usually held for a nation, state, or territory's primary legislative body, and are different from by-elections ( ...

on 7 May. He came first after receiving 23,783 first preference votes with a 45.6% share of the vote to achieve a 10,480 majority over Labour where their incumbent MP, Anne McGuire, retired. On 30 June 2015, he announced his intention to stand down as Councillor for the Stirling East ward. On 1 July 2015, Paterson made his maiden speech in the House of Commons. He was appointed to the SNP Westminster Group's Defence Team which at the time was led by SNP Defence spokesperson Brendan O'Hara. Paterson was defeated at the 2017 General Election by the

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...

candidate

Stephen Kerr Stephen Charles Kerr (born 26 September 1960) is a Scottish politician serving as convener of the Education, Children and Young People Committee since 2021. A member of the Scottish Conservatives, he has been a Member of the Scottish Parliame ...

who gained the seat by 148 votes.

Controversy

Paterson made national news in late 2016 by claiming expenses of £40 for dog care (This was later found to be an administrative error by one of his staff - Paterson did not own a dog.) and £640 for a chair (later found to be not for 1 chair but for all office furniture including several chairs and desks) and for being the UK's fifth most expensive MP, claiming almost £100,000 in just one year. A local councilor accused Paterson of showing a 'cavalier attitude to taxpayers’ money' whilst others remarked this was more likely to be down to travelling the constituency's vast distances each week to attend surgeries.

Early life and education

Political career

Controversy

References

External links